the fruits of our labor are too sweet to hang low..

What are the hours of your life worth? The time you spend working that you never get back.
Labor is undervalued.

A messengers labor has always been undervalued, and ever since the first messengers were killed upon their delivery of said message, this profession has been taken for granted.

Ever since my entry into the delivery business almost 17 years ago, and ever since entering the workforce at 16 I have known that this is true. The only weapon against this, barring a college degree, is to set a higher standard to constantly improve, and therefore over time, by working sharp angles and building solid relationships, you can incrementally increase your value in the market.

You are after all the ultimate freelancer, and as an independent contractor you can sell yourself to the best company and the best dispatcher in that company and that is incentive to improve. The more skills you have, the more services you offer, the more professional and wide reaching those services the higher price you can command.
This improves the industry and the messengers lot, one courier at a time.
Then came the 2000's and youtube and eco-groovyness, and fixed gears ridden by posers doing tricks and the whole idea of being a messenger turned on it's head. All of a sudden in the young, modern public's eye the value of being a messenger was in the cool points and the whole idea of it being something that you do for a living was lost.
Except for those that are still doing it. For a living.
Clutch Couriers who stick with it know the value of the hours of their life. They will not devalue them by subsidizing their job with social status and charging grossly below the standard to get business. We will up our game so that we can expand into new markets, earning new respect and pushing the profession upward to a more sustainable payscale. We will not participate in a race to the bottom because we are invested in the future of our job in this beautiful place. This is the real shit. A job we love and will fight to protect.

A perfectly normal job.

Being a Bike Messenger in Santa Cruz is a little like being a Muslim in America. Reviled by some, glorified by others, but universally stared at and set apart from the mainstream.
Some of this may be self-perpetuated, and some messengers are reactionary.
What we need to do is use the animosity as fuel towards reaching out to those that fear, and see the flattery for what it is, a desire to understand better.
Don't call us 'bike punks', or 'pedalers for peace'. Call us your friends and neighbors, and you may learn that we are delivering your paycheck, or your Uncle's divorce papers, or your Mother's biopsy.
Clutch Couriers is Santa Cruz's professional bike messenger company. Doing a perfectly normal job, the way that makes sense.
-RG

We are in a hurry so others don't have to be.

We are in a hurry so others don't have to be.
We are not racing you, we are delivering a service that has a specific time frame. A time frame that the competition can't or won't make. That's why you see us chirping away on our Nextel radios. Not so that we can be clowned by people with smart phones, but so that we can ...communicate directly and efficiently about jobs and positioning on the most reliable network available without dropping calls or running out of battery power.
Some examples of items that need to be hand delivered in a hurry: Legal documents like restraining orders or contracts that need to be signed, medical specimens, water samples for purity testing, camera parts for a delayed photo-shoot, or modified bicycle parts for your Burning Man extra-cycle.
Clutch Couriers is about getting it done, getting it done right, and getting it done right now. That's what coming through in the clutch means.
So if we take the time to smile and wave its because we like you, stranger, and we love our job, no matter how misconstrued it is.

Courtesy in the Courier's World.

Recently we were approached by a New York columnist who wanted to know the rudest questions we were asked about our job for a book he is writing featuring Miss Manners and other notables. It brought up the larger subject of common courtesy and how it relates to our job as we go about in traffic and through people's work environments.
It occurred to me that some bicycle couriers might be seen as discourteous and maybe that could have something to do with the supposed decline of the industry as a whole.
In truth you can't be a successful courier if you are rude or unaware of how your actions effect others around you. One of the keys to a smooth career or day as a courier is an acute awareness of your position and relationship to others on the physical plane. In traffic it's a matter of survival. You can't barge through a car even if they are trying take you out, and a pedestrian is better passed from behind, so as not to have them skitter in front of you and get hit. The main principle is not to impede the flow of traffic, which bike messengers should be great at because of their superior maneuverability.
Towards that end, Clutch Couriers practice letting people out of the door before entering (just like in NYC subway cars) and holding the door for those entering behind us. Other less obvious (and misunderstood) favors include moving to the front of the line at the red light so that the cyclist can be clearly seen, and get out of the intersection quicker when the light turns green.
There are a million ways that modern life has made us believe that "I am the center of the universe" and this disease is spreading like an epidemic. Being a good bicycle messenger is the one of the best ways that I know to combat this in myself.
Remember that common courtesy is really looking out for number one by realizing the symbiotic nature of society.

Flowing like water from the mountains to the sea...-RG

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Same Day Filing drop-off and Attorney bin pickup service to Watsonville Courthouse..Only $100 per month for Santa Cruz-Capitola Attorneys! Same Day Filing and Return including all Document Retrieval and Inter-Office Attorney Delivery only $150 per month for Santa Cruz-Capitola Attorneys!

Messenger Profile-Brandon Bailey!

Brandon has brought a unique enthusiasm and competence to our crew. He knows that you have to love what you do, and the better you get, there's more to love-Thanks Brandon, it's a pleasure and an honor having you on the team.-RG

Hi,
I'm Brandon, and I work for Clutch Couriers. Here's the shortened run-down on me,
I started working as a courier in Baltimore, MD after realizing a few things. One,that my commute to and from my crummy kitchen job was the only part of the day I enjoyed and two that I was always the person running the the store for my friends because I wanted to be on my bike inside of sitting inside. After working in Baltimore for about 2 years I moved to Milwaukee, WI. I became a courier there for a brief time before fracturing my neck and coming back to MD to recover, and then moving out here to beautiful Santa Cruz. I tried to get a bike job here for a while, but I had no luck. And I wasn't about to get a job I hated just to pay for things that keep me comfortable doing something I didn't want to do. So I waited for a while, doing volunteer bike work (like FNB) and working fill-in for Ped-X, until one day I started working here.

Here I also started playing Bike Polo which I love dearly and have gotten better and better at that the more I have played here and other cities. Bike polo is the best and anyone who reads this should check it out and come play. I also love chicken wings, screaming along to music while I ride, beer, and working hard.

This job gives me so much. When I first started (B-more) it got me in shape and showed me the potential of my life: that I don't have to be miserable, I can have fun and work at the same time. This job is so much fun. On top of getting paid to ride a bike all day, it also comes with an intensely positive feeling thats part endorphins and part knowing that I am doing something I love doing without compromise. This job gives me satisfaction in many ways just come ask me if you want (though I might talk your ear off if I just got back from Watsonville). And though sometimes I do miss the intensity and fast pace of the city I love Santa Cruz's fresh air, crazy people, and open skies.

I feel like I have a lot to give to this company as well. I've always given my all to my jobs, but especially here do I give it all because I actually feel respected and not used. When I feel like that it makes me want to come in everyday and work hard all day as well as try and learn new things and make myself better so that I can help out more. Since I was also here in Santa Cruz without a job I know what its like to have nothing here, it makes all the difference to have a job like this and something to live for. I also like to think I bring my positive attitude and willingness to run my body to the ground if need be (it usually heals back just fine).

Clutch Couriers lead feature in Sunday's Santa Cruz Sentinel!

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/business/ci_15238288

SANTA CRUZ -- Rick Graves and the other riders at Clutch Couriers, which recently announced an expansion into Monterey County, have nimbly maneuvered the economic downturn as if they were swerving around a suddenly stopped delivery van on Ocean Street.

see full article @ http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/business/ci_15238288