Flicker Photo

Richard Masoner took this photo at the opening of the pedestrian bridge across San Lorenzo-he also gives props to messengers who use gears-Yay Richard!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/3226944986/

"This is bike messenger Rick Graves, owner of Santa Cruz Clutch Couriers. He was riding a Bridgestone RB-1, a bike designed by the legendary Grant Petersen. Like the bikes of many real messengers, Rick's bike is equipped with gears, which are especially handy given the hills he traverses everyday as he transports documents from Santa Cruz to the county courthouse in Watsonville."-Richard Masoner

CYCLELICIOUS

Stay safe-Rick

Two years and counting...

As two years of business in Santa Cruz comes to a close, it's a good time to reflect on all that we have accomplished. Our growth in size and market share has been achieved at a phenomenal pace, opening up new markets in the entertainment, legal, medical and government sectors.
On any given business day, you will see at least 4-6 Clutch Couriers on the road. We are in your banks, courthouses, post-offices, clinics, college campuses, and office buildings-providing highly skilled professional services for a variety of needs, from delivering blood to notarizing and serving legal documents.
Because we had the chutzpa to provide daily courier services to Watsonville by bicycle since early April, a whole new market in South County is welcoming all bids, motorized and otherwise. It is Clutch Couriers that has the client base and the long term business plan that will maintain and grow this vital transportation link into the future.
We have maintained and grown our client base because of the standards we set and a lot of positive word of mouth. Some of the local envirogencia may not acknowledge it, but we have taken more cars off the road than anyone else because of our emphasis on excellent service. How did we convince the Bus company to replace armored trucks with pro bike messengers for their inter-office mail delivery? With the strength of our great track record and referrals-not political finger wagging.
Clutch Couriers' success over the past two years is vindication of the philosophy I have espoused all along: Make yourself indispensable to your clients, diversify into new markets, and not only is it a net gain for the environment, you are creating jobs that actually provide a future for the industry here in Santa Cruz County.
The more people that hire us because we do a great job first, the greater the impact that it's all done on bikes.
Something to look for in the first quarter of '09 is the upgraded website with e-commerce capabilities and hopefully a cleaner, simpler interface. We welcome your comments on this blog as the site is constructed, check the progress at:
http://www.clutchcouriers.com/2/
Thanks and praise must be given to our hard-working crew: Asher, Juliette, David, Nick, Jay, and Zack-Without their dedication and work ethic none of this would be possible. Of course you can tell that they love what they do, which is the point after all.
To our clientele and community who have encouraged us through the growing pains, and sometimes derision-Thank you so much. We're not going anywhere, and eventually more people will get behind the fact that Santa Cruz deserves at least two excellent professional bike messenger services.
Finally, thanks and love to all my family-blood and heart. It's your inspiration that keeps me going.

Two years and counting...Here's to many more!

Peace,

Rick Graves/Clutch Couriers

Dia De Los Muertos

Here are some photos of those of us that participated in this years Dia De Los Muertos bike race. Thanks to Elena and all the other organizers and volunteers, and congratulations to Kelly from PedX for showing us that to win an alleycat it's not just how fast you are but whether you keep your head in the game-

Peace-Rick

Branciforte Junior High Bike club

Julie-(Phil Woods niece) from The Bike Trip runs bike safety and culture classes at various middle and high schools around town. She invited me to speak at the Bike Club at B-40 under the heading of "Bike Sub-Culture/Meet Rick Graves-Owner of a successful bike messenger company."

I think I got across how important our job is to these kids, as well as letting them know that it's the most fun you'll ever have working. They loved seeing me use the radio, and I think this will lead to more respect from these kids when they see any bike messenger on the road.

Thanks Kids, Tony & Julie, You Rock!

First Rain!

I Love the first rain of the year. It's a good reminder that in life, shit falls on your head.

Clutch Couriers office pic

Just a quick note to let y'all know that Clutch Couriers (three months ago-lagger) has moved to a new office on River Street.

Come on down if you want to see a tight ship sail.

Nuttin' but Love-

Rick

Re:Last Post

I got some good feedback on some messenger boards about the last post, some people thought it was funny and some people took it personally.

My main point was:

Our long term relevance and survival depends upon us presenting ourselves as skilled professionals-not as a lifestyle posture.

Peace, Rick