Meet the Lycra lads: London’s cycle couriers in 1987
14 January 2024 06:00
They were fast, brightly dressed, sometimes earned decent money and rarely obeyed the Highway CodeA brightly coloured fashion-forward tribe had invaded the streets of London. ‘Cycling has never held so much romance,’ the Observer claimed on 6 December 1987. ‘Stop to daydream on any street corner and a well-endowed messenger will cut across your path.’ But they weren’t just there to look good: this new breed of cycle couriers were ‘challenging the dominance of the greaseball motorbike dispatch trade’. Shot in their shiny finery with chamois-reinforced crotches ‘to protect the credentials’, it was time to meet the Lycra Lads.‘Style and bravado are part of the job,’ said Swas. Riding was ‘the first time I’ve ever done any real work… You start to make money when you stop getting lost.’ He loved how messengers raced each other along routes: ‘As soon as you sling a courier bag over your shoulder you can bend the Highway Code and no one hoots at you.’ Continue readingread full article
