Abstract In this oral history, Andy Zalan unspools his life on a bike, both as a courier and an organizer of events, from alleycat races to international courier championships that bring the courier community together, both in D.C. and globally. Andy lays out his youth in Washington, D.C., including early stints as a BMX enthusiast and a lifelong passion for photography that led him to get a degree from the Corcoran School in Foggy Bottom. He then reflects on the joys and difficulties of courier...

Abstract In this oral history, Cal Steve walks his interviewers through the ins and outs of both bicycle courier work and alleycat racing, speaking with both authoritative knowledge and an easy sense of humor. After a childhood in Washington, D.C., Cal took up work as a bicycle courier in his early twenties. He started racing alleycats around the same time. Over the course of the interview, Cal reflects on riding a bike as a child and teenager and hanging with friends at a famous dirt bowl in Fort...

Abstract In this oral history, DK ties together his personal stories in both the cycling courier and punk music subcultures in Washington, D.C. and other major East Coast cities. Due to the crossover between the D.C. punk scene and courier community of the early 2000s, DK, an avid punk fan and musician, picked up a bike as a means to get by—a decision that opened a career as a courier, racer, and organizer of formal and informal races. Throughout his narrative, DK uncovers the linkages between the...

Abstract In this oral history, Kevin Keefe reflects on his lengthy career as a bicycle courier, which began in mid-1980s and continued in several forms through the mid-2010s. Kevin also used his personal story to reflect on the myriad changes and shifts within both the courier community and the city at large. Kevin's route to becoming a courier was not always straightforward—he both spent a stint in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he also worked for NASA for a stretch. A genuine love of the...

Abstract In this oral history, Laurence Parks reflects on his life and lifestyle as a messenger. Notable discussions include his deep dive on the former political economy of the messenger industry and its once close ties, in D.C., to both white-shoe law firms and the man-made disasters and scandals from which they profited, and his after-hours visits to the House and Senate office buildings. Laurence spends much of the interview hopping between winding and humorous anecdotes, including an early-1990s...

Abstract From early spring to late autumn, dozens of cyclists meet for 'alleycats': unsanctioned scavenger hunts–turned–races sprung by daring local bike couriers onto D.C.'s unsuspecting streets. They make for exhilarating spectacles and welcoming, if temporary, multiracial, multigender, and cross-class communities. They have also persisted through, and grown alongside, shifting economic pressures on bike couriers, waves of gentrification that have made D.C. wealthier and whiter, the growth of the...