Cycle Messenger World Champions 2008 - updated!
16.06.08 by Buffalo Bill
Shinzu (I think his full name is Hiroyuki Shinozuka), from Japan, and Jenna from New Zealand. Shinzu is the first guy to win the CMWC on a fixie. I think he may not have had any kind of a hand-brake at all, but I can’t confirm that. I can confirm that everyone had a great weekend, and that Toronto Island is a lovely spot. Porno Steve was second and Jumbo of Copenhagen was 3rd in the male race. All 3 were riding fixed. Some people will probably say that this proves the superiority of fixies over free. I think it simply proves that fixies are popular amongst messengers.
As the course was flat, variable gears would have given little advantage. The distance between the checkpoints being so small, it was hard to see where being able to put it in the big-ring would have been an advantage. It was much more important that you had your lock, key and manifest where you could find them in a second, and knew your way round the course, than being able to mash the pedals.
There was a lot of bullshit and unpleasantness from bitter messengers, who in no way represent the majority, or even a significant minority, view of our community, about what was the best way to keep the non-messengers out of the race. It was ridiculous, and the day that CMWC starts inspecting documents, and subjecting entrants to the sort of insulting inquiries that messengers face every day, is the day that CMWC is dead. The only real way to make sure that a real messenger wins is to make the race a real test of messenger skills.
I am very happy to tell you that the Toronto organisers did exactly that. The final was hard. It was more of the same thing from yesterday, but the guy who won (and I should say he won by a long long way from the rest, around 5 minutes) did 11 manifests, not 4 as we did in the qualifiers. I can’t tell you for sure but I guess that he would have been out there for around 3 or 4 hours. So a real hard race was won by a real hard messenger. And it rained! My word, it rained. Perhaps that’s something that Tokyo can organise for us – no rain.
Andy Capp qualified for the final – I did not. Andy didn’t finish in the top 10, but he wasn’t last either. That was a top effort by a great messenger.
I can tell you for sure that Erik Zo won the cargo bike race, making him a four time cargo bike wold champion. The cargo bike race was likewise a hard race, and finished in a sprint. Erik is a true champion of the toughest category in the event. Reba of Toronto actually placed third, making her female champion, and Albert, Toronto exenger was 2nd, with Ho of NYC 3rd placed male. It’s worth noting that Ho is the only one of the 4 that rides a cargo bike full time.
The full results will doubtless be available on the official results page of CMWC 2008, but at 8am on the Monday after the CMWC, I think we may have to wait a little. I missed the official prize-giving (not enough solid food, too many performance inhibitors and nothing like enough sleep), so I can’t tell you any more than that I am afraid.
danchabanov over at the NYC fixie forum reports the top ten as follows:
1st Shino [sic] Japan
2nd Porno Steve Swiss?
3rd Jumbo Copenhagen
4th Austin NYC
5th ???
6th Furgus SF
7th Dan C. NYC
8th Craig Boston
9th Bruce DC
10th Peter B. Boston
Regular readers will remember that Austin and Jumbo were dq-ed from first and second place at the last CMWC in Dublin. I don’t want to reignite that debate, but it’s nice for them that they got a decent result this year, and didn’t f*** up.
I would like to thank the organisers, all the checkpoint people and especially the crew that tabulated the qualifications results by hand in the early hours of Sunday. Toronto has a fantastic community, and it was a privilege to be your guest.
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