Happy BMA Day to me (and three others)

October 9th, Bike Messenger Appreciation Day.  I can feel the love already.  No other yearly celebration brings me more joy than this... save for birthdays, paid holidays off from work, and every single Saturday of the year.  The love started pouring in at 6:38AM today.

Granted, Leyonce works at a nuke-u-lar facility with Bill Nye TSG and as such, never uses my services.  He still took the time to send me a Emoji thumbs up and that's good enough.

Knowing that this would probably be the kind of thing that makes the top of my list of BMA Day gifts, unless I get another anonymous interoffice envelope containing Peanut M&M's again...

I took care of myself last night.

Every messenger worth his/her salt needs a blinkie.  Work till 5:00PM and eventually you'll be riding home in the dark... if you get lucky, maybe even a downpour in the dark.  Just like real estate, beer, and fireworks, you never actually own a blinkie.  You rent one.  There is nothing in this world that time or your liver won't eventually take away.  I had my Planet Bike Superflash for a few years now, and it spent the summer on my travel bag... never know when I might be out after dark when I'm on the road.   Anyways, it disappeared itself sometime between Steamboat Springs and this past Sunday when I needed its services.

Normally, I have a collection of blinkies that I've found lying in gutters or on the trail.  Problem being that they sometimes get loaned out and in turn, rented by a new individual who will then send them back out into the wild.  I have but a few of them left, and most of them cheapies or novelty lights at best.  I want something super honking bright since my life kinda depends on it.

So to Bike Source I traveled last night to peruse their fine selection of blinkies.  When asked what I was looking for, I told them I wanted my old blinkie back.  Unwilling to leave the shop and help me look, we decided my best course of action was to purchase a new one.  The winner?

The Blackburn Flea 2.0 USB

I like that it has a sturdy metal clip.  50% of blinkie deaths are caused by cheap plastic clips that break and fail, sending the blinkie to the street to be run over.  Plastic breaks, it's a documented fact.  I like metal.

USB rechargeable.  Downsides? The blinkie will be completely dead when the battery stops taking a charge.  If I lose the charger, I am equally fucked.  Upsides?  The fuel gauge will let me know when it's dying and the charger is small enough to put on a keychain... that will reside on my Bagaboo bag for charges at work.  The twelve hour run time means that as long as I (remember to) charge it on the weekends, I'll be good to go.  Boom.

So anyways...

Assuming you live in a major metropolitan area (such as Cleveland), say "Happy BMA Day" to your friendly local bike messenger.  You might just make his day, but more than likely he/she will be riding by and will think you just yelled "Chewabacca" in their general direction.

It's the thought that counts.