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Considering that the young couple was thinking of starting a family (they now have a three-year-old daughter), Fehr's decision wasn't an easy one. "(My wife) was concerned with the unknown," Fehr says. "Especially when I started talking about being a bike courier. But I had been riding bikes all my life. I was already commuting to work on my bike in Pennsylvania, and lots of days I would sit in the office and just stare at it. I always dreamed of getting paid to ride my bike, and being a courier seemed like the perfect solution."
When Fehr first arrived in Charlotte, he worked for a courier company for about a year, then partnered with a friend and together they started their own bike courier service. But after a few years of running a business, Fehr realized he was getting caught back up in the same corporate rat race as before. He sold his share of the company, and started exploring his options again. A few months later, he got a call from friend Jason Ryan, who owns Nova Office Strategies. Ryan was looking to expand his company's courier services, and thought Fehr was the right guy for the job. Fehr started last October, and says he's never been happier.
"I can't tell you how much fun I'm having," he says. "It's like there's a symphony of people, buildings, cars and vendors going on around you all the time. You just pick your line and go with it. It's honest. It's brilliant. It's moving. It's a beautiful way to make a living."
Well, some days are more beautiful than others. Fehr says that since "98, he's had three serious accidents. One was his fault; the other two were because of impatient motorists.
"As a general rule, most people treat you OK," he says. "But there are those rare occasions when you come across someone who is downright angry, and that can be dangerous. I've had people pull up beside me and scream obscenities or throw something at me for no reason. But I think that most people respect what I do. It may be raining, freezing cold or burning hot, but I'm out there everyday. They see we're not just a bunch of reckless punks. We're out there earning a living, and many of us are supporting families."
It's Not Just A Job, It's An AdventureThe sun sets on the distant horizon as a trio of men approach. They dismount their two-wheeled steeds, secure them to the fence, and head inside, looking for a little cool relief after a long hard day. OK, it's really just three guys grabbing a beer after a day of delivering packages. But it's hard not to make the Old West association watching them cruise into the parking lot and chain up their bikes in front of a downtown watering hole. Present are Rich Dillon, 33, animated, excitable, and the father of a 10-year-old boy; Nathan Sprinkle, 25, whose tall stature and blond good looks would look right at home on an Oxford recruitment poster; and Josh Neeley, 23, the happy-go-lucky youngster of the group with a smile that makes him look a little like Elvis. Both Sprinkle and Dillon started working as Charlotte bike couriers nearly eight years ago, although Sprinkle has dabbled in other things, including backpacking around Europe for awhile, during which time he worked as a bike courier in London. Neeley is somewhat of a newcomer to the business, having been at it for about a year.
Over beer and nachos, Dillon gets the discussion going with one of his more memorable crash and burn stories. A few years ago he was pedaling down College St. when he was rear-ended by a car and thrown face-first into a car in front of him. It broke two front teeth and punctured his bottom lip. His wife worked as a nurse a few blocks away, so he rode over to get checked out.
"She said I needed stitches, but I just didn't have time," Dillon says. "My boss was out, and there was nobody that could cover for me." Instead of stitches, Dillon had his wife tape up his lip with butterfly bandages, and went back to work, missing teeth and all. "People think it's hardcore, but it's more about what else am I going to do? If I don't work, I don't get paid."