This little project was started partly because of this SFist article incorrectly proclaiming Junior to be the oldest bike messenger in San Francisco. The truth is that there are five bike messengers in San Francisco over the age of 60 with Junior being the youngest out of all five. Assembled in one place for the first time, here are all five of the senior bike messengers in San Francisco, starting with the oldest
update 2023, Howard Williams is still out there biking as of 9.25.23
Howard from 2022, 70 years old, now 71, 40 years as a bike messenger
In 2010 when this post was made, Howard would have been the youngest at 57
Mike Freeman, age 67
Mike has been bike messengering for nearly 30 years since the mid 1980’s..His first job was was with Aero, the second bike messenger company ever in San Francisco
Alex, 64
Alex has also been a bike messenger for many many years
Magic Mike, 62
Magic Mike has been an institution at Western Messenger for at least 20 years. He says that he would probably be in far worse shape if he wasn’t biking all day, every day
Roger, 61
probably in the best shape of all of these guys, Roger can usually out race many of the younger 20 year olds
Junior, 61
Junior is apparently just a few months younger than Roger. However Junior has been a bike messenger the longest out of anyone in San Francisco. Junior’s first job was with Sparkys in 1968. Sparkys was the first messenger company in San Francisco. They wore brownish uniforms a little like UPS drivers. Sparkys later became Aero messenger in the 70’s and then was eventually bought out in the 90’s by a group of messenger companies
And Junior is his legal name
This is for all the people who think being a bike messenger is a young persons job. These guys are out there every day, all day, biking 10-20-30-40 miles a day. They do it because it keeps them in shape, and it should be an inspiration to everyone, young and old, and not just bike messengers