Meet the world-class messengers who faced-off in a bike courier race through Mumbai and listen to their special playlists.

Austin Horse

Austin is a true New Yorker, body and soul. Currently residing in Brooklyn, he’s been officially confirmed to be the world’s greatest messenger and a Red Bull ambassador. He’s well acquainted with the messenger community and his contacts and enthusiasm allowed us to find other participants for the project. Riding on anything from fixed gears to gravel bikes, he has mastered the art of navigating through NYC’s tight busy street grids and this perfected assimilation with the city’s algorithm, as he calls it, made him a two-time Cycle Messenger World Championships winner.

Cécile Bloch

Cécile from Paris, France, is something of a phantom of our project. She has no social media account to follow but people talk a lot about her in the cycling social web sphere. No wonder – she’s the female winner of the Cycle Messenger World Championships 2016. She currently works for a French messenger company Coursier.fr.

When asked about her motives for becoming a messenger, the answer sounds like a dry comedy gold. With a straight face, she says that she always used to go about the city on her bike, carrying a heavy bag full of things and some people suggested that it’s actually a job and that she could start charging for it. Although she never worked outside Paris, participating in the Championships took her to Melbourne, London, Copenhagen, México City, and many more. Her initial response speaks for itself: “I would be very pleased to participate! Can’t wait! I’ve never been to India!”

Allan Shaw

Alan was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but currently describes himself as a nomadic messenger, not really calling any place home. He crossed the North American continent from New York to Vancouver on a whim, subsequently working as a messenger in the Canadian capital and going back to Glasgow afterwards.

“This is the most exciting email I have ever gotten,” he replied when we first told him about Mumbai challenge.

Ever since he was in his late teens he was an avid traveller and a cyclist with great wanderlust, which mirrors in his first ever reply as to what does he say to our offer: “That this is the most exciting email I have ever gotten. I spent 6 months in India when I was 19 and after so many years of urban riding I have thought many times of how rad it would be to ride my OWN bike on the streets of a big Indian city. I can immediately tell you I am very interested and available.”