The idea for the Cycle Messenger World Championships, was first conceived in 1992 by Achim Beier and Stefan Klessman. Both worked for messenger Berlin, a Berlin-based messenger service, and were inspired to have a gathering of the world’s bicycle messengers after talking with co-worker Michael „Ozone“ Odom. Beier then took a trip to New York City where he talked with local bicycle messengers including James „The General“ Moore about the proposed idea. The idea was received well and Beier and Klessman began planning the first Cycle Messenger Championships.
Since no competition of this type had ever taken place, there were many challenges to overcome. Most notably, the host city, Berlin, needed to approve the proposal of such an event. Many streets had to be shut down for an entire weekend, the duration of the event, including the area around Brandenburg Gate. In the end, the city of Berlin approved the event with only minor changes to Beier’s requests and in the first Cycle Messenger Championships took place. In all, around 500 messengers participated in the inaugural event.
Though the 1993 CMWC was declared a success, it lost a substantial amount of money. As a result, Beier and Klessman decided to transfer ownership of the event to a marketing company which had expressed interest in organizing it. Beier and Klessman stayed with the project, acting as consultants, to ensure that the competition retained its authenticity.
The marketing company, based in Berlin, had a partner in London and so it was decided that the 1994 CMWC would be located there. Unfortunately, though, months before the 1994 CMWC the marketing company pulled its sponsorship of the event and left Beier and Klessman alone on the project.
After much deliberation, it was decided that the 1994 CMWC would still take place in London, though now it would be organized solely by cycle messengers. Against all odds, the event took place and attracted around 500 participants. Once again, the CMWC was deemed a success.
With the sting of the marketing company’s withdrawal still fresh, several cycle messengers at the 1994 event decided to form a committee dedicated to the successful realization of the CMWC. Largely self-appointed and without any real power the committee floundered. The need for such an organization, however, was being realized by more and more cyclists.
The 1995 CMWC took place in Toronto, and in 1996 it was hosted in San Francisco. It was here that the International Federation of Bike Messengers Association, or IFBMA, was created for the purpose of guaranteeing that the CMWC would take place each year. This committee, unlike the previous one, was open to all who wished to attend and thus had the potential of being a legitimate organization. Since the inception of the IFBMA the CMWCs have taken place each year in different locations around the world.
Messengers from Zurich participated in CMWCs ever since the beginning. Soon they were willing to host the championships in Switzerland’s biggest city. It was in the year 1997 when some Zurich messengers around Markus Zust handed in a proposal to bring the 1998 CMWC to their hometown. They competed against Washington D.C. They were optimistic to find most of the messengers at the Open Forum at Barcelona CMWC 1997 to vote for Zurich as they were able to present a beer sponsor. But during the presentation, the messengers from D.C. announced 1000 free beers and so the Zurich candidacy failed. One year later, at CMWC in D.C., the Zurich crew gave it another try, and now they succeeded.
In summer 1999 the world was meeting in Zurich for the seventh CMWC. It was during this race week when the first ever Goldsprint was launched, named after a beer by local Zurich brewery Turbinen Bräu, who was a sponsor of the event. Now, 25 years later, Zurich is happy to host the worlds for the second time.
Bellow a few pics expressions from the legendary event. Here one can find more pictures of CMWC 1999 in Zurich.
