X-man early morningA while ago I spotted Xman. It was early morning and the sun was just starting to come out. I was armed with my trusty Fed-5 camera and the shutter was cocked and ready to go. I would take the early train and try to capture some early shadows and soft colors against the buildings in the city. X-man appeared out of nowhere. He was dressed in full gear with his white Air Jordans and White pants. He was aboard a super-fast Giant with barend shifters on the ends of bullhorns. He was ready for another day of battle.
I asked permission to take his Photo and I knew I only had one shot. I guessed the aperture and speed since I had no meter. I took the shot and hoped for the best. The result is a blessing. If you ever spot X-man you know you have seen the best there is.
Ari
Holy crow that is some Mad Max looking get up!
ReplyDeleteGpickle: Did you see the video on the previous post. I have spotted this messenger in Chicago many years ago and wondered what his whole concept was. Xman is the original and is towards the latter part of the You tube video.
ReplyDeleteHe is awesome.
Ari
More pain today. Riding to work tomorrow.
"X-man" is also known as Joey Love, or Joey Love From Above. I might be wrong, but the X-Man handle has something to do with the original New York X-Men: bike messengers who traversed all five boroughs by way of skitching a ride on automobiles (cabs, etc...).
ReplyDeleteI used to work as a messenger in Chicago and had a few strange run-ins with Mr. Love. He asked me to fix his front brake once. He claimed to have no knowledge of bike mechanics; this came as a shock. Another time he asked me to drop a package off for him because he was supposedly banned from a building. And yet another time I found him dancing to the muzak outside of the Dunkin' Donuts on Jackson Ave. Extreme!
The last time I spoke with him he was delivering for Pot Belly's. No X-man get up, but the all white kit was in full effect.
Tanner,
ReplyDeletethanks for the interesting info. I love this rare cycling stuff.
ari