Take two

Published on Friday 11 January 2008 17:08

A run-in with a bus led Iain Withers to give up life as a cycle courier in Edinburgh and set up mountain-biking company MB7 in Peebles. Two years later former courier Andy Weir joined him

Iain (28) on Andy

I REALISED that time was running out for me as a courier: one wrong move and that could be it. Getting hit by a bus was the signal for me to do something different.

Andy and I had been working together for a few years and when I quit being a courier in Christmas 2004, he took over my job. I used to mountain-bike with Andy as well – we were part of a big group who would do trips all over Scotland.

At the start of 2006 I realised I needed someone to cover for me, and of all the people I knew, Andy was the one I reckoned would best be able to deal with MB7 customers. He has the right temperament – he's reliable and doesn't get flustered easily.

It turns out he's better than me at teaching people mountain biking. When he runs a course, I'll get loads of e-mails saying what an amazing guy he is, whereas when I run a course, I'll maybe get the odd thank-you. It's a bit like in Crouching Tiger, where the pupil becomes better than the master. Annoyingly, he's also faster than me at riding uphill. He's on a verbal warning for that.

Fortunately, we're both far too chilled out to argue, which is probably the main reason we started working together in the first place. After all that exercise, there isn't much pent-up aggression left in either of us. He has been here full-time for six months now, and so far he hasn't found it too hard to deal with the slower pace of life.

Andy broke his collarbone at Glentress a few years ago and we've both had a few spills. But at least here the trees don't try to run you over, so that's good. And if you do have a crash, it's your own fault, not someone else's. You get used to the pace of life with cycling too. I think we've lost our touch a bit with riding bikes in the city. On Peebles high street, people tend to walk on to the road and then look, whereas in Edinburgh it's every man for himself.

Andy (39) on Iain

I MET Iain as a bike courier on the streets of Edinburgh. Couriers tend to form a very close community: even though we all work for different firms, we get to know each other and socialise together.

The general perception is that it's a dangerous job, but it's a fantastic amount of fun. Couriers are piss-poor – the money's shocking – but it's fantastic. But I'd had enough of it, I guess. I wanted to stop while I still loved it, and I was glad when Iain gave me the opportunity to get involved in something else. I started doing some work for him on a freelance basis but realised I was driving down to the Borders a lot. My partner and I had talked about moving out of the city as well, so we just took the chance.

In fact, I'm a bit of an opportunist. If an opportunity is presented to me, I'll go for it. I'm not the innovator that Iain is. He's quite a creative guy; I'm more of a follower.

It doesn't feel like he's my boss. It's very strange. It's Iain's company and I respect that – I leave all the serious decision-making up to him – and he respects where I am as well. And he likes to organise absolutely everything. I tend to completely ignore him, then turn up on the day and it works out anyway. We do work very well together, but it's kind of odd working for your friend.

He's a good lad, Iain. He has a wicked – and rude – sense of humour. And yes, he's been known to go on about me breaking my collarbone. But at least I didn't go flying over the handlebars at my mountain-bike assessment!

One of the things I really enjoy about this job is that the people we work with are there to have fun. So I get to spend every working day with people who are having a great time. I don't get to go out on my bike as much as I'd like, but that's a small concession to make. It's better than working in a rubbish job and still not getting out on my bike.