CLOSE-UP

While trailing bicycle messenger Dale Perez, I am aware that my life is in immediate peril. Dodging a bus, we cut across three lanes of traffic on Figueroa Street, ride alongside a Chevy Impala for a dozen yards and make a right turn on 7th Street. “I don’t take so many chances now that I’m married with a baby on the way,” shouts Perez, 27, of Diamond Bar, who works for Pronto Messenger Service.

Our first pickup of the morning is at a law firm on Figueroa Street. Barreling down a Temple Street sidewalk minutes later, we weave through a thicket of pedestrians. “It’s been a long time since I knocked someone over,” laughs Perez, who makes about 15 runs a day, five days a week for about $500 per week. “I rear-ended a truck once. That was fun.”

Several runs later, we shoulder our bicycles up a string of escalators just off Flower Street. After a pickup at 333 S. Grand Ave., Perez shows me another shortcut--straight down the block-long cascade of the Bunker Hill steps. I take the escalator. “Those are fun, but the City Hall stairs are the best,” he says. “They’re straight down.” Underneath the 4th Street bridge, we meet up with other messengers. There is a sense of solidarity among the group, which numbers about 100 in the downtown area. “We’re all brothers,” says Frank Lopez. “If someone steals one guy’s bike, they have to deal with all of us.” Beeped for another run, we head toward Spring Street, tasting exhaust as Perez takes advantage of every raised surface in sight. Throughout the morning he’s flown off curbs, concrete planters and corporate art pieces. “Anything to get airborne,” he says, wiping a layer of soot from his face. “My favorite is Camaros. They’ve got a rounded shape so it’s easy to bunny-hop onto them. But only when they’re parked.”