Red Hot Riot Alleycat Sprints

Sunday evening found 50 or so people standing around in a downtown Boise alley.It was easily 90 degrees in the shade "real hot, in the shade". Some had cups of beer, some had bottled water and some had cameras. Most were there to watch people on bikes sprint their little hearts out down the short course. Everyone that raced had a blast and Northstar messengers faired pretty well. Patrick found himself head to head with Chris late in the day and hammered out the win. Congratulations to Warren for beating everyone but Jason to take an impressive second place. And, by the way, nobody beats Jason. Thanks to AJ for the wonderful nite of bicycle fun and we hope to see all of you on Saturday for Bars & Stripes 2!

Alleycat alert!

Northstar Cycle Courier and The Boise Weekly present:

Bars & Stripes 2: Beer and Bikes Alleycat race.

Join us for an afternoon of fun in the sun,

Saturday July 7 2007, 3PM.

New Belgium Brewing and The Promo Shop are donating

beer and prizes as well.

What better way to celebrate your independence than

riding bicycles and drinking beer with 60 of your closest friends?

See you there!

Northstarlets

Megan (2006 winner) and Erin (2007 champ) at the finish line.

Congratulations to Patrick's wife Erin for her first place finish in Saturday

afternoon's Dirty in Pink alleycat race. Cheers to Warren's fiancee Casey for

posting the fastest track time too!

The Northstar ladies know how to hammer.

A big "thank you" to Megan for putting on such a fun afternoon as well,

we're already looking forward to next year's race.

Congratulations Steelheads!

Northstar would like to congratulate the Idaho Steelheads

for advancing to the ECHL Kelly Cup finals!

We also wish defenseman Colin Peters a speedy recovery,

he lost a few teeth during last nite's victory... ahh, playoff hockey.

Drivin & Cryin ( May in Motion sidenote)

At Northstar, I'm not trying to save the world. I do think we can make

positive changes in our immediate surroundings by utilizing bicycles for

transportation and delivery. That said, I still occasionally drive my truck

to the store or when I go snowboarding or if I'm just being super lazy and

it's raining out. I'm not anti-car per say, just pro-bike. So, when May in

Motion rolled around again, I decided to put my bicycle in a stand behind

our booth to draw some attention. With the banners and literature and

bikes and bags and this big ole stand; I opted to ferry everything

downtown with my truck. After plenty of handshaking and networking I

realized we had been milling about for a good two hours without feeding

the meter. I'm so used to free bike parking, it completely slipped my mind

to check the time. Well, sure enough, I found a snickering little ticket

tucked under the wiper blade. Yes, I can taste the irony of driving my truck

(with my bike in the back) to an "alternative transportation" event. And

yes, I have learned my lesson. And yes, I brought payment to the

courthouse on bicycle (saving the cost of a stamp!). And yes, Northstar

will transport all of your small parcels around town so this same fate

doesn't fall upon you too!

May In Motion 2007

What is May in Motion? May in Motion – Exploring Transportation Alternatives is a month long promotion designed to inform Treasure Valley residents about transportation-related issues, and encourage their participation in transportation alternatives through a variety of exciting events and activities.
Next event is May 18 from 7:30-9:00AM on 8th Street
(between Bannock and Idaho).
Come down and chat with us at the Northstar booth, we'd love to tell you about our emissions-free delivery services.
Ask about our May In Motion promotion and get a free-delivery voucher!

For more info, click here: http://www.commuteride.com/MayInMotion.aspx
See you there!

Northstar in the News

Erin Ryan from Thrive! Weekly met with Northstar last week to discuss the current state of fixed-gear fever here in the Valley. The photograph above is from the article and was taken by ace lensman Brad Talbutt.

You can check out the annual edition of the Thrive! Bike Issue at local newstands or online here:

http://www.thriveweekly.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=THRIVE01

Season's Greetings

Happy Holidays!

Northstar in the News

Northstar Cycle Courier appears in this week's Idaho Business Review.

Check out page 3A of the November 27th issue to read staff writer Eddie Kovsky's interview with Northstar owner and messenger Patrick Sweeney.

http://www.idahobusiness.net/print.htm/2006/11/27/Dont-kill-the-messenger

Frozen Parts Tour '06

December means cold weather, x-mas lights and riding down to the corner pub for some winter micro-brews. Why not combine your love for all the above by takin a cruise in the:

FROZEN PARTS TOUR 2006

Friday, December 15 6:30PM

Meet at Harry's Hyde Park Pub

North 13th Street @ Alturas

Decorate your bike and wear something festive!

Frozen Parts is a slow rollin' bicycle bar crawl through Hyde Park and downtown.

What better way to fight off a cold ride than with a few liquid layers?

Saturday July, 22 All Girls Alleycat.

Charlie Flynn is hosting the
Dirty and Pink "Molly Ringwald Classic" this Saturday.
Meet in Ann Morrison Park at 3PM, ladies only.
Post race festivities (boys allowed) include plenty of beer and a group ride to downtown to check out the Women's Pro category of the Twilight Criterium.
See you there!

Belated Bars & Stripes Blurb

Unlike our deliveries, this blog isn't always on time.
The Bars & Stripes alleycat race went off successfully way back on July 7th and we're just now finding the time to write about it.
The turnout was huge for this one and almost every one of the 45 entrants completed the entire 10-stop course .
Local ripper Cody Caldera had his race face on once again and narrowly edged out his cohort Jason Bauer for the victory. Charlie Flynn rolled up into an easy third place to ensure an all-fixed-gear top 3 finish.
Not to be intimidated by the men, our 5th place overall and first place finisher for the women was a young lady whose name we can't seem to track down. She's quite tan and has great legs but her name escapes us, anyone privy to this info please post a comment to this page.
We apologize for that but are also pleased to announce that the new race format will include a Women's top 3 distinction as well.

As for the tee-shirts, I believe they will be at the Boise Weekly office by week's end, you can also pick up you personal Polaroid from Sally's stop in the race.

Northstar would like to thank all those that raced/drank and the Boise Weekly and Pabst Blue Ribbon for their generous support of our first annual Independence Day alleycat.
We also need to extend our gratitude to the following bars for their cooperation:
Trolley Bar, Nuerolux, Piper Pub, Lucky 13 Garage, The Plank, O'Michael's,
Casanova's Pizza, Dutch Goose, Bar Gernika and of course Donnie Mac's.

We hope everyone had as much fun as we did and we look forward to seeing you all in October for Hellracer 2.

SATURDAY JULY 8TH ALLEYCAT

NORTHSTAR CYCLE COURIER BOISE WEEKLY
PABST BLUE RIBBON present:
Bars & Stripes Alleycat Race.


Get more info from The Boise Weekly at:

http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A163384

Boise Bike Week alleycat 2006

Yet another successfull Boise Bike Week has come and gone.
Big thanks to Tracy Wilson for runnin the show and for promoting Northstar Courier in the process.
Friday nite's scavenger hunt/race went off without a hitch and when the dust settled; Northstar's own Chris Scuglia had grabbed first place, edging out local alleycat kingpin Cody Caldera.
Satchels' Restaurant provided the post race festivities until a gnarly wind storm brought down the serious lightning and rain and cut short the evening's outdoor movie show.
About 25 cyclists turned out for the 10 stop race which included a lap around the track at Boise High and some hot coffee consumption at Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters.
Already looking forward to next year's events.

May in Motion

Thanks to all who came down and chatted with us at the May in Motion alternative transportation event. We met some good folks and were impressed with the support.

"The Cycling Commute Gets Chic"...or so says today's Wall Street Journal.
WSJ had a decent article about the growing popularity of cycle commuting
in cities around the U.S. today, complete with full-color photo of a woman
trying to tuck for speed(?) on her mountain bike. Boise wasn't mentioned
but we're way ahead of that trend already, if you don't currently commute
by bike but would like to join the plenty that do, mosey over to the local
Commuteride web site for some good information.
http://www.commuteride.com/BikeWalk.aspx

May In Motion

ACHD is hosting the upcoming May In Motion alternative transportation event and Northstar will be in attendance. Eighth Street will be blocked off for these events and snacks & beverages will be available. Look for the table where our bikes are parked and come chat with us about our emissions-free delivery service.

Wednesday, May 3
11:00AM - 1:00PM
8th Street between Bannock & Idaho

Friday, May 19
7:00AM - 9:30AM
8th Street between Bannock & Idaho

For more information visit: www.commuteride.com
Hope to see you there!