Hey folks,

We've got a new partner, Keeney's Office Supply.  They're a great local company with a strong sustainability commitment.  You'll see our bikes on the road with their logo.  

And we hope sometime soon to carry their products.  We're in discussions to see how to make a delivery partnership work from a logistics standpoint.  We'll let you know if we get things set up.  

In the meantime, check out this post about Keeney's from Amber Jackson, their Marketing Manager.   And let us know if you'd like to have your office supplies delivered by Freewheel.  Your support can really help push a new program forward.

Dan Kohler
Co-Founder & CEO

I love Vancouver.  It's a beautiful city with amazing parks, mountain views, great restaurants and more.   

I love it even more after reading this piece from Van City Buzz about how the city has embraced cargo bikes.

It's a cool story about Vancouver. And it's a must read if you want to know how cargo bikes are going to revolutionize the urban landscape.  Find it here: http://bit.ly/1cod9wO

Dan Kohler
Freewheel co-founder & ceo

Yesterday, we launched an ad campaign to help spread the word about our newest partner, Drizly.

If you live or work anywhere Downtown, SLU or Cap Hill you'll be seeing their cool signs up on our bikes over the next month.  

Want to know more about how you can get beer & liquor delivered to you? Drizly's Patrick Flaherty answers a few questions below.

Plus, don't miss the promo code for a free delivery!

Dan Kohler
co-founder & ceo

Hey Patrick, what is Drizly and how does it work?

Drizly is a mobile lifestyle app that is the fastest, most responsible way for smartphone users to get beer, wine and liquor delivered to their doorstep. Consumers of legal drinking age simply download the app to their smartphone and with a few taps of the finger; the consumer’s favorite beer, wine or liquor is on its way, in under an hour. Delivery drivers then authenticate and validate IDs using Drizly technology.

App available for iOS and Android as well as on the web at www.drizly.com.

How’d you guys come up with the idea?

Drizly began in 2012 when two friends – co-founders Nick Rellas and Justin Robinson –were curious why they couldn’t get beer delivered when nearly everything else had become so readily available through technology. That casual curiosity quickly evolved into a fascination (or obsession, as some would call it) on why technology hadn’t been able to integrate into regulated industries like alcohol. Before long, the two Boston College graduates started down a path to figure out a way to legally work within the system to make alcohol delivery a reality.  In 2013, Drizly was born.

How long has Drizly been in Seattle? Is it Catching on?

Drizly launched in Seattle in early November 2014. In the 5 months we have been in Seattle, we have seen tremendous growth month over month. Seattle is one of the fastest growing markets for Drizly.

What are some of the top selling items? Does it vary by market.

Top selling items vary market to market. In Seattle, popular Drizly items include: Elysian Space Dust IPA, Absolut Vodka, and Bulleit Rye Whiskey.

Your logo looks awesome on our bikes! What do you think makes Freewheel a good fit for a Drizly promotion?

Freewheel is a great fit for Drizly. It’s young, fun, engaging and local; all of which are characteristics that Drizly aims to align with. Freewheel is just about as “Seattle” as it gets, and we love it!

Any chance folks reading this can score some sort of Drizly discount?

Absolutely. We’ve created the promo “FREEWHEELBLOG” for readers interested in testing out Drizly. They will get their first delivery for free and delivered within the hour!  

“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” – Bill Gates

Three hundred and sixty five days ago I woke up sick to my stomach.  It was Day 1 at Freewheel. After months of planning, I was ready to make the first deliveries for my new company.  So I had butterflies from anticipation. But there’s no question I was also scared. I was starting a new company after taking the leap from a steady 15-year career.

This morning I woke up eager to guild on our first year's success and to think big about what's possible over the next decade. (Note: prior blog and Facebook posts have covered a lot of specific highlights over the last year.  So check those out if you haven’t.).  

Here in Seattle, population growth and development are on track to make our notorious traffic and congestion even worse. Moving goods through the city is going to get tougher. And with transportation making up the bulk of our carbon pollution we have to analyze and address freight.

In my opinion, Freewheel can be a big part of a future, more sustainable urban environment. Here are some broad questions I have about how we can get there.

-       First, what % of urban deliveries can legitimately be done by bike?  Incredibly, a European study concluded up to half.

-       Second, what type of urban planning or polices can Seattle adopt to transform urban delivery? Congestion is in the news, but not how cargo delivery contributes to it or how it can be changed.

-       Three, what is more likely to lead the shift for appropriate goods away from vans/trucks onto cargo bikes: business decisions, traffic and congestion, consumer demand or government policy?

-       Four, can Seattle become a national leader developing a new model for sustainable urban deliveries?

I'm really curious what you think.  Please leave your thoughts below or feel free to shoot me a note if you’ve got ideas to share or want to get involved – [email protected].

Thank you to all the great companies we’ve partnered with over the last year.  It’s just awesome to think about the year we’ve had and the possibilities ahead. Ride, Freewheel, Ride.

Dan Kohler
co-founder & ceo

If you know Freewheel, it's likely for our innovative sustainable delivery service. What you might not know is that we're also disrupting Seattle's urban ad space.  

Let's face it, we're all pretty numb to quite a few forms for advertising. That's why our unique bikes offer something so special. Everywhere we ride, they attract eyeballs, interest and enthusiasm.

Because of this, our advertising partners attract attention while sponsoring Freewheel, a small business providing carbon reductions and cleaner air for us all.  That's a win-win!   

So far, most of our advertising partners have been companies we do deliveries for (Caffe Vita, Peach, Victrola, among others), but we're expanding our reach to others types of businesses that want to reach and urban audience.  

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been running ads for do206.  So I asked Jay Cox, their GM to give us a rundown.

Dan Kohler
co-founder & ceo

1) What the heck is do206?

Do206 answers the question "What do we DO tonight?" and gives people so many choices of what to do around this amazing city. Comedy, Arts, Concerts, Tech meet ups....are all listed. The most popular event, based on users adding it to their calendar or rsvp-ing, rises to the top of each day's page. Our day to day team is made up of myself (Jay Cox/General Manager) and Rich Hobby (Content Manager) and our growing army of interns. I have been involved with the Seattle music scene via being in bands for years and Rich was the force behind all things marketing and PR at EMP Museum for 5 years before joining our team.

2)How is it different than other sites?

We give away free pizza & ice cream sometimes, don't know if that makes us different but the fun factor is a bit higher. Our goal is help people find out what is going on around town and be a good resource for folks to get more info on events. 

Our calendar technology is used by several site around town like KEXP (www.kexp.org/events) and blogs like Nada Mucho and Miss Casey Carter. A whole list of calendar partners can be found at http://do206.com/p/local-partner-network. We also power the event calendars at Capitol Cider, Rendezvous and Vera Project. 

Besides the site and our calendar partners we have also built the lineup, schedule and artists pages for festivals like Capitol Hill Block Party, Decibel Festival, Macefield and Sasquatch. 

We have also been known to throw some great Happy Hours and are starting a music showcase where the goal is to feature up and coming bands that people might not be familiar with yet.

If people are fans of the site and are traveling outside of Seattle - there are more than a dozen Do sites around the US, Canada and Mexico http://dostuffmedia.com/#locations

3) We recently advertised on do206 and got a lot of traffic checking out Freewheel, including new business leads. What kind of businesses or organizations might be a good fit for advertising with you?

Anyone trying to reach the 18 to 34 demo in the Seattle area is a great fit. National advertisers are great but being able to carry ads from local companies (LIL WOODYS, MOLLY MOONS, SUN LIQUOR) always make us feel better cause it's our community. 

4) Likewise, do206 has advertised on Freewheel's bikes.  What kind of value do you think you got?

We have gotten plenty of feedback like "WTF! YOU HAVE BIKES NOW? CRAZY!" or "ALMOST GOT IN AN ACCIDENT TRYING TO TAKE A PICTURE OF YOU MOBILE ADS.." Getting our logo in front of more eyeballs is always a positive experience for us. 

5) What's next for do206? 

Our quarterly concert series with Jameson starts March 25th at The Tractor Tavern.  Do sites are launching in Portland and Vancouver so we will be helping the teams in those cities get settled. I imagine there will be some cool all NW events happening once they get off the ground. My job will be complete when we one day have a mascot (that is basically our logo with arms and legs). 

Normally, when I hear about a proposed highway the last thing I feel is inspired.  But a plan in London to build an 18 mile bike super-highway? Now that sounds cool!

London's Mayor Boris Johnson is pushing the plan as part of an overall strategy to reduce congestion, promote biking and reduce pollution.  The idea is to create a safe, efficient space for biking through the city and connected it out into neighborhoods.  The scale of the projected in unprecedented in Europe and I haven't heard of anything like it in the US.

The Mayor's press release earlier this week cited how fast biking is growing in London helping to reshape the urban environment:

- Cycle use in London has doubled in ten years. 
- Almost a quarter of rush-hour traffic on central London’s roads is now bicycles. 
- Over the same period, motor traffic has fallen by 24 per cent on the Victoria Embankment (East-West superhighway) and by 44 per cent on Farringdon Street (North-South superhighway.) 

In addition to bike transporting people, companies like Gnewt Cargo are, like Freewheel, using bikes to move goods throughout the urban core.   

Very cool stuff.  I need to plan a trip across the pond!

Dan Kohler
Freewheel co-founder and ceo 

At Freewheel, we're embracing the holiday season.  We helped launch Cone & Steiner Parcels, with cider, holiday spices and various fall treats. For thanksgiving, we delivered holiday meals - including whole turkeys! - to Maven Meals customers.   And next weekend, we're partnering with Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, The Stranger & Cal Anderson Park Alliance to deliver Christmas trees for the Holiday Hot Spot event.  Any ideas for New Years????

Dan Kohler
Freewheel co-founder & ceo

As a bike delivery business, keeping our fleet tuned up is critical.  

From the start, we've been fortunate to partner with Jesse Angelo and Andy Graef from Mobile Bike Rescue. They do a great job keeping our bikes running smooth. 

And check this out. Not only do they have a bike repair shop downtown (Stewart & 9th), but they also provide mobile service where they'll come to you!  They service bikes regularly at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Premera, Amazon.com & more.

There's a bit of info from Jesse below, and their contact info. Need a tune up? Give them a buzz!

Dan Kohler - Freewheel co-founder & ceo

Freewheel's partnership with Victrola is perfect. They roast amazing coffee on Capitol Hill and care deeply about having a positive impact on the community and the environment. So choosing to partner with us for delivery is a natural fit. 

Each Tuesday and Friday, we cruise over to their roaster on Pike, pick up still-warm fresh roasted coffee and deliver it to shops throughout Downtown and Capitol Hill.  

I asked Joshua Boyt, Director of Sales and Marketing to tells us a little more about Victrola.  

Dan Kohler - Freewheel co-founder & ceo

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How long has Victrola been roasting coffee on Capitol Hill?

We have been roasting since 2003 on Capitol Hill.

What do you think makes Victrola special?

We approach our coffee as a market fresh item. We want to not only source the most amazing coffees the world has to offer, we want to present it to the world at it peak freshness. Most of our coffees you will only find on the menu for a month or two at a time. We also commit ourselves to engage every person in the supply chain with intention. Making sure we are not only a daily asset to our customers but to the producers we have partnered with.

How do you source coffee beans? Do you travel to the farms where the beans are grown?

We source beans by all methods possible. Some we buy direct from farms we visit, some from import partners, some the farmers come to us because of our reputation. We always let the coffee speak for itself. If it shows up on the cupping table, we do whatever we have to in order to get it and share it with our customers..

I know sustainability is really important to Victrola. What specifically are you doing to reduce your footprint environmentally?

We partner with companies like Freewheel every chance we get. One of our core values is to be sustainable in every way we can, even if it isn't the cheapest method. Our coffee bags and cups are recyclable. We actually spend more money to make sure the air coming out of our roasters are the cleanest possible than actually roasting our beans!

What kind of coffee is your personal favorite - bean, roast, drink?

Currently I am loving our new Kenyan. It is so unique for a Kenya! Not your usual intense citrus acidity it carries a much more complex fruit acidity like mountain blackberry or currant. Roast is always on the light side to just caramelize the sugars and showcase the awesome bean flavor. My favorite drink is just coffee with nothing in it. Naked and unashamed.