The Kona Bicycle Co. recently rolled its one-millionth bicycle off the assembly line after about 20 years in Ferndale, Washington.
Now the company wants to create a Willie Wonka-style lottery to celebrate the manufacture of the special bike, a Cinder Cone, pictured here.
The Cinder Cone was the first bicycle that Kona made, back in 1988. The durable hardtail has evolved, but the name lives on. Kona has made about 77,155 Cinder Cones, making it the company's most popular bike.
The company was founded in 1988 by Jacob (Jake the Snake) Heilbron, Dan Gerhard and Joe Murray (who's now with Voodoo Bikes).
You might recall that a couple of years ago that Kona started building rugged bicycles for BikeTown Africa. The bikes would be used by health-care workers to deliver AIDS and HIV treatment to outlying villages.
That effort is still underway, and 1,000 new Africa bikes are on their way to South Africa, Mozambique, and Swaziland.
1,000,000
The one-millionth bike has been manufactured and boxed and it waiting for shipment. A Kona World press release explains what happens next:
“The Cinder Cone randomly arrives at its given country, is transported to a lucky Kona dealership and sits unassumingly on the floor until that one lucky rider chooses it as their ride. Once the millionth bike is chosen, confetti falls from the rafters, the lucky new bike owner (who receives instant fame) is hosed down by Uzzi-style water guns, midgets do cartwheels while clowns make poodles out of balloons, corks fly off champagne bottles and Kona co-founders Dan and Jake ride unicycles around the bike shop dressed in top hats and bow-ties and the 80s clothing they wore when they started their company.”
I don't get it either. Check back on Wednesday (hey, that's Interbike's opening) at a special website — www.konaworld.com/09-million — for more information. (Kona company employees and Oompa-Loompas are not eligible.)
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