Selling the farm

Well, the time has come, friends, to sell the farm. The whole shebang. The kit and caboodle, whatever they are. I’m putting the whole Zero Per Gallon enterprise up for sale because I’m getting ready to set off on a little sailing expedition. (Don’t worry: I’ll keep running ZPG until it changes hands.)

It’s been just over three years. In that time, gas prices have risen and tumbled, and in the process, freaked everybody out. For the first time in a generation, Americans curtailed their driving. Meanwhile, getting around by bicycle has gained tremendous popularity and acceptance. And get this: at long last, SUV’s appear to be taking their last breaths. MPG’s — even if they haven’t changed for 30 years — are at least on more minds.

Running this little ZPG empire has been fun. I’ve built an amusing (at least to me) website, and met lots of crazy/cool peeps — from LFoaB (Large Fella on a Bike) to Captain Ballyhoo, aka the BCICOTWDTDFF (Big Cheese In Charge Of The Whole Damn Tour De Fat Festival). I’ve sponsored a dozen alleycats and events across the country, including
Clusterfuck (Denver), the Supermarket Street Sweep (SF), Winterfest (SF), Giro d’Tampa (duh), the Rubber City Alleycat (Akron), Bunny on a Stick (Long Beach), Dia de los Muertos (Fort Collins), Babes in Bikeland, scAVENGER, and the Almanzo 100 (all in MPLS).

Somehow, notwithstanding my reluctance to a) advertise or b) devote more than one-day-a-week, ZPG has grown way beyond the little side-hobby that it started out as. I see stickers on bikes all over the country, especially in PDX, MPLS, SF, Seattle, DC, and Denver. I even see ‘em on computers at Google , on skateboards in SF, and in a whole bunch of Timbuk2 bags. ZPG stuff is now distributed by the Merry Sales Company, and is available in three dozen shops across the country. I’ve sold at least 10,000 stickers, almost 1,000 patches, 500 belts, and hundreds of t-shirts. I even made a handful of necklaces. Get this: I spent $1300 on postage in 2008 alone.

Not too shabby, huh? So if you know of a cool, bike-friendly person or small company, let ‘em know about ZPG… Chances are that there’s someone else out there who’s good (at least better than I am) at running a little shop out of his or her basement. It’s not rocket science, you can drink beer most of the time while tending to business, and it pays the bills. Oh, and it’s fun. I’ll certainly miss it.

-Jonny

*For more information, including stats and sales figures, email me: < jonny5@zeropergallon.com >