2,100 miles for Pedalpalooza
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor-in-Chief) on June 18th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
“You ain’t gonna get Pedalpalooza in Tulsa-frickin’-Oklahoma.”
–Tulsa resident Paul Tay, who’s currently visiting Portland
Paul Tay, from Tulsa Oklahoma, is a great example of how you can’t judge someone’s character by their style of commenting on a blog.
Some of you might recall Paul as a frequent BikePortland.org commenter that goes by the annoyingly self-promotional user name of “BikeBillboards dot blogspot dot com”. He also regularly types words in ALL CAPS (also annoying).
But one thing I’ve learned over the years is that blog comments are sometimes a horrible judge of someone’s real-life personality.
Paul traveled over 2,000 miles to participate in Pedalpalooza. After meeting him online through comments and emails, I introduced myself to him at the Naked Bike Ride and have since seen him several times at the Carfree Conference.
Earlier this week, I recorded a quick interview with him at the Depaving event in North Portland. It turns out, he’s a thoughtful guy who is dedicated to bike and transportation activism.
Watch the clip below to hear Paul’s take on the bike culture and the prospects of bringing Pedalpalooza to Oklahoma:
Email This Post
Possibly related posts 
June 18th, 2008 16:03
Glad to have you, Paul! And glad to hear you're not as annoying as you seem on Bikeportland - I'm not either ;) I'll be sure to say hi if I run into you while you're here.
June 18th, 2008 16:29
Wow, Paul talks in ALL CAPS too!
Welcome Paul!
June 18th, 2008 16:30
AWESOME!
I think Paul is right - you can come to Portland, live it, bring it home with you, and then grow your own.
(Did he say "ding ass town"? I love this guy!)
June 18th, 2008 16:56
"I introduced myself to him at the Naked Bike Ride"
Now is it just me, or is this a mighty brave thing to do?
June 18th, 2008 20:27
thanks for coming. learn and share as much as you can!
June 18th, 2008 20:31
Yeah, I'd probably reach out less quickly to shake another guy's hand... ;)
Great to have you Paul! Always good to associate a personality with text; I've enjoyed both debating with you and learning from you on here. Have a great time here, safe ride home, and best of luck in your endeavors back there.
June 18th, 2008 21:41
Reason enough for a BikePortland social. Ok so it's my bad for being too chicken to show at the naked social hour.
Welcome Paul!
June 18th, 2008 21:55
Did he travel by bike? Because that would be awesome. And yes, he sure did say "ding ass town." While the guy might write and talk in CAPS, he has sure got enthusiasm.
June 18th, 2008 22:06
Paul is the greatest. I was saved from THE NAKED MAN WITH NO BIKE, by that crazy Oklahomian. Smooches Paul!
June 18th, 2008 23:14
Russell, 2,100 miles and two-days of Greyhound. I prefer G-hound for the great class of people: a few ex-cons, one or two meth-heads ladies, and ONE very memorable African-American transvestite wannabe. Doesn't get any better than that, people. Except maybe for WNBR!
I HEART PDX! Can't wait for the ciclovia!
June 19th, 2008 00:32
I met Paul on Tuesday - he and I are certainly still going to disagree on certain things, but he's definitely a decent guy and a pleasure to talk to in person. I'm not sure if it's because everyone sounds more abrupt and less personal in email than face-to-face, or if bikey people are generally good people. All I know is that there are a number of people who I've butted heads with online who are intelligent, committed folk with whom I'd love to share a table over a beer or three.
June 19th, 2008 10:33
Matt, I don't normally drink beer on the job. However, in PDX, I've thoroughly enjoyed the DIVERSITY of brews.
Props to all the micro-brewpubs out there. Beautiful work, people!
June 19th, 2008 22:36
My parents and broth live in Tulsa, and I agree that, while far, far, behind in bike culture, Tulsa does have some good things happening (Tulsa Tough comes immediately to mind, which is a 3 day cycling festival including family rides and a twilight downtown crit).
Single tracking and free riding at Turkey Mountain are also fun (I don't think Forest Park has any free-riding structures that I know of).
June 20th, 2008 08:16
While PP is a grass-roots organized event, T-Tough is more corporate for the spandex set. T-Tough is really not much more than three days of Cirque de Cycling Criterium.
PP uses the wiki approach. T-Tough uses the dictator, we-know-what-the-market-wants approach.
T-Tough really has a lot of potential to be more inclusive and democratic like PP. If T-Tough met my needs for more communally organized events, I would not be in PDX for PP.
And, NO way, NO how would Tulsa cops allow 1,000 naked bikers to roll on Memorial, even at midnight.
June 20th, 2008 21:56
'Ding ass town'....
Totally candid... totally hilarious