Did anyone read the letter to the editor in Saturday's paper that was titled, "Who Knew?" It was written by a guy from Telluride, CO, about his visit to OKC.

Was he being sarcastic about OKC by his references--or was he being positive in an unusual way? Particularly, we did not understand his "formal attire" comment regarding lunch in downtown...or the comment "Who knew that there was a huge body of water (The Oklahoma River) here?"

Would appreciate your input if you'd care to enlighten an old okie. ;)

What's the letter say?

What's the letter say?

While rather lengthy, here is what he wrote:

"Here are some things that a touring cyclist notices about Oklahoma City on the way through town:
>Formal attire: The scene in downtown at lunch feels like that scene in 'The Matrix' when Morpheus trains Neo to look out for agents.
>Oklahoma City locals smoke a lot--a refreshing change from the sterile environments of places I'm used to west of here.
>The people care: I was here to raise money for research and everyone wanted to hear about it and know what could be done to help. It was great!
>Excellent bike shops. Bicycle Alley even hosted a slide show for us and gave us some parts for the road.
>Oklahoma City is the first city along Interstate 40 east of Santa Fe, N.M., where one encounters a visible cycling culture--bike lanes, messenger bags. I hope it grows!
>Coffee shops (maybe it's just been too long since I've been in a city...).
>Who knew that there was a huge body of water (The Oklahoma River) here?
These are the things the eyes of a tourist takes in when visiting Oklahoma City. It was a great and whatever it is you're doing here, keep it up!
Stephen Allen, Telluride, Colo."

I typed it as it was printed in the paper. While on the surface it comes off positive, there seems to be something that is off-putting...or maybe just a bit sarcastic...or am I just misreading?

The smoking part seems to be pretty sarcastic.... at least I hope so! A smoking cyclist?

Yeah, pretty strange.. it's seems complimentary enough but still, some undertones are confusing.

Do we have bicycle lanes and messenger bags?

Do you have a link?

The smoking part seems to be pretty sarcastic.... at least I hope so! A smoking cyclist?

Yeah, pretty strange.. it's seems complimentary enough but still, some undertones are confusing.

Do we have bicycle lanes and messenger bags?

Do you have a link?

No link, unfortuately. Perhaps someone else will come along w/how to access today's Oklahoman's editorial page. They did list a website for the guy's cause, but I'm not reprinting that as it didn't relate to his letter.

We didn't think there were "bicycle lanes and messenger bags" here either...although there are some bike trails around (like at Hefner).

And calling the Oklahoma River a "huge body of water"? That made no sense at all; we have a couple of nice-sized lakes here, but they certainly don't qualify as "huge."

It is rather confusing. The only thing that blatantly appears sarcastic is the smoking statement. The rest could go either way to me!

Sounds fine to me.

Unless things have changed, lots of the locals do smoke, and almost all of it is outdoors these days. A comment noticing lots of smokers downtown is not a surprise, it's just a factoid. As for the rest, seems positive to me.

Might it be that, as a whole, we're still somewhat unused to hearing nice things about the area, and it catches offguard when it happens?

I thought the letter in general came off as a bit glib, but still overall complimentary (I think). If this guy is from Colorado, he is probably just used to a much different - and casual - scene. Still the comment about lunch downtown looking like a scene from a Matrix movie is a bit strange. Guess he's not been in other metro downtowns lately - or if he has, they're in cities that have more readily embraced the "corporate casual" way of thinking.

The smoking comment was strange to me, too.

I just got back from a city in California, where smoking in all indoor facilities is banned. It was actually quite refreshing, I have to admit. I did see quite a few smokers outside, but then I see those here, too, so nothing to really write home - or the Oklahoman - about.

Here is the text of the letter to the editor (from the Oklahoman's archives)


WHO KNEW?

Here are some things that a touring cyclist notices about Oklahoma City on the way through town:

› Formal attire: The scene in downtown at lunch feels like that scene in “The Matrix” when Morpheus trains Neo to look out for agents.

› Oklahoma City locals smoke a lot — a refreshing change from the sterile environments of places I’m used to west of here.

› The people care: I was here to raise money for research and everyone wanted to hear about it and know what could be done to help. It was great!

› Excellent bike shops. Bicycle Alley even hosted a slide show for us and gave us some parts for the road.

› Oklahoma City is the first city along Interstate 40 east of Santa Fe, N.M., where one encounters a visible cycling culture — bike lanes, messenger bags. I hope it grows!

› Coffee shops (maybe it’s just been too long since I’ve been in a city…).

› Who knew that there was a huge body of water (The Oklahoma River) here?

These are the things the eyes of a tourist takes in when visiting Oklahoma City. It was a great and whatever it is you’re doing here, keep it up!.

Stephen Allen, Telluride, Colo.

Allen is executive director of and cyclist working for the Seize The World Foundation Inc. ( Seize The World (http://www.SeizeTheWorld.com) ), a nonprofit foundation that’s supporting a round-the-world bicycle tour.
The overall tone seems quite sincere ... although one would have to be inside his mind to understand what he meant by the smokers reference. But, if it was a tongue in cheek remark, I doubt that he intended any harm.

Maybe he's a smoker?

Yes I find it very hard to read his tone as well. Most of it seems sincere, but the first two are very odd. I supposed you could consider the Oklahoma River a "huge body of water" when (a) he's been riding along I-40 from the west, which is a very dry region (and Albuquerque and Tucumcari aren't exactly known for their lakes and rivers), and (b) many people still have the "dust bowl" mentality about OKC.

Here's the link:

http://newsok.com/letters-to-the-editor-saturday-nov.-8-2008/article/3320049?custom_click=headlines_widget

I think his comments were genuine. Though I don't consider OKC very bike-friendly, if he spent time on Automobile Alley, he may have gotten a different impression. I think his Matrix comment has to do with the fact that Okies aren't perceived as the suit-and-tie crowd that many of us really are, and in Telluride, the dress style is probably much more casual (it's kind of a hippy town). Also, I suppose a smoker would find it refreshing to be able to smoke freely (I prefer smoke-free bars myself).

Perhaps he saw Lake Hefner and thought it was the Oklahoma River??

I think his comments were genuine. Though I don't consider OKC very bike-friendly, if he spent time on Automobile Alley, he may have gotten a different impression. I think his Matrix comment has to do with the fact that Okies aren't perceived as the suit-and-tie crowd that many of us really are, and in Telluride, the dress style is probably much more casual (it's kind of a hippy town). Also, I suppose a smoker would find it refreshing to be able to smoke freely (I prefer smoke-free bars myself).

I agree. It was a good review. The others are trying to read to much into it and decipher hidden meaning. He's just giving his review of the place based upon the limited amount of things he probably saw, but it was still refreshing compared to what he was used to.

I think he was being sincere about the smoking thing. You know, lots of people from the outside that look at a largely smoking culture, while usually grossed out and dismayed (as they should be) also sees a mindset of "I am going to do what I want to do without worrying too much. Rules are no fun, and none of us are getting out of life alive anyway." I didn't think he was being snotty or sarcastic at all. Being super-green and super-healthy is certainly something Oklahoma should think WAY more about, but there's a little to be said about self-indulgence, too.

Sincere I think. No one smokes in the west anymore, it isnt pc. So smoking would get noticed. Also if you have ever drove from the west on I40 OKC is the first big city with any culture at all you hit for a long long time. I think he was shocked after being in the desert .. so to speak.

I lived in Boise ID for a while and was quite shocked at how many people smoked. I too thought that the west was more health conscious so this surprise me a lot. It may be that more people are outside there so I just noticed it more.

Seize The World (http://seizetheworld.com/)

Remember this thread?

So I stumbled upon this site by happenstance and this is what the guy with the letter ot the editor had to say in full... it's funny how he mentions that he doesn't expect his letter to be publised.


Okay, moving along to more exciting news, Oklahoma City was a wonderful place to layover for two days. I spent some great time exploring the city: I rode in on West 29th street. Colorado residents will understand me when I say that this is OKC’s version of East Colfax. Then I made my way into downtown, crossing over various railroad tracks, and under various interchanges, until I found myself in a kind of limbo between the tall buildings part of town, and a newly-redeveloped area called Bricktown (which is an oldly newly developed area I would imagine).


OKC skyline shot from Bricktown
I decided to escape limbo by riding under a freeway and into bricktown where I had my first cup of OKC coffee @ Starbucks - it was not free this day, as it would be on Nov. 4, however. Sbux gave away free cups of coffee on Nov. 4 to anyone who walked in and said that they voted. Which I did. And which I did.



From a foundational point of view, I had a very fun time with our slide show in Oklahoma City, which was, after all, the reason I was in town! I went to Bicycle Alley, the site of the event, early Monday afternoon where I met with Terry, the owner, and the two mechanics who were working that day, Zach and Tyler. Terry talked with me at length about the shop, the neighborhood, and the basics of OKC cycling culture while explaining that he anticipated no problems in rounding up a projector before the evening’s show (there were, in fact, no problems - Terry got a projector from the owner of the office building in which Bicycle Alley is located, and had arranged a beautiful selection of tables, chairs, etc. for my presentation to take place). During this initial visit to the shop, I took an hour or so to tune up my bike - I spent quite a bit of time discussing epilepsy and world travel with Tyler and Zach while truing my back wheel, cleaning my bike, and lubing the drivetrain - if you catch my meaning. No really - there’s no hidden meaning. I was just lubing the drivetrain. But anyhow, the rear wheel seems to be coming out of true constantly, so I upped the tension on the spokes, which may or may not help with the problem…part of the issue may also be that five of the spokes are about 2mm too long and might be stripping out. Another part of the problem may be that the wheel has just gotten a fair amount of beating. Never fear though - it’s actually still in really good shape, just has a couple of small hops that I can’t get rid of.


The view of the service area inside Bicycle Alley after the close of business on Monday.




So - once I was satisfied that the bike was as good as it was going to get, I took off to explore Oklahoma City a bit more. I rode through downtown


OKC's tallest building - controlled (much-like the leashed triangular pens at your bank) by Chase. They also control Amarillo's tallest building...time will tell what other cities have tall buildings controlled by Chase along my route.

for the first time, which is actually very clean, very dense, and very full of well-dressed people. In a letter to the editor of the Oklahoman which has a very *very* slight chance of publication, I described the scene at lunchtime in downtown as being similar to the scene in the Matrix when Morpheus is training Neo - who my friend Seth thought until I pointed out otherwise, was called “Neal” - to look out for Agents. The only difference is that the Agents of Oklahoma City are all smoking cigarrettes while they roam around the city on their lunch breaks, while the Agents in the Matrix are . . . not. A remarkable quantity of tobacco gets smoked in this city - at least from the perspective of a visitor who grew up in cities and towns in Colorado, and spent a some time in Utah. Kind of interesting to see! Cigarettes do not have the stigma attached to them in OKC that they seem to everywhere else in culture that I am familiar with in the U.S. Perhaps I will learn more about this as I move E through the S. Who knows?



Oklahoma City has benefitted from a major city beautification effort during the past eight years from what I could gather from locals. A woman at Starbucks told me that eight years ago marked the beginning of downtown rennovation…and it really is a beautiful downtown area. Clean sidewalks, a FABULOUS brand new library - the Metropolitan Library. 3 or 4 floors tall I believe, glass + steel architecture, huge, open rooms with high ceilings. Free wireless internet… a coffee shop inside. They’ve done it right with the library!


My bike hanging - in the way the rack guided me to hang it - from one of the racks outside OKC's Metropolitan Library

After my exploration of downtown, I returned to Bicycle Alley to give the slide show. The show was fun - quality is, I believe, improving from show to show, and I talked more with Terry, showed slides, had some more conversation with Zach and his wife - whose name has slipped my mind, but who was excited about travel and about the tour. Zach (Zack?) gave me a good route reccommendation for my ride up to Tulsa, which I will hopefully use tomorrow.

Then, after the show, I headed out of the shop to catch a movie. I wound up talking on the phone with my friend and fellow STW director, Seth at length about the upcoming Tulsa show - tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at the Tulsa Central Library! - before seeing Rocknrolla at the Bricktown Harkins Theaters in OKC. Again - I seem to always *always* be craving movies, I don’t know why it’s amplified while I’m on the road but it is.

It should also be mentioned that I met a family that evening who put me in touch with a good friend of theirs whose daughter is epileptic. She is 17 years old and has multiple seizures/week. I will follow up with her. But the family who I met was enthusiastic about STW and asked to be added to the email list before offering me a place to stay that evening. An offer which I would’ve gladly accepted had I not already checked into a hotel the day before! The following day at breakfast I met another family who asked me all kinds of questions about STW and then as I was leaving to get on my bike, the father put money into my hand as he told me to put the money toward taking care of myself on the road.

I wanted to put those two encounters into the blog because I feel as though the small bits of help that I receive on a very regular - in fact, nearly daily - basis during this tour are close to being enough to keep the bike rolling, and that they work not only from a purely practical point of view (i.e. here is a place to stay and money for your next meal) but they also provide me with good morale. It helps a lot to know that nearly everyone with whom I can have a conversation about Seize The World will at least be interested to know what’s going on, and that of those people, many will want to know what they can do to help when I meet them along the road. This is important for those of you who have been consistent supporters to know as well - the knowledge that we are continually finding an enthusiastic audience on the road, and that it will only build as our public relations start getting the word out to more people that we’re doing what we’re doing.

Of course, you should also know that it’s not *all* happy go lucky - for every person who talks to me for fifteen minutes about STW, there is a person who tells me that I can’t bring my bike into a store, or a person who refuses to hear our story when I’m putting up flyers to promote our slideshows - or more commonly, business owners who ask to be given flyers so that they can put them up later, which of course never happens - or a reporter who will give me a cursory interview for a story which they never intend to write. Those experiences also occur on a a nearly-daily basis, much of which is very familiar from my experience touring in California and from experience backpacking: there is a set of the population that is not and will never be interested to find out what you are doing if you are walking around with sunscreen on your face toting around a backpack or panniers. Perhaps it inspires mistrust or something? Who knows.

BUT - the focus is on the first group. And they are growing in number. I met more of them here in Oklahoma City than I have in any other single stop on the tour, which made OKC a very positive experience for me. I hope you enjoy the photos, and if you ever pass through town, check out the library, the Brictown theaters, and of course - Bicycle Alley. Those wound up being my favorite local places to hang out while I was here."

oh wow, that is Awesome!

p.s. smoking is so gross.... too bad many people here still think it's cool to smoke. I'm amazed at how many teens are smoking. Unbelieveable really.

I think the smoking reference was sincere also. He's probably sick of a bunch of uptight people acting like Nazis to smokers. I'm sure that's not far from the truth in Telluride. i know nonsmokers who are put off by this as well. And yes, cyclists smoke, although the smoke they prefer is green and comes in clear plastic bags.

smoking is a 20th Century habit that ought to be left behind with the 20th Century.

smoking is a 20th Century habit that ought to be left behind with the 20th Century.

:congrats:

I can kind of see from this blog post that he has a slightly odd sense of humor that is probably why his letter struck us as odd. I don't think any of it was sarcastic. Even the smoking comment.

I still think the smoking comment reflects bad on us though.

Thank you, Platemaker, for posting the blog. Now everything he said makes sense! And he WAS positive about OKC.

As for the smoking, makes sense too. When visiting cities where smoking is NOT the thing to do, we LOVE the clean air around business entrances, etc. Oklahomans would be vastly helped by ceasing that habit...but freedom is what freedom is. :)

Wonder how much of what he wrote in the blog was "edited out" by TDO? That may have been more of the problem than his unique sense of humor...which I now get!

Thank you again for the input and clarification.