saddlesores

not a threat to world peace, but perhaps a threat to legitimate fundraising.

ty seems to be making claims that are seemingly untrue.
posting photos lifted off the intertubes without attribution,
seemingly as his own.
he's posted questionable park permits for jellystone.
he's posted photos of bikes not in his stable.
he's been very evasive about where he does his talks,
refusing to provide any links to announcements or
news article writeups.

he riding for "cancer awareness" so that makes it ok?

it doesn't look good, and look is what it's about in fundraising.
it's marketing, it's awareness, it's selling the "fred hutchins" label.

the whole thing looks bogus, although not as bad as the guys collecting
funds to pay their expenses, with the remainder, if any, going to charity.

he might raise a few bucks, but many of the people that come in
contact with him and his questionable tactics, are going to think
twice next time they get a donation request. jeeze, not ANOTHER
bike across awareness guy! wonder if this one will actually take
some real photos. think any of the money will make it to the
charity? is this a scam?

nun

I like Ty's use of the Fuji and was excited to see his Spin bike, but then he started posting contradictory pictures and descriptions and the BS was obvious. That's just a bit sad, but then Ty accused the owner of Spin Industries of plagiarism to cover up his own lies........that's more than sad.....The best interpretation is that embarrassment and panic at being exposed caused Ty to do something foolish rather than coming clean.....but it could also be maliciousness, either way it should not be forgotten.

I hope that Ty raises lots of money for his charity and would love to see him giving one of his talks.

andyprough

The only fact that the Ty-troll brigade should have been looking for this entire time is whether or not his donations page is legitimately sending money through everydayhero.com to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

If Fredhutch.org has received the $1100+ Ty has raised, then all this Ty-troll hot air is a bunch of .... hot air. Hot air that borders on defamation of character.

As far as pictures, the only pictures that matter are the ones where Ty is standing next to the state and locale signs. Everything else would be a matter of fair use (or not), and would not be deemed deceptive in the slightest - thousands of charities around the globe use stock photos every single day of the year for fundraising purposes.

jamawani 

No, Andy -

It is far more than just photos.
There has been a pattern of repeated false statements which go far beyond minor slips or fair use.

For me, the most extreme statements were about a permit from Yellowstone N.P. to ride and camp in closed grizzly areas.
Not only did he claim to have it, but he also claimed to have been authorized by the superintendent himself.
And that he could camp anywhere he wanted to - closed or not. Those are federal offenses.

I have emails from park staff that no such permits were ever issued - or would ever be permitted.
When the poster made these claims a few months ago, he posted photos of the supposed permit.
I screen capped them and submitted them the park officials. There is zero question.
He may have since removed the photos or photo links, but done is done.

I am from Wyoming and am very defensive about our treasured national parks.
You may have heard about the recent malicious activities of four young Canadians at Grand Prismatic Spring.
What the person here claimed to be able to do is little different.

Not only does this potentially impact the park resources, but also the perception of touring cyclists.
YNP has a legal obligation to preserve, unhindered, the natural resources of the park.
If there is any doubt or conflict, cyclists will be further restricted or prohibited.

And I would, reluctantly, be forced to agree with such a decision by park managers.

PS - And I doubt that you are a professional photographer - even an amateur.
Please look up the term "attribution".

Happy Feet

I kind of see both sides to the issue.

On the one hand I mingle with a lot of photographers, some professional, and write for an online photographic magazine so I get the whole proprietary rights perspective. Many photog's want some sort of credit for the use of their images, either in the form of monetary payment or at least credit captioning. Small time charities may use open source images but larger foundations probably go the route of paying royalties for Shutterstock type access to avoid problems like the one being discussed here.

At the same time I know the younger, or I should probably say, the computer generation has a very different take on things that the older generation assumed to be important. Spelling and grammar seems to have gone out the windows (pun intended) and free use of intellectual property is par for the course. Sampling is huge in music and people download audio/video files all the time without and assuming any moral need to pay as well as ripping images to create memes etc... without acknowledging credit. That's just the way it is these days.

I get Ty's FB feeds and he seems to be doing his ride and I think this may be a case of someone simply not realizing how the use of images without credit may appear to others who are not of his "generation". Probably his friends are like meh and if asked wouldn't get what the big deal was about.

I also thing it would be different if he were using the images to mislead others by suggesting he were doing a trip when he really wasn't, even if the donations did go to the correct source. That would be intentional fraud but I think, in this case (I hope) it is more a case of augmenting his feeds with images that tell the story better than his own would.

I could say "Sheesh, kids" but at the same time I want to also be supportive of a young person actually doing something positive. Hopefully he's on the up and up and will learn a bit about these things as he goes... as we all do.

nun

Fair use of photographs is ok, but when Ty actively claims photos not taken by him as his own, then that is a serious matter, and he has done that several times. But more than that, to support his stories he has photoshopped other people's pictures and claimed them as his own. Here is an example. This is a picture taken by Drew Gill owner of Spin Industries and posted on his instagram site. I have confirmed all this by email with Drew. Drew made and owned the bike when he took the picture and has since sold it to a customer in Malaysia. Look closely at the SPIN logo on the downtube.

https://www.instagram.com/p/vTySEjPBvF/

and here is the same picture posted by Ty0604, but altered to completely obscure the SPIN logo as Ty claims it says Fuji. He also claims to have taken the photo while touring in England with his sisters, and Ty has also accused Drew Gill of plagiarism and that he took the photo from his Facebook feed.

https://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...5&d=1452931142


I believe he is doing a ride, but have no idea what is truth or fiction and that can't be good for his charity mission.

indyfabz

Not really.

Timequake

Let me get this straight. Calling someone out for plagiarism, digital theft, and copyright infringement is defamation of character?

Johnny Mullet

I was like totally rooting for this guy too!

DropBarFan

that's a generic home page link: I searched there for "Ty" & "Dawley" & "Portland" & PO Box #..."No funds matched your search criteria"? I'm not sure how these things work exactly; the EverydayHero page has a direct link to donate to Fred Hutchinson on Ty's behalf. Maybe EverydayHero handles all the donations for Hutchinson Center. OTOH if fund-raising is the reason for Portland2Portland then why are Ty's posts only including a text address in the sig for donation link vs an easy clickable link?

Maybe Ty-inspired donations are legit but he's simply amusing himself by having an exact $$ account of how many folks he can con? After all, I've read that there are so many bikers doing fund-raising things that it's almost impossible to get attention from even small-town media. Likewise on the internet, seems that only folks with a gift of gab (or BS) could get substantial donations other than family/friends.

LesterOfPuppets

I think you have to pay the current owners of bikeforums.net $12 for the privilege of putting hotlinks in yer sig.

andyprough

Publicly airing allegations of fundraising fraud and corruption is definitely in the realm of defamation of character. If those allegations are proven to be false and defamatory.

However, I hope none of the Ty-trolls takes my word for it and that they double down on their allegations of criminal conduct. I'll get my popcorn and enjoy the fireworks when Ty decides to sue everyone. Hopefully he posts a blow-by-blow description of the litigation on some website where we can all follow it.

BobG

The PO Box mailing address in Seattle as well as the contact name at Fred Hutch, Andrea MacPherson, are authentic...

Postal Mailing Address:
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N.
P.O. Box 19024
Seattle, WA 98109-1024

Search

EverydayHero is not Ty's personal site. It's an independent organization that coordinates fund raisers all over the place. Here's their home page...

https://www.everydayhero.com/us/

Click on "Find a Friend", type in Ty Dawley and his fundraiser is confirmed by the first hit. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is the designated recipient. The "exact $$" amounts on the donation page are just suggestions. PBS does the same on their fund raisers. There is a blank box to use for whatever other amount you choose to give.

BobG

Well as a cancer survivor and a bicycle tourist I've just given $100 inspired by Ty's ride. Sometimes the small donations add up. Just ask Bernie! Next donor?

And to confirm integrity of the donation site here is my receipt from Fred Hutch Center. Everydayhero charges $8.90 for the transaction. You could mail a check instead for 49 cents and avoid that fee or deduct it from your online donation...

nun

The donation site and ride look legitimate and I would love to see some photos of Ty giving his talk. But the incidents of plagiarism and fantastical lies still exist. This is a great pity as they detract from the charity mission and diminish Ty in the eyes of many forum members.

fishboat

Oh..the drama of it all..

Get a grip. Does anyone think that this would actually happen in any rational world? Sure makes for synthetic drama though..

jamawani 

So Andy - - What do you call it when a person attributes false statements to a national park service employee
and posts a fraudulent NPS permit online? Creative writing??

People who toss out terms like "troll" do, in fact, tell on themselves.
We have been only asking that the poster be truthful - you seem to want vengeance.
Big difference.

alan s 

Questioning someone's honesty, when there are many, many instances of questionable behavior, is not defamation. Look it up.

indyfabz

+1. Sounds like a lay person trying to play lawyer. Happens a lot on BF.

I sent my Prough a PM with some info that may make him at least a bit objective and help him understand why some of us have questions.

saddlesores

that's the thing, there seem to be none. internet grabs of "i saw this sign" or "i rode past this hotel," but nothing with ty and the spin. and no photos of ty giving uplifting awareness lectures. you know, ty and bike in front of the hotel, ty posing with clinic nurses, ty enjoying a delicious meal in the hospital cafeteria......

maybe somewhere in the facebook thing, but not publicly viewable.

Steve B.

If a NPS employee with some form of authentic link comes here and states what you say is true then OK. In the mean time stop playing cop for the NPS as in truth are your allegations any more factual then the OP ?, just sayin '

jamawani 

SB - Yes, they are a stronger argument.
Earlier, I had posted the email response from YNP.
And, yes, anyone could do that.
But the views I have expressed fall in line with the past two decades of park policy.
And what the poster claims to have been able to do are in clear violation of wildlife management.

Why don't you join the flat-earthers while you are at it.
You know that the moon landings were all faked in Idaho, right?

At this point, I really could give a rat's patootie.
But I will support park enforcement against cyclists who violate clear policies.
And if that means greater restrictions on touring cyclists - well, tough.
The NPS doesn't exist to cater to cyclists - esp. privileged, ill-informed ones.

nun

I can give you confirmation that Ty lied about taking the picture of the SPIN bike and was also lying when he accused Drew Gill of taking the picture of the SPIN lightening X-1 from his Facebook page. I emailed Drew Gill, the maker and original owner of the bike in the picture, and got this reply.

The fact that the bike is not carbon, not made in Germany, not set up for touring, is a different size from Ty's Fuji Newest, that the photo Ty posted has been photoshopped to obscure the SPIN logo and Drew Gill's email are a pretty solid case to prove that Ty is not telling the truth about this bike. I have no idea about the truth or not of the rest of his posts, but he's a proven fantasist IMHO and has accused other's of plagiarism to cover up his own lies.....and I hope you'd agree that that's very hard to defend.

Steve B.

Thing is, I happen to agree with you that this whole trip by the OP seems fishy and there's certainly enough info. folks have dug up to call it into question.

Or not.

And that's the rub, anything can be fabricated, including all your supposed e-mails and conversations with the NPS. I have no problems with a statement that you've contacted the NPS but the OP has countered that and he may be correct as well, it's the internet after all and everything's true. Plus you come off as a NPS cop wanna'be and that's getting tiring to read.

I do feel that this whole thread has turned into theater for the absurd and don't care if he claims he's biking to Greenland, I've read worse fiction. Have at it and have fun.

And everybody knows the actual moon landings were in Nevada at Site 52.

nun

The internal inconsistencies and photoshopping of Ty's posts about the SPIN bike are enough to prove that he's not telling the truth. The confirmation from Drew Gill......a well known wheel maker and titanium fabricator in the UK........nails it IMHO.

Is this all earth shattering? no, is it a waste of time? yes........but I would hope that the integrity of this forum means something to regular posters and Ty has done nothing for the site's integrity.