Velominati: Terrahist

Terrorism at work against cancer.

PayPal has decided to classify Velominati as a “Terrorist Organization” because we accepted contributions last week from community members to support the fight against cancer – without being an accredited non-profit organization. So much for trying to do the “right thing”.

While I’m sure they have their internal processes and reasons for this action given the current global climate, it nevertheless boggles the mind that they have such difficulty distinguishing between terrorism and terminal illness, despite the documentation I provided to the contrary. For those of you who donated to the Zoo Hill Climb for Cancer, please know that Velominati made the contribution in the full amount pledged by the community; unfortunately your donation has been refunded to you as demanded by PayPal in order to restore our account to good standing.

God Bless ‘Merca.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Gianni says:

Jul 29 2012 at 8:47 am

Frank, screw paypal. You look fantastic in that photo! That's what matters.
moondance says:

Jul 29 2012 at 5:17 pm

@frank

@moondance

Will this affect ordering V-kit at all?

Don't be ridiculous. Being classified thusly doesn't impact our ability to collect money, on which PayPal takes a hefty fee. They only keep you from being able to then pay whomever you need to pay. That old chestnut.

But seriously, no - no impact - we refunded all the donations, so we're back in good standing- and the Climb4Cancer fund also still got its donation from the community which is what is important. We were always able to take orders; now that we're back in good standing we can also pay Castelli when the order closes, so everything is OK.

Well, shit. Now I've got a conundrum. As I am not rule 33 compliant, I deem myself unworthy to wear the V-Kit. So my good excuse for not ordering any just went out the window. I could just go ahead and lather up, but that would give one particular friend a little too much smug satisfaction. So, I guess I can at least get some arm warmers or some other bits and not feel as guilty."
girl says:

Jul 30 2012 at 2:01 am

@moondance No excuses. Suck it up and get compliant. Rule compliant legs are much nicer to follow period.
Erik says:

Jul 30 2012 at 7:11 am

@mxlmax

Could you setup a not-for-profit? Name it Velo(something).

Well. You can. I don't know where Frank and the site are managed from, but setting up a non-profit organization is not terribly difficult. What makes it a pain is once it is set up as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt org (in the U.S.) the organization has to file tax returns. Tax returns are a pain for small efforts like this. Perhaps Elden Nelson could offer some input. He's raised ga-gillions over at FatCyclist.com.

Frank, feel free to contact me via the email. I'm a lawyer. I set up a local club.
Ron says:

Jul 30 2012 at 8:24 am

@mcsqueak

The nitwit who flagged The V-Account as a terrorist org was probably just some jealous jerk in a bad kit, who had clearly been dropped on a climb previously by one of you assholes...

Ah ha ha. That's awesome..
PeakInTwoYears says:

Aug 2 2012 at 6:27 am

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/technology/paypal-antifraud-measures-are-extreme-some-users-say.html?_r=1&hpw