This evening, we had our very first night of bike polo, held at the tennis courts at Bogert Park, here in Bozeman. Here's the stats:
14 participants
7 mallets
2 mallets(broken)
1 field hockey ball (thanks, Danielle!)
4 orange pylons, borrowed
1 bent wheel, sort of straightened
1 bent chainring, straigtened
1 thigh, run over
1 Mormon Revival
1 pair of shorts, ripped
countless cuts, nicks, and scratches
at least 36 beers, consumed
...and there's the Harper's style index for tonight.

Fourteen of us showed up at the tennis courts at Bogert Park tonight for Bozeman's first-ever night of hardcourt bike polo. The rules are simple; 3 on 3, keep the mallet in your right hand, no highsticking, mallet below the belly button, tap out if you dab, score only from the end of the mallet. The basics of urban hardcourt bike polo, pretty much. What we got was three hours of two-wheeled mayhem. We played until it got too dark to see the ball well, and had we not been blocked by the Mormon event taking place in the pavilion, we would have been able to keep playing until the lights shut off.
Here's the highlights:
The first few games were a bit tentative. Nobody had really done this before, and nobody knew what to expect. It did not take long for some strategy and style to emerge from the first fledgling swipes at the ball. Before long, teams started to communicate with each other, communicate passing and scoring strategies, and actually play a defensive game rather than just "get the ball". Later on during the night, intimidation became a crucial part of the game, one that involved blocked shots, goals scored, and lots and lots of spectacular wrecks. This could turn into a two-wheeled version of "Fight Club", where participants are showing up at work the next day with new cuts and scrapes covering their bodies. 'Tis okay, it only makes us stronger.
So that's about it. Here's a link to some pics. And a special thanks to Captain E and Stan for donating some ski poles, Danielle for donating the field hockey ball, and Sweetcheeks for helping me to procure orange pylons for goals (while a cop was watching, no less!).
I hope to see you all out next week.
6:30, Bogert Park tennis courts, off of South Church. North of the swimming pool.

OH- I have someone's lock and cable. It's thin and seems to be easy to break. If it's yours, let me know.

Tonight, 6:30. Bogert Park Pavilion, off South Church (by the swimming pool). Bring yourself, a bike that can be beat on a bit, and whatever you want to drink. We'll have the mallets and ball. In the event that the pavilion is in use, we will drive them off..easy, since we'll have MALLETS. Kidding, we'll go to the Tennis court there that doesn't appear to be used for tennis, and if that doesn't work there's always the parking lot on north 17th.
See you there!

Not much to write about, just that my new Langster came in today!!!
Number 65 out of about 600, New York edition. Fast. Yellow.

So who wants to get together more often than once every 2 months for fixed-gear bike silliness?
Yep, that's what I thought. So I'm in the process of building a buncha mallets for some hardcourt Bike Polo! I'm thinking once a week, Wednesday evenings at 6:30 or so. Bogert park pavilion should work well, at least until we get kicked out. We'll provide the mallets and balls, you bring whatever beer you want to drink. Games will be in the style of urban hardcourt polo, with teams of 3, few rules, and incidental contact common. Just to keep things simple, we're going to start with NY rules and change them as we need to. Click to check out the BBP myspace page (where updates will be posted regularly) and hopefully see you next Wednesday!

It was a hot dusty afternoon, the sun high overhead beating mercilessly down on the pavement. Temps were in the low 90's as we gathered for the Unbirthday Alleycat in Cooper Park on the South side of Bozeman. A Typical Bozeman summer, hot and dry! But at least it wasn't windy. Its hard to talk most locals into sweating on a bike for an hour and a half when they could be floating on the river. But we're Montanan's, we take our weather in extremes.
For all the heat one thing is for sure, we are growing a bike community in Bozeman. There were 18 fools who turned out for the Unbirthday Alley Cat on July 1st. The course this go round was one of hills and dirt with a bit-o-pavement in the middle. With bobbing for carrots(I use the term boobing loosely as carrots don't float), running around the Bozeman Public Library, and in general pedaling your ass off it was a triathacat to be sure. The carrot debacle was simple. Carrots don't float, as I now am fully aware. One had to plunge headlong in to the bucket to get a carrot, usually resulting in being soaked to the sholders. Bigggg props to Molly who enforced the dunking contest.
Two flat tires were incurred, one of which earned Elizabeth the coveted Moxy award. She nearly finished and would have put a fair whoppin on her hubby Sethala too! Dirty Pete had to run an extra mile to fetch some rubber that would roll. Mikey came all the way from NYC to race, he forgot his bike though. He had to throw one together at the last minute and it came out sweeter than a milano cookie. The First place finisher was none other than mrDNA himself Johnny F. We have since determined that he's been on the Juice and his racing licence is in suspension. Sorry F.

Thanks to all who help our events go off. All those who ran stops, danka. Big thanks to Insty Prints Bozeman for the spoke cards, they came out great. If you missed the race, stay tuned. You will have a chance to test your mettle come late August, early September.

Pictures can be found here.

Thanks,

Mason