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

Yes, it has been a long time since I've last posted. Sorry, I've been riding my bike instead of writing about riding my bike. I knew you'd understand.

Now, to the point- Captain E is organizing an alleycat THIS Sunday, July first. Meet at Cooper Park at 3pm and have your $5 ready. A bag will be useful. See you there!

Oh, and how about some women show up this time, OK? We still have prizes that the nice ladies at Gerty gave us for the last race. Someone's gotta win them, and I don't really want to see Seth or Evan or Dallas in anything from that shop. *shudder*.

Just a short blurb until I get to writing a full post:

First place men: Captain E
First place women: Why didn't any women show up?!?!
Moxie Award: Gus, for riding a cruiser with 1/2 a handlebar.
Getting the crashing out of the way early award: Casey
Riding a completely inappropriate bike award: John

Pictures
Wiley's Pictures on The Practical Pedal

Prizes- We got 'em! Thanks to the local businesses that gave up some support: Barrel Mountaineering, Gerty, 317 pub, Plonk, Bad Taste, and Bangtail Bikes. Entry will include an afternoon of hot racing and maybe a little somethin' else.
See you Sunday!

Tubes are here! Tubes are here! Yay!
Linky.

OK, the next alleycat is a go. Sunday, April 29th meet at 2:00 PM for the 'Aint no Hollaback Alleycat'. Entry is $5. We've got some great prizes lined up from Plonk, Gerty, and Bad Taste as well as some others I'm working on.
Winning will get you some booty, but there's more to it than that. There's the ongoing Moxie award (currently held by Captain E) and others as we see fit. So come and race anyway, even if you're riding a cruiser.
We meet at 2PM at Cooper Park. Make sure you have a bag (or some other means of carrying stuff) and a writing implement. HINT.
As always, any kind of bikes are welcome. Geared, Fixed, Single Speed, Mountain, Road, Trike, Tallbike, whatever.

Special Thanks to local businesses who are excited to be involved by donating prizes. Show your thanks by supporting them.

Here's some pics of Pete's first shot at building his own frame. He made a track-geometry fixed-gear, nice lugged steel frame and fork. He built the wheels with orange Velocity Deep-V rims and NJS-stamped Dura-Ace hubs, Sugino crankset, and a Nitto track bar. I'd say it is a success. Nice job, Pete.
More pictures here.

Ok, Everyone (aka you two). Sunday, April 29th is the next Alleycat. Location:TBD. Entry: TBD, probably around $5. Time: around 2 pm. I still gotta go around and beg for prizes and booze. I also would like to know who is (or knows someone) willing to work a stop. That pretty much means standing and signing manifests. It might mean sitting in a bar handing out drinks. Leave a comment if you're interested. Thanks.

Hey everyone- I'd like for you all to meet the newest member of the greater Bicycle Community. This little guy showed up on our doorstep a few days ago and doesn't seem like he's leaving anytime soon.
Everyone, meet Butter Bikes.
Butter Bikes, meet Everyone.
Butter is destined for great things. More than a simple bike company, it's a method of living that minimizes one's impact on the Earth while maximizing one's enjoyment in transportation. There's going to be bikes; cool, fun, innovative ones. But there's also going to be fun shirts like from our friends at BZNDesigns, smart bike accessories, and maybe even some yummy recipes.

You know, cuz Butter makes it Better.

The plan is to chronicle the growth of a collection of good ideas into a bike company, one that has a real desire to improve our World by starting with the community.
Check back often, and check out the Butter Bikes blog.

Sorry, this one's not on any shirts yet. Let me know what y'all think. Thanks in advance.

...But I am having one. Here's another shirt design. Use with critical mass rides and the Coop. Gas stations, Hummers (the 4-wheeled kind), and frequent drivers are contraindicated as violent reactions may occur between those wearing this shirt and occupants of said objects. Side effects may include, but not limited to: One-finger salutes, Disputes over public right-of-way ownership, general road laws, and a generally smug feeling of 'doing the right thing'. You're welcome.

A lot of you folks visiting this site regularly are avid cyclists and mountain bikers. And I'm sure that a lot of you (or yous, in my home dialect) also enjoy going out for a hike on a nice day. It is with this spirit of cooperatively enjoying our public lands that the latest BZNDesigns shirt is available, 'On the Same Side'. Wear it to forest management meetings, mountain bike races, out on the trail on a sunny Saturday, to Sierra Club events, anywhere! Spread the love.

After HOURS of design work I have finally been able to get some fun shirt designs on Cafepress. More designs are in the works, it just takes a bit of time to get everything set up. They are primarily bicycle related (duh), but if I get a good idea or 2 that aren't I might make 'em anyway. Designs will be fun, funny, and some will be quite irritating. So check in often, spend that student loan money, and buy some shirts. If anyone has any requests, feel free to let me know, as a one-off design can be done easily. Here's a peek:

Moab report, finally!
Saturday morning, 7am. I started loading up SIzzle the Subaru for a hasty getaway after work. I managed to cram enough stuff in the car so that it looked like I was moving out, especially when Dirty Pete's bouldering crash pad topped off the back. No, I couldn't see out the back window. All that stuff for one person? Isn't that excessive? Maybe, but this was my vacation, dammit...and I aim to live large.
Sunday Morning, 10 am. Arrive in Moab. Sizzle performed flawlessly, giving me 28mpg in exchange for driving less than 70. Met C-note and B-wrecked at Poison Spider Cycles right on main street. They're a good shop- The Aquabats were playing on the shop stereo and we got the beta on the new "SuperSecretNobodyKnowsAboutIt" Sovereign Trail. Headed to the campsite (awesome) and got ready for a ride. We headed up the Salt Flats Recreation Area past the 2nd most scenic dump in the US and rode the Martian terrain of Slickrock. This was my first experience with this stuff- and it's amazing! It's nothing but undulating hills of 60-grit sandpaper! We found that traction ran out when the slope got to about 45 degrees. A good ride.
I will update this later.
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

I found this on the Fixie FAQs site across the pond. I like it, so I'm putting it here.

Today we had some fantastic weather. Ski purists may scoff, but the mid-40's and sunny conditions today are, in my eyes, a welcome precursor to the season to come. Roads were a bit wet, but tolerable. A touch of snow and ice on Canary Lane kept me paying attention to what I was doing instead of staring at the mountains. Beats riding rollers in the basement any day. Pictures here.

Regarding Liverdance, I've pretty much decided on not going. Reality stopped by late last night and reminded me of how I'm not going to want to leave Moab when I'm down there riding. Next race, I promise. There's a chance that I'll be back for Dirty Pete's St. Patty's day Pubride now.