Bozeman Hardcourt Bike Polo from samh on Vimeo.

The first one is out there- go find it!

How does it sound to go ride your bike around and find stuff? Pretty good idea? Yup, thought so.
Head over to velocachebozeman.ning.com to join in and play a little velocaching. Unlike geocaching, we don't bother with GPS coordinates. When someone leaves a cache they simply take pictures from the drop location. The game's on when the pictures are posted. Multiple caches can be in play, and the key rule is that you need to use a bike to get to it. Share some stuff and share your knowledge of town with others. There's a few rules but I won't bore you with them here.

Thanks (once again) to the Boise cats for the inspiration. In fact, just check out their site.

-DNA

A special game of Bozeman Hardcourt Bike Polo is scheduled for Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 7pm, Hawthorne School (Rouse and Mendenhall). Be there.

We've got a new game coming up. You'll find out in a few days. It will involve bikes, cameras, and computers.

-DNA

Thanks to Doug and Outside Bozeman Magazine.

OK, so here's where we're at. I'm working (and can't escape) Saturday. I also am having a hard time finding someone who is willing to run the alleycat that day. So I am moving it to Sunday. Meet at International Coffee Traders on South 10th (by campus) at 1:30 on Sunday. Cost is $10. Yes, that's a bit steep but there's no prizes- just cash. And I'd like to be able to give something to more than just the winner. We'll have a few beers and we'll round out the day with some polo at the Hawthorne school, say around 5pm.
Don't forget about the Main Street Sprints tomorrow night! They start at 6 and will be going from Grand to Black. Get down there early, get a drink from the Crystal, and get yerself a good spot from which to heckle.

-DNA

Yep, I know that's what a lot of you are thinking. It's been too damn long since I've posted anything here and even longer since we had an alleycat in Bozeman. A few things have been going on, I'm going to take the liberty to use them as excuses:

• the shop I work at moved and we've been really busy trying to not fall behind.
• I've been working with a great bunch of folks trying to keep our trails from getting closed to mountain bikes, including putting together this site(which I encourage you to be part of).
• You know, I'm not the only one who can put on an alleycat. Just sayin.

But I'm not writing to say what's been going on, I'm writing to tell you what kinds of awesome are coming up. For starters, polo has been happening every Wednesday like it was last year at 7 every Wednesday behind the Hawthorne School on the corner of Rouse and Mendenhall.
But the big news is this weekend. You might be aware of the Bozeman Stage Race happening this weekend (25th and 26th), also referred to in some circles as the Bozeman Omnium. It consists of a road race, time trial and Main Street sprints. Well, that's cool and all, but since I'd rather not hang out with a bunch of guys in lycra all day we're putting on the Bozeman alt.Omnium. Still three stages, one being the Main Street Sprints (which has a single/fixed gear class). Instead of the road race, we'll have an alleycat. Instead of the time trial, we'll play some hardcourt bike polo. And we'll probably drinka a lot of beer too.
I know this is short notice, and I can't guarantee any prizes other than a bit of cash, but if you can make it out to the BZN for a couple of days we'll make sure you have a good time and that you have a place to sleep. Shoot me an email if you have any questions.
Heads up- the Main Street Sprints are organized and run by the MBRA (or whoever is running it) and IS a USCF event. That means you need one brake (two if not running fixed) and a one day license. Looks like $25.

-DNA

On Wednesday night games of Hardcourt Bike Polo are played in Bozeman. Be there. 7 pm, Hawthorne School (corner of Rouse and Mendenhall). Bring a good attitude.  Bikes and mallets available for borrowing. 

In June of 2009 I made up my mind to move from one apartment to the other. I also made up my mind to make this move using only bicycles and bicycle trailers. After making up my mind to do this I did some research and found some great testimony to this from other individuals and groups having done this on the Internet.

Two days ago, after I'd decided to move I found out about a contest that Madsen Cycles was putting on. If you're interested in helping me win, click this link to their site and check out their cool bicycles (it'll open in a new tab/window).

Madsen Cargo Bikes

I started off on a Sunday afternoon by loading a few plastic tubs into the "kid trailer" I pull with my Schwinn Tempo road bike.

Schwinn Tempo and Converted Kid Trailer.

After the first load with the Schwinn I sent a text message to my buddy Captain E to see if I could borrow his Madsen Cargo Bike. I did two more loads with my Schwinn/trailer combo and then heard back from Captain E so I cruised down to pick up the Madsen.

Upon retrieving the Madsen and Captain E's homemade bike trailer I could tell that this game was ON! I rode it home and began to load it up with my stuff. I've moved a lot in my day and I have numerous plastic tubs to hold just about everything. This made loading the flatbed trailer a breeze.

The Madsen loaded up.

The consecutive loads went off without a hitch as well. I was able to stack tubs on the trailer and bulky, odd-shaped items into the Madsen's ample bucket.

The snowboards depict a common site in any Bozeman move.

Note the fly rods sticking out the top of the traffic cone.

Having things packed well from the get-go is important.

Furniture, skis, you name it!

The last load I had been contemplating since the start. When I set off to make this move using only a bicycle I assumed that the last load I made would be in my automobile. I justified that I would have to move my car from one location to the next and that it made sense to load it up with stuff. Although, as I proceeded further and further with the move I became more and more stubborn to move everything with cycles. The last item left was my boxspring, mattress, and bed frame. I solicited the help of fellow members of the Bozeman bicycling community whom I know are up for general jackassery such as this. Responses from SingleTrackM1nd and tjdzor came swiftly and with great enthusiasm.

The three of us sat in the sunshine pondering the massive load, first making attempts to put the mattresses on SingleTrackM1nd's Xtracycle. The weight was no problem for the Xtracycle but the size was. It became clear, quickly that the Madsen would have to be used as the width of the bucket was idea for balancing the width of the load of the bed.

After placing the load onto the bucket one test run was made unsuccessfully but I felt confident in my abilities so we re-secured the load and set off down the street. SingleTrackM1nd and tjdzor road ahead blatantly stopping traffic at the two major intersections, laughing, shouting, and capturing video along the way. The load was precarious and it required great concentration but in the end there was SUCCESS! A whimsical video was captured by tjdzor. Check it out:

This article blatantly stolen from Utilitarian Transports

The Cargo Commuter
It’s a bike you can comfortably commute on, yet still haul that bag of potting soil or massive discount box of diapers on. The rack was designed to hold one of those big rubbermade containers with the lid, but we’ve used everything from old suitcases to pails, or just piling the stuff on and tying it down with old inner tubes.

We take the retrofit candidate, inspect it, famesave it, and reinforce it (only if applicable). We then extend the head tube and add a sweet hand made front rack to the new headtube and frame of the bike. This brings the size of the front wheel down to a 20″. (or 16″ or 26″ etc.) We replace the old fork with a smaller one designed for the new front wheel, extend the steerer tube, and after all that we paint it, build it, and test ride it.

Attaching the rack directly to the frame provides the rider with a few nice things:

• Having the rack lower creates more carrying capacity and makes for a more stable ride.
• The 20″ wheel is stronger and can handle loads better.
• One can keep a close eye on their load while riding.
• Seeing how the rack doesn’t move when you turn the handlebars, there is no heaving when turning with big loads. (up to 150 pounds)

Ok, polo is on again for tonight. I've got the mallets and ball but i won't be showing up until around 6:30-7. Also, we've been having issues with cones, so maybe keep in mind where we might be able to obtain some.

See you tonight .


-DNA

From the Bozeman Daily Chronicle May 13th, 2009

Ergo, Polo is still on tonight, bitches. I won't be there til 6:30 or so.

-DNA

I'm busy. This will be concise.

Polo Tonight, same place. 6pm.

-DNA

Unless you want to go play with yourself. 'Cuz I don't think anyone else is going to be there.



-DNA

I got an email this morning from Ian:

My roommate's Masi was deprived of its wheels last night. The frame was not taken, although unlocked. I think the reason the thief left the frame was due to the "custom" paint job.

Put the word out, not too many people have white deep-v wheels

Thanks,

Ian

Good thing (for the thief) we don't live in Wyoming:

And while we're on the subject of bike thief related stickers:

Keep your eyes peeled
-DNA

Nine players. Three Taco'd wheels. Three mallets caught in wheels. Three times I hit the ground. Three new guys. One broken mallet. One damn great night of bike polo.

Next week, same time and place. More people = more heckling = more fun. Come on down, it's a great time. We'll even let you use our mallets and bikes (for a while- then you gotta build your own).



-DNA

Hardcourt Bicycle Polo

Wednesday Nights - 6:00 pm*

Hawthorne School at Rouse and Mendenhall

*I redundantly request that you also be there as well.