Photo by Roxy Erickson

1st: Mercenaries (Chicago/Brooklyn)
2nd: The Militia (Madison)
3rd: Hero Squad 2 (MKE)

More detailed write-up to follow, and probably a lot more photos too.

"We're going to DC, we're going to DC!" Those were the words sung by Nan, high up on Ben's shoulders, at 9pm on Friday night. The catering gig was finished, and we were about to get in the volvo 240 with 300,000 miles on it, loaded down with a full trunk and five bikes on a bike rack made for three.

As General Manager, Nan was allowed to choose our team name. I wanted something to represent my disdain for DC and my foreigner status, so i proposed The Burning of Washington. But Nan wouldn't have any of it, and when presented with the option of naming us after her favourite train engine, Gordon, she jumped. So we became "Gordon is the Biggest and the Fastest and the Strongest..."

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Day 1

Things went really well (fast interstate sailing, beautiful sunrise) until we got to West Virginia. Then in the space of 20 minutes, our would-be-head coach and friend from NYC called to cancel, and the muffler fell off. Nan was instantly promoted from GM to head coach, which basically meant hanging out with the local kids on the swing set, and eating lots of candy.

David Medaris wrote up a piece about madbikepolo that'll be in The Isthmus tomorrow...

ya gotta look closely, or view large.

Hey y'all,

This is a recent myspace bulletin from Jared at Seattle Bike Polo. Here in Chicago, the planning for the NACCC National Polo Tourney has taught us that big, sanctioned events are easier to organize (cheaper, more easily insured) if the organizers are well... organized. Getting 501c3 (Non-Profit) status halves the park district fees associated with the two-day NACCC.

However, getting 501c3 status is a long and complicated process. Only worthwhile for the biggest of events. If there were a national, or several regional, organizations that held status, we could turn to them for support with big events and sanctioned tourneys when we wanted to throw them.

i'm bummed i couldn't make it yesterday ... heard it was a rough one.
Dumptruck posted one photo so far, which apparently sums up the day a bit for madison's teams. .

oh and ben's bike finally bit it

weather will determine location...it's looking to be at the garage. but we will have some prizes and Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer.