hey polo players-
i wrote this article that appeared in the Wisconsin Bicyclist vol 14/no 1 spring 2008

wrote it while at work and for work so im a professional now...pay up jerks!

-Jake

Hey!
if anyone wants to come out to milwaukee on monday memorial day to grill out and play some 2 v 2 at the pumping station court your invited.
im thinking around noonish show up drink some beer and form teams then play some games of bike polo. maybe some croquet too!

chicago may be sending up some folks so madison should rep with a few too if you dont already have plans

-Capt Jake

Small ball, round robins followed by a bracket. Email us to let us know how many are comin.

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

sorta informal but lets get out and play!
money will go to buying beer and food and some prizes!

weather will determine where we play
final announcement will be made march 15th at race!!! and on internet

Jonny built up about a dozen awesome mallets, but we still have to work on getting lighter more modern ski poles.

We also need to get the right balls, cause we busted through two orange balls today that are too hard/brittle for the 32ºF weather.

I found myself looking down at the ball a lot more than usual, and i'm so far frustrated at not having a hockey-style angle on my mallet for stick-handling, and being able to keep my head up to look around. also i was surprised by the amount of ricocheting and bouncing and chasing after the wild ball... means a lot more biking than before. i think the big ball game is still faster, but less going in tight circles.

And despite a big spill when my chain snapped, it was a good start...

http://flickr.com/photos/kev_walsh/sets/72157603931585357/

If you have photos online somewhere, post a comment with a links to them.

awesome day, thanks all...

recent photograph of my new polo rig that i just finished building.

I learned only recently that my grandfather played a lot of polo in Ireland. Yesterday i had the chance to ask him more about it, and i recorded it. So here he is talking about playing hardcourt polo on the Courthouse Square in Galway in the 1930s--against his father's wishes--and the inspiration and equipment they got from the awesome Gaelic sport, hurling.

So awesome to see fresh faces, new blood, and an all women's team that kicks ass. Some random things:

1) Tournaments: Saturday October 27 in Milwaukee, and uh, "save the date": June 16-18 2008 at the cycle messenger world championships in toronto, and Labor Day weekend 2008 at the NACCC in Chicago.

2) Bikes: we need some 275mm spokes to fix up some wheels. anyone got quick access to em? It's nice that we all share bikes, but five people have each put in about $150 towards wheels and generously lend their crap out when they're not on the court--one person for an entire year while he's training in high altitude. Jonny has put in countless hours of labour. others have put in a lot of time fixing flats and broken spokes or building their own bikes. please help with $ or labour where you can.