Photos, mallets, and parts- oh my!

Hooray for bike polo!!! Things have been going really well the past couple weeks. More new people keep showing up each night and we've even added a third day to play (Saturday @ the basketball courts across from the Hospital on 2nd). Mother nature is still not cooperating with us (it's pouring rain as I type this) but that's not stopping us the least.

Evan took some pictures on Monday and they turned out really good. Check out more of them over at the Bloomington Hardcourt Bike Polo blog. I'm hoping he brings that fancy camera of his to the tournament in Columbia, MO next week. Also added to the schedule is the St. Louis Dead-of-Winter Indoor Lock-in happening on January 16th and 17th at some indoor skating rink. A whole night of boozing, bike polo, and not sleeping- yes please! I know more than a few people are interested in this one, so hopefully we have a small caravan making the trek. By the time January rolls around snow will prevent our weekly games (or maybe not ;) and I'm sure we'll all be itching to play.




Finally made myself a few new mallets and upgraded to 2" instead of 1 1/2". Got some "CH40 rigid pvc conduit" for dirt cheap and went crazy with a miter saw over at McCalla. After attaching the heads to some graphite golf club shafts the balance was way off. So I took a cue from the internet, broke out my wood boring bits and swiss-cheesed that shit. I made a huge difference! The beauty of the method is that you can keep going until it feels right.

Oh, and did I mention there's already a few more in the works....

^And this is just some of 'em.




And now for something totally irrelevant to everyone but me.... new bike parts day!!! If you're not familiar with Velo Orange then visit their site right now. They sell all sorts of hard to find parts and produce many of their own. Contrary to 98% of other online shops Velo Orange focuses on randoneurs and city bikes. They also (obviously) have a overwhelming affinity for all things old and French!


As sacrilegious as this may sound, I consider Chris Kulczycki to now carry to torch lit by Sheldon Brown. Sheldon inspired many, many people to rediscover the joy and simplicity of cycling, and was also an unrepentant francophile. While the rest of the world is trolling around on pink fixies or aluminum 30 speeds Chris and Sheldon never when out of style with their leather saddles, wide fenders, Sturley-Archer hubs and swept back city bars. For me cycling has always been about transportation and finding a supplier who agrees (while embracing retro aestetic) has been a godsend. This order wasn't my first, and certainly won't be my last. Check out the Velo Orange blog for some good (and informative) reading.

And come play polo! Every Monday, Thursday, and now Saturday!

-W.