See y'all tonight!

Remember last year when the Invite was a renegade tourney on university property? Fun times. This year I'll try to stay out of the sun more and puke less.

Well, i said I'll try.

Check-in is at the Atlas, 9pm to midnight. Can't wait!

-W.

All-City Retro Wool Jersey

My birthday is coming up, who wants to get me a gift??

Lovin' the retro Peugeot styling. A little pricey at $120 but that's probably just retail.

Check out more photos of it here at the All-City blog.

-W.

Decatur's Permanent Polo Court!

Hooray! Another permanent midwestern court!

They look fuggin' great, congrats guys!

Nate from Decatur sent me these a few weeks ago and i totally spaced on posting them.
Just remembered because those boys are on their way to Bloomington for the Invite!

Can't wait to see you guys!

-W.

14 Bike Co. V3 polo frame

Heyo!!! What a beauty.

Crazy awesome adjustable dropouts. Beautiful and unique paint job. Couplers, straight fork, integrated headset- hell i bet it's even got a mid BB. Lovin' the curved seatpost, of course, but not sure why they didn't go a lil' more extreme with it. That tire clearance is way to close for comfort and doesn't allow for a larger tire. Still, amazing bike all around...

I've said it a hundred times but-- new favorite polo bike!

Photos from here at the 14 Bike Co. website. Thanks for the heads up Travis! Made my night after a shit day.

-W.

2011 Bloomington Criterium

This!

I finally found the perfect clock for polo... and it's a swim timer!

Compact size yet large digits. Simple controls. High visibility.
And the gent who owns it said it was only about $400 new.
Not to shabby.

Kirkwood Avenue closed off for bikes? Check.
90 degrees with 90% humidity? Check.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars of road racing technology? Check.
Kids race after the Cat1? Check.
Fun times? Double check!

I love our little town.

-W.

Fun times at Summer Break?

Looks like two of my favorite people got a little too rough on the court!

Aah i wish i could've gone to this one... but time and money.. it's always time and money.

Check out the rest of the photos by Clayton Harvey. There's even a few shots of the Bloomington youngsters in there. Way to represent guys!

-W.

Road wreck at the 2011 Bloomington Criterium

[click for large and watch fullscreen]

Holy shit this was cool to see in person! Glad someone caught it on camera. I mean...not cool... ya know, injuries and whatnot... Too bad travis was too busy hitting on a pretty lady to see it!

I took a couple of crappy photos during the pro race that i'll put up tomorrow.

Video by Beta rider Eric Anderson. Seen at (of course) at Bloomington Velo News.

-W.

PS - apparently there's a big rivalry between the new Scholars Inn team and Upland team... this wreck during the 3/4 race sure didn't help things ;)

Columbus Invite - Team Photos

"Perenium Falcon"
Chris/Will/Nick
Lexington
1st

"Dickfist at Tiffany's"
Russo, Nico, Lomax
Pittsburgh
2nd

"Eagle Spurs"
Travis, Zachary, Bruce
Bloomington
3rd

"Disease Ridden Pigeons"
Brunner/Quinn/Alex
Pittsburgh/AnnArbor/GrandRapids
4th

...and LEX just knows how to have fun!

Damn, so my shitty camera and a bunch of one-takes turned out better than expected. I'm glad that everyone was such a good sport about it and that i actually had time to take team photos for once. Pretty sure i missed a team or two and hopefully i'll do better next time.

...and i just noticed- did Jon Blake play on two teams??

-W.


Part I | Part II | Team Photos

Columbus Invite - Part II

Lomax's current Rustbelt polo bike made by Lou from Cleveland.
It has a crazy tight turning radius and is indestructible,
but part of that means a crazy heavy front fork.

Note his awesome housing-thru-headtube.

Look at length of that mallet!

MVP! MVP!

Pre-game huddle.

Sure those softball teams do the line-up-and-slap-hands thing,
but after a good match of polo it's only right to hug it out.

Undefeated all weekend.
'Nuff said.

To the people who made it happen...

...many, many thanks!

Suppertime.

Thank you, Ohio.

...and home sweet home.

It never gets old.

-W.

Part I | Part II | Team Photos