The one, the only- St. Louis Lock-In!

It's that time of year again!

List of things to bring:
-extra blanket
-long johns
-first aid kit
-four loko
-amphetamines (to mix with the "new" four loko)
-jean jacket with the sleeves cut off
-rubber bouncey balls

What else? i know i'm forgetting a lot...

-W.

Hija de la Coneja/Daughter of the Rabbit - polo specific frame from Spain

[click for large...seriously.. do it]

Spain finally has a polo specific bike on the market! Hija de la Coneja or Daughter of the Rabbit has been working on prototypes for a while and they're finally (i believe) ready for production. Pricepoint is 320€ (also known at $450) for frame and fork- quite reasonable really, though shipping across the pond would be a bitch. The geometry looks tight, it has a wishbone seatstays, and v-brake mounts on the inside (both front and rear). Other than that it appears pretty similar to the polo bruiser, but as David Bazan said- "it's good to have options".

Originally posted here and heads up by Travis.

-W.

Columbus' Sarah joins the Urban Velo staff

"Oh hey, i know that girl."

Good move on Brad's part. Sarah is the muscle behind the awesome polo events and alleycats we've all been attending over in Columbus, Ohio- and obviously other people have noticed her talents too. Hopefully she won't be too busy organizing the Midwest Championships too ;)

Also in polo news is that Chandel (organizer of ESPI5) is going to head the tournament committee for NAH next year. Another great pick. She, like Sarah, knows how to market an event, stay communicative, and get lots of sponsors on board. You gotta love people like these who keep pushing the rest of us lazy asses in the right direction.

2012 is gonna be great!

-W.

Bruiser raffle from Milwaukee Bike Polo!

Anyone need a new bike? This one is indestructable and at $5 a ticket, the price is right! It's a special one off model too- 14mm dropouts and 110 bmx spacing so you can use extra burly hubs and smaller drivers. Pretty neat if you ask me.

Head over to mkebikepolo.com and get the details.

-W.

(cross-posted at bloomingtonbikepolo.com)

2012 Little 500 bike sneak peak photo!

Classic but lackluster design, in my opinion. I liked last year's retro design, and the black bikes of the previous years were pretty decent, but this one is just "meh". Not bad, but not too exciting... i guess it could've been much worse.

Also of note is that this years ladies race will run under the lights during the evening, a change attempting to get more people in the stands for the usually under-attended friday race.

Get in on all the gossip and shoptalk here at Geraint's Bloomington Velo News.

-W.

Bloomington Polo mentioned in Rail-to-Trails Conversancy article

http://community.railstotrails.org/blogs/trailblog/archive/2011/10/18/b-line-rail-trail-helps-pull-downtown-bloomington-ind-together.aspx

Great synopsis of the B-line trail and Bloomington in general. Plus they mention our little group- "the Bike Polo Club". Capital letters and all!

Thanks for the heads up Keith.

-W.

Midwest Open re-cap by Bicycle Federation Wisconsin

Ran across these while searching for something unrelated on google. Some nice photos of some of my favorite people!

Read the full article and check out more photos at this link.

-W.

Vintage beach polo ladies!

Isn't that a sweet photo? Girls, bikes, and polo all at once!

Seen here at this neat little tumblr; originally posted here.

Thanks for the heads up Molly!

-W.

Bloomington's wooden goalie

Simple knock-off of those plastic goalies we used as kids playing street hockey. It works ok with cones, but it really shines in front of a goal. You have the two corner pockets, the five-hole (split by an implied mallet), and enough space to shoot over the wheels for the top shelf. I haven't taken any photos of it in front of the goals but will try to this week. They could probably be more heavy duty, but for a price of $0 i think they're pretty good.

This definitely makes pickup more fun and practice more effective. I recommend you try it, especially if your pickup has low numbers or a wide range of skills.

-W.

Toronto's perfect polo goals

A top shelf, curved rear corners, heavy duty but not too tight net, good width, decent height, and in true hockey style- bright fuckin' red!

I saved this picture earlier in the year and forgot to post it, but ever since then these goals have become the standard by which all others are measured. At the Open in Milwaukee there were three types of goals- large guage PVC, thin guage metal, and medium gauge metal. The PVC ones were way too deep and had to be weighed down with cases of beer (which quickly disappeared when the booze ran out and the goals started scootin). The thin metal goals were bent all to hell and wouldn't sit level or still. The third set, made by the Madison club, were the best of the bunch. They could've been a bit heavier and had a better net, but when it comes to serious goals heavy metal is the only way to go.

Which brings me back to the Toronto goals- they're basically hockey goals with polo sizing- a tried and true design. The past year or so the polo community has made the transition from cones to goals, but let's hope 2012 is the year of heavier, better, standardized goals!

-W.