Polo News!

Video from the Oregon Bike Polo Championships pre-party at the Polo Haus in Portland a few Fridays ago. Via bikepolo.ca. And in case you missed it, BikePortland did the best job EVER in the history of bike polo feature stories.

But back the the video: Eugene local Danye blocks a goal right at the beginning. Garrett can also be seen sporting his Fudd duds on the court. Skip to 2:40 and see Udelai killing it with what one spectator called an "around and through," lending cred to his Tokyo-style BMX bars. I'm in there, too, losing possession like four times, starting at 1:25. At least my wheel cover looked good. For some reason, at 1:44, someone says, "Cops drink beer, too."

Speaking of polo, beer and police, we had a bit of a run-in with the law last Thursday night. I'll offer a broad narrative, but for those who are into dirty details, a friend recounted his specific experience in a Facebook note.

Polo in Eugene has involved beer, on some level, since it started. A little over a year ago there were fewer than a dozen of us under the bridge. For the three or four people not in play, it was nice to have an adult beverage while spectating to keep the blood flowing close to the skin.

Over time, as more people came, there were more spectators. Some seemed to come just to hang out. With little else to do, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes seemed to be the obvious choice for many.

At some point, I think the beer may have become more important to some than polo. I, for one, can stand to play without Pabst, and intend to do so tonight. Not because I'm afraid of getting busted, but because I love to play polo and want to show everybody that that's enough for me to ride all the way downtown on a low gear, rain or shine, 52 Thursdays a year.

Cheers, and I hope to see more hands holding mallets than Millers this evening. See you under the bridge at eight.

More OBPC photos

If you're on Facebook, you can view Tiah Keever's pictures from the event.

Tiah somehow managed to run the show Saturday/Sunday and play for team Solid Gold. Her team portraits came from this set, which popped up on TLOBP.

Also just contacted this flickrer (from Seattle?) who brought a fancy camera and a good eye to the Portland tourney. Also happened to snap a few of my friends.

Oregon Bike Polo Championships

Midnight maintenance the day before.

Garret changes the oil in the Ford Kill-O-Matic Friday morning.

Also glued a cog.

Really caked that J-B Weld on.

A good omen: this blossom opened on our cherry tree just before we hit the road. We took five people and seven bikes 107 miles up I-5 with no incident.

Arrived and unloaded at my friend Jordan's house in NE, off Alberta. We rode three blocks to play cul-de-sac polo outside the Polo Haus. They also had an awesome live DJ, a keg of Ninkasi Oatis Stout, and a micro pump-track. Unreal. That's our man Sean from EUG.

This guy's helmet caught my attention immediately. His name's Rory, and he's from Vancouver, B.C.

We made it home and slept for a few hours. Saturday morning, we prepared for the actual tourney. Boone found out his cog and lock-ring were loose.

Garret towed his polo bike and Brendan's disc'd 650. You can just make out Bob Ross above the brown bag by the stand.

A bunch of sissies drove there.

We rode. Look for Boone and Danya on the path in the background. Garrett and I chose to take the lane the whole way because traffic was light and the side path was steep.

The organizers were very organized, with fancy brackets and stuff. That's Jeff's arm.

Division 3 was the dirtiest division. "BMFP" stands for Bike Mutha Fuckin' Polo.

The Reverend Phil, representing.

An alleycat came through. Polo was a checkpoint. These guys were a little lost.

Garrett warming up in a pickup game. Meanwhile, my bike lays in wait.

I didn't saddle up at all until we had to play an actual points game.

A Portlander films from the fence as this dude from Los Angeles guards his goal.

There are no time outs in polo, but play magically stopped when this tough gal took a really mean spill.

I shot this sloppy panorama with Geordan's rented Rebel on continuous shutter mode and let Photoshop paste it together for me. Click on it for the full-size experience.

Sunday's games were on a single-serving court at the more nearby Alberta park.

Spectators spread out.

Most of the EUG crew hung out by this goal.

A Shift2Bikes group ride stopped to watch for a few minutes.

Some really impressive plays in the final rounds. I often found myself interrupting one "woah" with another, then another, and finally just yelling.

"Dirty Sock," a team comprised of Sean and Udelai from Eugene and our expatriate Abe, made it pretty deep into the bracket.

There were always a few standing around and pointing at this piece of cardboard.

Dirty Sock shuffling off the courts after their final defeat. They did Eugene proud.

This photog was shooting some nice on-court stuff until he had to jump up the fence to stay out of play.

GOAL!
Yes, that's Eilif eating strawberry rhubarb pie with a lock-ring wrench.

Amazing snot rocket. Caught on film. This is bike related because he's on a bike.

Former messenger turned Union Pacific engine operator, "Disco" stuck around to watch all day. Has one of the classiest road conversion fixed-gears I've ever seen.

Jordan was a really enthusiastic spectator. I mean he was really, really pumped about the whole thing. He should have won an award.

Eilif wanted to make sure everybody knew his team beat DFB, 5-0.

Organizers called all players onto the court at the end for the awards ceremony. Along with the cup and some sweet pads from Black Star Bags, they gave away these metallic purple risers with under-clearcoat decals. Do want.

Vancouver's "Balls Deep" won the whole thing.

Here they are claiming their cup.

The final bracket.

I saw this on my way out of town. I think it sums up a weekend of serious foolishness rather well.

Portland polo weekend preview

Sunday. The Champions from Vancouver, B.C., "Balls Deep" accept their trophy. With style.

Saturday, "seed day" in Pier Park. The trees were big.

My team, "Bob Ross and the Naked Ladies."

Though we looked fierce at times,

we actually got our asses handed to us.

I recall feeling sorry for a friend of mine who had just started playing polo: I thought, Gosh, it must be intimidating playing against me—I have a whole year of experience. Now I feel sorry for me—some people I met this weekend have been playing for seven years. And it showed.

Again, this is just a preview. A full writeup and a bajillion photos will follow after I get some sleep.

Oh, and don't forget to spot me on BikePortland's flickr. Jonathan Maus took a bunch of photos and posted them on his blog.

11:32 a.m. — Just found these three shots on someone's flickr. Look like cross-processed film. Which I like.