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.

look ma, no hands!

Lane is selling the demo production model of his cargo bike for $400 off.


It's been "slightly used."

Watch him ride it no hands!

poloEUG

I'm just so dang excited about the polo tourney in Portland this weekend, I was flipping through my photo archive and found a bunch of polo-specific pictures begging to be put into a flickr set.

Featuring players from Eugene.

And their flavor.

Also featuring those who often come down from Corvallis to play. I call this one "Eilif with pizza."

Oh. And some pictures of the bikes, too.

Check it every Friday morning.

Shakespearean actor/storyteller/cyclist/photographer

Willie Weir is visiting Eugene again. Get excited. Here's a video from his website:


Come see him present "Colombia & Venezuela: Bicycling Beyond the Headlines" on the UO campus tomorrow. That's Thursday, March 5, 7:00 PM at 177 Lawrence Hall.

He's been here before to present his stories from touring in India, the Balkans, South Africa, Cuba, and Turkey. Each show has sold out, so arrive early and guarantee yourself a good seat! Free to UO students, $5 general.

Thanks to UO LiveMove for sponsoring this event with US Bank.

Pictures of stuff that actually happened

I really like the pink derailer cable routing here. Conventional? No. Effective? YES. Call it "Unconvective."

The placement of the shift lever on this bike is equally unconvective.

Jeremiah broke the regulator on his MIG setup. At to Industrial Source to get a replacement, I browsed the welders' caps and found this maillot à pois rouges-esque number.

Mike broke his crank on the way to Burrito Boy.

He said it snapped on him as he was standing up to accelerate. Mike's already got a new pair on and switched to track pedals with double-strap toeclips. He's actually really stoked.

Polo at the parking lot by Albertson's on 18th went past dark. We even played a couple rain games.

Minibike racing at Lane's (ware)house-warming.

Fin.