This Sunday just gone the first cycle polo (bike polo?) "event" was held at the Soundshell in Napier under glorious blue skies and the gaze of bemused passer byes.
There were about 20 people participating as well as a few dragged in off the pavement. A strange assortment of bikes and a wonderfully strange assortment of people -really cool people and loads of fun. The thought is to repeat this exercise in a months time.
Our thanks to Steve McDonald who provided the expertise, a couple of bikes and a pile of mallets - cheers Mate.
I have been and checked our the skating rink at Windsor Park in Hastings and it looks pretty close to ideal to play on, on an ongoing basis; and the president of the Skating Club has given a verbal OK for this to happen. So this Sunday at 3:00pm we will have round two of HB Cycle Polo in HB. Park at Splash Planet, ride through the yellow and black barrier gates, beside the little stream and into the rink. On the assumption that Steve will be there we should have enough mallets but feel free to build your own. Please also bring a yard broom if you have one as we will need to remove the broken glass before use. Many brooms - small time; few brooms - long time.
What sort of bike: well whatever you like as long as its OK to drop it on the concrete. Come along and have a look at what Steve has built, as a good starting point. Old Steely, single speed (1-1ratio), chopped down handle bars, rear brake only as the other one is holding a mallet.
In a little while we will be hosting a bike polo tournament as part of the Napier "Ride for Your Life" weekend. The idea is to draw people from outside the area to HB to boost tourism. As part of this I anticipate that we will need a team or two to fill up the draw. Idea one is to make Steve a team captain and let him pick a team to practise a little so we don't look like complete chumps.
So ta very much to those who turned up on Sunday, to Steve for the kit, to Vicki and Steve for getting it organised and Anna for doing the initial admin stuff. I had a blast and am looking forward to this Sunday.
Any comments, queries, questions or grumbles please let me know. Feel free to forward this rather long winded note to whoever and I would love for the established bike clubs (Ramblers, HBMTB, BMX, Cyclocross etc) and bike shops to put a note on their blogs and news letters.
cheers
Ricko
(AKA Richard Mills)
