Birmingham fixed gear and singlespeed and ting

Dan at OYB has alerted the Birmingham Fixed Gear massive that there will be a wicked game of polo today at Calthorpe Park.

New players actively encouraged – if you’re lurking on here and interested in playing please be assured that none of us are very good and all of us are friendly.

Dan says it’s on only if the weather’s good, and thankfully the weather forecast for today looks great. So get yerself down to Calthorpe Park at 5pm and whack some balls about!

Fin says come along and play polo at 5 on Sunday. The polo crew will be practicing for the Bicycle Film Festival London Polo Tournament which is happening on the 27th, but everyone is welcome to come play on Sunday, whether a beginner or a hardened pro. Like, if you’re made of stone or something.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pic: Igor
Meet at 7:30. Calthorpe Park courts if dry. Do it!
Read the rest of this entry »

Click here to see Igor’s gallery of pictures from Bikezilla.

I should mention that this badman made his own remote cable release for the Canon EOS 1000d! He also won the skid competition at the Track Punks fixed gear contest – erm, on a mountain bike… Bendment of fundamental rules aside, thank f–k he took photos otherwise I would have had f–k all to put on here about it! Read the rest of this entry »

!BIKEZILLA!
16:00 meet outside ideal skate shop.
16:30-18:00 bike polo mash-up. Bring your shin-pads. 3v3 – 3 goals wins or high score after 5 mins.

18:00 Points Race – 10 Check-points across the city centre.
From the start point you will be given a map and one location to go to.
Once you arrive at the first location collect a token. On the back of
the token the location of the next checkpoint will be marked.
This continues until you return with all tokens to the start point.
There will be tasks to complete at checkpoint 5 and 10.

19:00 Footdown – Using any means at your disposal, be the last one pedalling.

[Break For drinking etc]

19:30 Grand Prix – Lap race not for the faint of heart.
Start Digbeth high street (just before Milk street) race all the way up
and around Camp Hill circus, then bomb it down back to the finish line
- Rea street junction.

19:45 Car Park Climb – Moat Lane car park. HTFU. Groups of 4 race to to top. 2 qualify from each stage.

20:15 Pub/Park drinking

So… I can’t be bothered to write a detailed description of what happened, so instead I’ll let Igor’s pictures do the talking:

SKIDTLES COMP:

POLO:

KEIRIN:

ELIMINATION RACE:

ARMWRESTLE FOR DFL:

Many thanks to the sponsors:

Urban Hunter

Cantgoslo

House of Pistard

In Urban Velo magazine:

click here

Hard Court Bike Polo dot com – how to make a mallet: click here

So… Bike polo. I met Fin and Shamim at Selly Oak basketball courts, just to take pictures. But too many people were playing basketball, so Fin had to take us to Birmingham Uni instead. Which was probably better – if not better, then more challenging, due to the lack of a surrounding fence.

I wasn’t planning on playing – partly because I didn’t want to risk mashing my bike up – but I’m glad I did. Bike polo is way more fun than I first thought, and it’s a refreshing change from ‘proper cycling’. Ball games don’t really interest me, and I thought it’s the sort of thing that would bore me after five minutes, but nope, now I can see what all the excitement is about. I urge you to try it if you’ve not tried it before. I haven’t had so much fun since I covered myself in toffee-flavoured sauce and then I allowed a, erm, well, you don’t really need to know about that.

Photos posted by Fin on the Birmingham Fixed Gear forum:

Fixed vs. Free…

^Bare CRASHMENT! YOU KNOW WHAT IM SAYIN BLUD! LICK UP AND MASH UP AND BRUK UP! AND TING.

The fact that my right knuckle is swollen to double its size just from swinging the mallet doesn’t even bother me… It’s more than compensated for by the good feeling gained by riding around and whacking a ball all over the place.

’nuff thanks to Fin – and everyone who showed up – for making it happen. I’m looking forward to regular sessions now that the weather’s getting warmer, and hopefully we’ll see nuff people on the court next time…

Fin has organizized a last-minute polo game at Selly Oak basketball courts. It’s pretty easy to find, just ride straight up Bristol Road to Selly Oak from town and turn right after you’ve gone past Penny’s ‘massage parlour’ on the left and a Chinese take-away on the right.

edit: I’m assuming this is going to be at 2pm, given that no-one has objected to Fin’s suggestion of meeting at that time.