London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

OK I've been trying to motivate people to start playing bike polo here in London, after having played a lot in NYC this winter, but everyone seems a bit limp about it. Keith from Condor told me he plays sometimes with a freewheel MTB on grass or something.

I wanna import the real thing here:

It's obviously funnier and more challenging on a fixed!

Who's up for it?

We need:
- Concrete tennis court, walled.
- mallets
- traffic cones
- 6 players to start with

and that's it!
I know the rules, super easy:
general rules for bike polo:

-teams of three players with no alternate players permited. equipment subs allowed. ie bikes, wheels, mallets.
-any two wheeled bicycle is allowed at the discrection of the judges.
-mallets must have a pipe of some sort for a striking surface. also the judges call. size and materials are the biggest safety factors.
some examples of shaft material are ski poles or golf clubs cut to size and bamboo. 32 to 42 inches in length. Mallet head materials are various plastics and sometimes wood, NEVER metal. 6 to 7 inches in length and not larger around than a street hockey ball
-the ball will be a street hockey ball
-goals will be a pair of orange cones 150cm wide for each team
-if a goal is disruped it is the responsability of the player who disruped it to fix it. no bull shiting around. anything scored on a disruped goal is at the discretion of the judges to count.
-the games will be timed. games will end with a team scoring 3 or 5 goals OR time expiring at ten min. finals will be five goals or 15 min.
-start of a game both teams will be stoped on there own goal line and the ball at center court. play will begin with a "3 2 1GO!" from the judges.
-players may not play the ball with there feet at any time.
-scoring. goals must be made from what started as a hit. a hit is made from the end of a players mallet. shuffels do not count as goals.
-after a goal is made. the scoring team returns to there half of the court. the scored on team brings the ball into play after both teams are on there own sides.
-call out the score after a goal.
-passing thru the back of a goal. when passed thru a goal a ball can not be hit into the goal till two differnt players have made contact with the ball. however if a ball is shot from in front of the goal line and does not score but bounces off the back wall and comes out thru the goal, that ball is in play and can be scored.
-foot down. a "ring the bell" rule will be in effect. "circle out" is not allowed. on a footdown or "dab" that player may not hit the ball till they ring the bell. the bell will be on the side line at center court.
-contact rules. like contact is allowed. player to player, except grabbing with hands. mallet to mallet. bike to bike.
-everything else is not allowed. such as mallet to player. player to bike. mallet to bike. ect.
-throwing of mallets is not allowed at any time
-shit talking is allowed

and look who will come and play with us:

YES they actually play

Fucking awesome.

I'm up for it... though perhaps not on the Jackson.

But are these the NYC, Swiss or Danish bikepolo rules?? I'll give it a go though.

Is that a promise le car? We're going to hold you to it.

Is that Fiona in the orange cap?

There was bike polo on Sundays being organised last year, I'll try and find out if it's still going.

Bike polo is played in London! occasionaly at HH, they have their own stable of authentic bikes, which are much better for playing on than what these guys are using although they are pretty knackered now.....and more often by the Chelsea Pedallers at the Hurlingham Polo club (horse).

I've played it many a time at HH, used to do it after training sessions in the winter.

Neither of the above look quite as attractive as what's going on in those pics though!

the best thing to use as a mallett is a bike polo mallett! they do come up on ebay occasionally, or approach a polo club, many horse polo clubs probably have polo bikes and malletts for practise.

i'd be well up for doing this.. i've been trying to organise bike hockey for ages.. i even bought a puck

oh yeah, they sometimes play bike polo on clapham common

Damn that means i need another bike but i'm up for it

OK so the first step is to find a concrete court where we're not going to get kicked out.
I'd personally prefer somewhere central/east.
It's really popular in NYC because the venue is really practical and central (Lower East Side), plus they get an audience all the time (see in pics above).
The walls around are used to make the ball bounce so we need them (although I must say my ribs still hurt from a crash against the wall 1 month ago!)

Dead centre has to be the place, we need something that anyone from around London can reach easily and *want* to reach. It will also help build an audience which will attract new participants.

Are there any outdoor courts around any of the London parks? Anything near Regents Park?

im up for this yorgo just post a date and see what happens. I read that to make a mallet your self use a ski poll or waliking stic and a bit of tubing joind to the bottom of it.

are bmx'es allowed quite close to the ground manouvereable rugged bash proof

BMXs are not gonna work - unless you have a custom mallet (shorter arm)

I play roller hockey under the west way, there are several concrete walled area there.

I've even seen people playing unicycle polo on the courts under the westway. Seems like a good venue.

Wasnt there some bike polo organised out of 56a in E+C last year? (btw i popped by last saturday and the bike workshop was happening there - i know someone brought this up before on a thread here).

where's the west way?

and what kind of tubing do you meanRJM?

lets do it this friday!

West Way = Elevated section of M40 as it lifts up out of Edgware Road and goes Westwards over Ladbroke Grove and further out.

Under the Westway around Ladbroke Grove there is a skate park, some courts, climbing stuff.

Yep some cool stuff under there but have your witts about you. I have heard a couple stories of BMXers getting there bike nicked off of them, I don't men 15 year old BMXer I mean mid - late 20s - early 30s BMXers.

Actually there's a walled basketball court at the end of my road.

So we have both East and West sorted... nothing central then?

Maybe we can take over a car park ;)

are mountain bikes allowed?

if they aint, ill just be the photographer!

I'll be the cheerleader if I don't have a sutible bike. I like the freedom that the outfit offers.

that could be quite offputting for some.....ill enjoy it tho!!

basic rules and discriptions of how to make mallets are here

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=319519c946512679276138856bd87b8462b55d23

i just made a mallet in the workshop with a big piece of wood and a pole. sorted.

the one at the end of middleton road is good for me.. east east east

Yeah i think i'd watch rather than take part 1st time ;) If its on middleton road i can make the tea tho :p

nice we have cheerleaders, a photographer and a tea lady!

A friend just told me about an empty walled basketball court in Hoxton, on Pitfield street:

There's also a decent concrete basketball/tennis court on brick lane (bethnal green road end)