Winter League London Bike Polo: I.P.A. Superbrew Vs Blond, with 2 beards

This year's London bike polo winter league has a new format. Each fixture consists of three 15 minute games; each game's winner collects 3 points. The only team we were predicred to win over, was Blond, with two Beards; and we did [phew] collecting 9 points. This was our second game in the winter league. Our first game was against the Clerks. But let's not talk about that - the Clerks trashed us!   

IPA v Beards

P1 - 7:1
3.03 Paul
7.39 Ana
8.00 Ana
8.45 Ana
9.03 Ana
11.15 Paul
11.35 Mani
12.48 Ana

P2 - 6:1
4.06 Mani
5.32 Io
7.03 Paul
7.45 Io
8.10 Paul
11.50 Ana
14.39 Ana

P3 - 9:2
0.17 Io
0.52 Io
2.25 Sam
3.36 Io
7.13 Io
7.17 Sam
9.31 Ana
10.08 Ana
10.38 Ana
11.25 Ana
13.09 Ana

Spin London

28th March-30th March 2014, brought us Spin, London's cycle show, which was much more  exciting as this year it featured a bit of bike polo from the London Hardcourt Bike Polo Association.  A tiny court was built from a small team of six or seven poloistas on Thursday afternoon, ready for the weekend for people to try out polo and players to show off their skills.

measure once, cut twice

building the court's walls

the final touches

ThunderShafts: London Bike Polo League VI mission accomplished

ThunderShafts, entered the 6th London bike Polo Winter League with one focus: to manage to complete the league; no matter how many games were lost. This was our first league, and our aim was realistic.

My on-going thought during the London bike polo winter league has been fluctuating from "this is great, it's the only way to stay engaged with polo during winter" to "please, make it stop!" It has been painful at times, especially playing outdoors in zero degrees, in hard rain, following a full day's work - i guess that would have been bearable  if a few games were won; or maybe if a few games were lost with a bit of a closer score. But when you are losing every game with tens of goals difference, the thought that dominates is "please, make this game stop". To add to the downside, after our first game, there was a shift from internal team enthusiasm to a crisis of falling out with a team mate, so shifts in the team had to be made. The second game was played with a sub, Maddie, and the remaining games with Julia, who has been more than amazing: great player but also gentle  playing with us noobs. We couldn't have hoped for a better person joining us. So ThunderShafts became to be Ana, Julia and me, Io. (the only all-girl team).

At the beginning of the league we were predicted to come last and were shifted to division 2. Until our second to last game, the prediction stood true. We were at 8th (last) position with 6 games played, 6 games lost (0 won) and -159 goal difference.

The last game, which was the one game we were really looking forward, was our only chance to prove the prediction of finishing last, wrong and claim (7th) second to last position. The team predicted to come second to last, Winter Has Come, had much better stats, with -128 goal difference, but we wouldn't let this influence us; although a newbie and not very talented polo player, my previous experience in sports, made me think that this game was about which team was going to lose its cool and focus first. And 45 minutes (the agreed length for the league games) was a long time for both teams to get stressed, unfocused, tired. My personal tactics were to help the much better players in the team by blocking and freeing them up to do their stuff, and Julia and Ana did exactly that. The game, which was very tense, was played clean; Julia cancelled one of her own goals calling it off as a shuffle. The end result came to a win for us, with just one goal difference and with a final shot on the last second by Winter Has Come that got stuck between the cone and our goal keeper's back wheel (right in front of the goal line)! We were lucky as this concluded our last game being our first league game win. And shifting to 7th place. Whether we were the better team, i do not know as it is somewhat hard to judge, but i think we wanted this win the most, and we managed to keep focused, just a little bit longer than Winter Has Come.

for league VI info: http://www.lfgss.com/thread116759.html

ThunderShafts on defence

Our final game: Winter Has Come Vs ThunderShafts

Photos by Aleksandra

Clerks Vs ThunderShafts

Bike polo feeling more like water polo. Too much rain! No breaks!
Clerks Vs ThunderShafts
 

Video by Paul Kubalek

Check out Clerks Bike Polo here: https://www.facebook.com/ClerksBikePolo

London Open (Bike Polo Tournament) 23rd - 25th August 2013

This weekend we have the London Open (Bike Polo Tournament):

Three bike polo courts in Highbury Fields, Islington, London.
More than 50 teams playing from all over the world!

Come and watch the action! 

https://www.facebook.com/LondonOpen2013

Bicycle art - South London

Wild West Polo Tourney - London

15th September 2012: Westway Sports Centre, London

On a sunny day, you can get me to agree to anything. Even entrering a bike polo tourney. I have no trophy to prove my participation, but, i do have 3 left knee bruises, shower-resistant arm-length bike dirt and a humongous deep purple lower rib bruise which is a reminder why handlebars should be plugged (if there weren't plugged i would be now, possibly, resembling a kebab).

Our team "What Were We Thinking" sucked. We finished at a joint 14th (out of 16th). But had a blast ( a colorful purple bast) that i am sure we will remember with a smile - watch this space - we will be back. Faster, Harder, Stronger. (cos it's impossibly to be slower, softer, weaker ;) )

 

Mouldy Kitchen Vs Jean-Claude God Damn

Congratulations to "Party Illuminati" from Newmarket, who won, "Jean-Claude God Damn" from Manchester, in second (who had an incredible 39 goals in 7 games, only letting in 4), and  in joint third, "SoYoPoLoCo" from Sheffield and "We All Play Synth", from Twickenham Cycling Club! Well done, and big congratulations to the organisers and to the likes of us who dared! 

"ouch" souvenir from the Mountain Goats

Bicycle Film Festival (London): 5th-7th October 2012

5th - 7th October at the Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS, London

Check out the programme here:
http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/series.asp?id=1123

STOLEN: Puch "Super Sprint" :-(

Stolen: PUCH "Super sprint"

Stolen: PUCH "Super sprint"
Like in the photo but with Charge saddle instead of the Brooks.

If you see it let us know! Stolen from East London - a gorgeous red bike converted to single speed / fixed (blue halo sprockett) for my friend Wallis! Please help to return Ruby the Puch Bike back to her!
x

Rollapaluza at Sprint King of London

Rollapaluza at the Levi's store for The Sprint King of London:
500 metre sprint on a static bicycle.  If you are the fastest of the day you get a pair of jeans free.

My time was 30.94 seconds and my second attempt a few tenths of a second worse (i blame the champagne drinking).  No free jeans for me due to being one tenth of a second too slow *insert tantrum here*

My advice for a betterRollapaluza performance:
1) do not eat a whole plate of cakes right before you have a go
2) be.ruthless. go go go go go go!

getting ready Io Vs Pia

London's Calling 4

Every year a bunch of bicycle messengers hang out in London causing more chaos than usual. This year, with a post-apocalyptic theme, London's Calling 4, brought ally cat races, a sprint competition (that resulted in a guy losing half of his face after it scraped the ground *ouch*, a skid competition, track stands, Rollapaluza Roller-races, and *drum roll* tall bike jousting! This year, the contestants were slightly  wiser and refrained from setting fire to the jousting sticks!

Jousting Knight down

Track Stand 

Adore & Endure Each Other

Village Underground, Great Eastern Street, London

A Love Letter To You: is Steve Powers' series of positive uplifting messages of love and community  spirit within the city. His murals are found in Philadelphia, but we have been lucky enough to have a Love Letter from him here in London;  "Adore and Endure Each Other" stands above Great Eastern Street; a street i do not particularly enjoy riding especially during peak traffic times: it's simply too narrow and too busy - no gaps to go through; every time i ride up and down that road, i look up, see the Love Letter; i breathe in and smile adoring and enduring my fellow commuters. 

On 24th February i snapped a photo of "Adore & Endure Each Other" before continuing my morning trip to work; i followed my usual route to Old Street, only to be diverted as the road was blocked by police. Soon, i found out that another road accident had occurred: A female cyclist and a lorry. By 10:30 am the newspaper titles emerged:

"Cyclist critical after collision with lorry at Old Street roundabout"

Only a couple of weeks ago,  Mark, from I Bike London, blogged that a male cyclist in his 20s died in Homerton Hospital, Hackney, on Friday 4th Feb after being struck by a left turning lorry on the Kingsland Road / Dalston Junction on Wednesday.

Both accidents are too near home. These are our streets that take us to work every day; that take us to our favourite club nights and to our dearest friends' homes. We sometimes walk them, drive them but mostly ride them. We do not own them but we have to keep them safe for all users.

The family and friends of Eilidh (a cyclist who was run over by a truck two years ago) are campaigning to get an EU declaration signed to get HGVs fitted with sensors and cameras to remove their blind spot. Please join the campaign here:

http://www.eilidhcairns.com/campaign/

and please, if you are a cyclist or a driver take a few minutes to look at this:

Lorry Blind Spots

... and promise me you will adore & endure each other...

Safe cycling

 image taken from http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14799.aspx

The Great Helmet Debate

After a friend was hospitalized when a car hit her while on her bike, i started re-considering my views on helmet wearing. I still have not reached a conclusion but lately you may see me wearing my helmet just so i do not tempt fate, rather than truly believing it can save me from accident damages.

Cycling, as i say to people telling me off when i do not wear a helmet, is not an extreme sport. When i ride my bike to work, or to the shops I should not require an armor of protection:  my speed is not that high, i know the traffic code and i do not do bike tricks so a helmet is a little bit of an extreme measure. I also feel that if i wear a helmet it is like i tell the world "i know i am doing something dangerous and i am responsible for this" - whereas, who puts me in danger is not cycling, but the careless angry drivers. My safety is their responsibility and not mine - and what would truly protect me is a culture that welcomes cyclists on roads where both drivers and cyclists politely share the streets rather than compete and fight with each other. Until now, i have not been wearing a helmet; the way i do not wear a bullet proof vest when i walk in east London; the way i do not wear an armor when i walk on Oxford Street on a shopping day.

However, the reality is that agressive careless drivers exists; especially in the madness of London. And if there aren't any angry drivers, there are always blindspots and genuine accidents. And brain injuries really scare me. And simply on those grounds i have started wearing my helmet  (even though i know that a helmet is not going to save me - i just don't want to tempt fate!); this, unfortunately has reduced my cycling - and this is not because i am too vain or worry about my hair -but because it has lost its free attitude; everytime i wear my helmet it's like saying to myself i am about to do something that will put my body at risk. And i hate this feeling. I hate it because cycling is NOT a dangerous thing but suddenly society has made it look like a dangerous thing. Society has imposed the view that if you dare to ride in London you are crazy and the responsibility is all on the cyclist. Whereas what really should be said is cycling is great and London should accommodate this and make it safe for its riders by cultivating a culture that respects cycling and car drivers look out for cyclists.

7pm Project Helmet Debate from vermontcreekbed on Vimeo.