Candy Cranks

Had a superb time at the Terrible Twos Bike Polo Comp. Le Pista Resistance really know how to organise a great event! Lots of sunshine, beer and burgers made for a cracking day. It was held in the basketball courts of a local Sydney High School and a polo playing posse from Melbourne flew in to liven things up.

Teams of two armed themselves with mallets made from a variety of paraphernalia, my personal favourite was assembled out of old skateboard wheels. There were some fantastic polo bikes out on display (polo bike = old, beaten bike that you don’t mind getting trashed by mallet wielding maniacs) This is where you can get away with having kitsch adornments on your bike while still maintaining a relatively cool persona. Where else would you see astro turf on chain stays, glitter bells, hand painted coloured stars and manga comics on frames. (yes, these are the guys bikes). There were some rad front wheel protectors. My fave was Plunckets spiral, there were several attempts to hypnotize the opposition but unfortunately they all failed. The games were excellent to watch, high speed and a fast turnover made for exciting viewing.

The funniest part of the day had to be the Texas Twins Race. This involves you and your partner attaching an inner tube to an ankle, running to the top of a hill, trying to disentangle a kids bike each, then pedaling like crazy up the park and back around a couple of witches hats to get back to the start/finish line. There were lots of spills, tackles and at one point an all out scrum, all in the name of trying to win and bring down your opponent if they looked like they were a good chance of winning.

To finish off, there were some great prizes for the winners, runners up, most improved, group photos and hugs all round. The next comp will be held in Melbourne as part of the Bicycle Film Festival, I’m sure that will be an awesome day, who doesn’t love Melbourne!

Flickr photos.