May 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 19

sandwiches provides an opportunity to
get local businesses involved.
" I think the cool thing about cyclocross that I've noticed, even at a national
championship, is that the top riders are
really truly competing...but there's always a group in the back just doing it for
a really good time, enjoying themselves
and just having fun getting away, getting some exercise, and participating in
a big event, " Rice says. " Cyclocross has
always been pretty family friendly. A lot
of kids show up....A dad might race and
a 15-year-old or even 12-year-old child
might race on the same day. "

Cascade Event Photography

Bike Polo
" It's a culture that brings in people from
everywhere, " says Ben Schultz, the Chicago-based regional representative for
North American Hardcourt (NAH), a
fledgling organization that coordinates
the growing competition schedule for the
sport. " It's creating a unique spectacle-
cyclocross and bike polo are the only
two cycling sports that you can watch in a
contained area. This is a great spectator
sport and it's fun-it's colorful. "
Hardcourt bike polo is believed to have
originated with bike messengers looking

	

for a way to kill time between deliveries.
The three players on each team ride fixedgear bikes, often with colorful cardboard
discs inserted into the front wheels to prevent the mallet from becoming entangled
in the spokes. Although largely male dominated, women participate on the same
teams as men and often can " play the pants
off the majority of the men, " Schultz says.
Schu ltz describes how Chicago
teams play year round, shoveling snow
off the court themselves or sometimes
even playing under a highway overpass.
In fact, finding places to play is still the
major hurdle for bike polo clubs, who
often make do with converted tennis
courts or anything else suitably paved,
whether it is regulation-sized or not.
" We get the leftovers, " Schultz says,
blaming the sport's small size, with
around 275 clubs worldwide-more than
half of those in the United States-that
usually have around 20 to 30 members
each. Schultz's group recently succeeded in getting their own court in Chicago's
Garfield Park, replacing a homemade installation of plywood boards.
" It's always the campfire rule-it's always left better than we find it, " Schultz
says. " If you give us a space, it's going to

look great, we're going to treat it well, and
we're going to nurture the environment
around that space. "
One club that will soon get its own
specifically built court in June is East Van
Bike Polo in East Vancouver, Canada. The
world's first bike polo court to be built from
scratch, the East Vancouver court also can
be used for other sports like roller hockey,
but no one will deny its construction was
largely driven by the bike polo club.
" The Parks Board was very clear in
laying out their consultation process and
had recognized East Van Bike Polo as a
park user before the first open house, so
it alleviated a lot of pressure we had put
on ourselves to insert our group into the
process, " explains Lisa Moffatt of East
Van Bike Polo. " We consulted with the
bike polo community at large to see what
people wanted to see in a polo court and
worked from that to define the design.
We are all pretty excited about this world
first and there is guaranteed to be a huge
party to kick off the court's opening. "
" Bike polo is good for the city, "
Schultz says. " We just want to play
polo....You couldn't ask for a more dedicated subculture. " 


www.NRPA .ORG

-Elizabeth Beard

MA Y 2 0 1 1

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