From: jens@seas.gwu.edu (Jens Johansen)
Subject: Re: Bicycle polo?
Organization: George Washington University
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 19:06:24 GMT

In article <1992Aug30.225154.8897@reed.edu> nelson@reed.edu (Nelson Minar) writes:
>
>you think a softball can hurt your spokes - try hitting them with a
>swinging mallet. Spokes break really quickly when lateral force is
>applied to them :-)
>

True.  Very true...  Something has to be done about the spokes.  If you use
these wheels with five or six great plastic spokes, you are just as likely
to kill your mallet, should the head get stuck in the wheel of an opponent.
Not to mention killing the opponent.  Solid wheels perhaps?

>
>We used a nerf softball, which worked out well. It's soft and not too
>bouncy, and it is heavy enough that it rolls well. The softness is
>good - I was using the wheels of the bike a lot to block the ball, and
>at least one guy was kicking the ball with his rear wheel.
>

Yeah, we outlawed obvious attempts to maneuver the ball with the wheels
because we wanted to try to emulate the real thing as much as possible.
You can't kane your horse kick the ball in polo even if you wanted to,
though it occasionally happens by accident.  It usually leads to no good
for the player's team whose horse kicked it.  So accidental wheel contact
was allowed, provided no obvious advantage wass gained by the culprit.

>
>One other equipment thing - if you're right handed, then you generally
>only have your left hand to manoeuver with. And what does that mean?
>Yep - you only have front brakes. I went over the handlebars once
>while playing, and we were taking it easy. I'd swap the brake cables
>on a regular bike, and I'd think seriously about getting those goofy
>kids coaster brakes (you know, the ones you backpeddle on) so you
>don't have to brake and steer with the same appendage.
>

Yes, I remembered that one almost as soon as I posted my prev. post.  So
obvious that it's easy to forget.

>
>As for rules, we only came up with a few. No contact, obviously. You
>have to keep your feet off of the ground when you are trying to handle
>the ball, unless you are a goalie. The goalie can reach down and pick
>up the ball if s/he wants (this last rule is somewhat in flux).
>

Ah, I'm going to dispute some of these rules on the grounds of trying
to stay as faithful to Polo as possible--

Firstly, there are absolutely no goalies in Polo, so all players must have
their feet off the ground when handling the ball.  Also no picking up the
ball at any time, and the wheel contact rule has been discussed above.

Secondly, there is a great deal of contact in Polo, particularly leaning
in when two players chase the ball, and a players stick may be used to
hook another player's stick to prevent him playing a shot, and so on.  I
would keep the stick rule in, but since it's a lot easier to lean a fellow
off his bike than it is to lean him off his horse, I would agree that
leaning and shoving contact sould be limited.  Still, some should be left
in to keep a fellows adrenalin up, I'd say.  But it's a toughie.

Looking forward to Les Earnest's rules in a later thread...

Jens



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Jens Johansen (jens@seas.gwu.edu)       | DISCLAIMER:  Hey, if you seriously
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