Spinning wheels, swinging mallets
There's no champagne on these polo grounds, and this certainly isn't the sport of kings. Bike-polo spectators guzzle beer and taunt players during the decidedly down-market variation of the sport.Horse polo is played on a carefully maintained field, but bike polo takes place on tennis courts with temporary recycled plywood for rink boards and mallets made from recycled ski poles.Conceived by Irishman Richard Mecredy, who started velocipede polo in 1891, the sport then peaked as a demonstration sport in the 1908 Olympic Games. More than 100 years later, the sport is still growing and this past Sunday Vancouver hosted 32 teams at the Cascadia Regional as they took part in a qualifier for the upcoming worlds in Milwaukee this July. John Lehmann, The Globe and Mail's Vancouver-based staff photographer, was there as the mallets swung and the beer - not bubbly - flowed.
Action during Cascadia Regional Qualifier in Vancouver on Sunday May 27, 2012.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
A polo player tightens-up his break guard before the start of the Cascadia Regional Qualifier in Vancouver on Sunday May 27, 2012.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Action during Cascadia Regional Qualifier in Vancouver on Sunday May 27, 2012.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Bikes with protective spoke covers and polo mallets made out of recycled ski polos and ABS plastic piled up before the start Cascadia Regional Qualifier in Vancouver on Sunday May 27, 2012.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
A member of the East Van Bike Polo club (right) is checked by a member of the Guardians Bike Polo Club from Seattle during the final match in Vancouver on Sunday May 27, 2012. The Guardians Bike Polo Club won the Cascadia Regional Qualifier.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
A member of the Crazy Canucks Bike Polo club after getting knocked down during Cascadia Regional Qualifier in Vancouver on Sunday May 27, 2012.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail