February and March Meeting Notes

Because of our non-profit status and to continue to be intentional about fostering growth of bike polo here in Grand Rapids and the rest of Michigan we have begun to meet every 3rd Tuesday at Founders Brewery in their Taproom at 7pm.

The meetings do not go longer than 2 hours and serve not only as a way for us to discuss matters important to all things polo, it is a great time of community between fellow players. All are welcome. Email grandrapidsbikepolo@gmail.com if you have questions about attending.

Below are the highlights and public notes from our February and March meetings. I apologize for the formatting, this will be corrected in future.

_ _ _

Grand Rapids Bike Polo Inc.
March Meeting Minutes

Attendees:

• Alex Angus
• Justin Daining
• Matt Ruiter
• Joshua McBryde
• Casey Cronkright
• Adam Lorenz
• Jay Niewick
• Bob Zeilstra
• 
  
• 
  
• 7:25
• Meeting begins.
• Banking issues - Casey and Jay
• 501c3/501c4 issues
• Park meeting - Matt and Justin
• Parks department is receptive to our requests.
• Harrison elementary
• Boards needed - weatherproof, temporary
• Shared use with the school
• Bike park
• possibly get grant for paved lot
• Sponsorship
• Bikestock
• Frasier insurance
• Sports coverage policy
• 25 players for about $500
• Insurance
• Statewide non-profit insurance policy? like Indiana
• 
  
• Upcoming Tournaments
• Midwestern: Bloomington, IN - May 21,21
• Matt, Alex, Bob; Josh?, Casey, Jay?
• Lafayette, IN - first weekend of April

Play days
Sunday accomodating leisure day? 2 pm
Thursday game face 7pm
Tournament concierge?
how many games can be play in x hours
how is tournament structured

Action Items
Talk to founders about meeting rooms - Jay
Verbiage for city pamphlet - Justin
Indiana insurance company, policy, etc - Matt => Jay
lock down details and details of sponshorship - Josh McBride
GRbikepolo.com - Justin, Bob
Hockey Rink meeting - Matt and Jay were quite involved
Membership cards - alo
Bikestock tournament organization - Josh, Matt, Alo?

Next Meeting
Nail party at Dainings house - TBD

_ _ _

Grand Rapids Bike Polo Inc.
February Meeting Minutes

• Attendees:
• Justin Daining
• Casey Cronkright
• Alex Angus
• Adam Lorenz
• Matt Ruiter
• Joshua McBryde
• Jay Niewick
• Bob Zeilstra

7:30 - Election of Board - Board Members as follow [one year commitment]

-President: Jay Niewiek

- Ambassador: Matt Ruiter

- Scrrribe: Bob Zeilstra

- Treasurer: Casey Cronkright

- Minister of Information: Adam Lorenz

- Board Member: Alex Angus

- Board Member: Justin Daining

- Board Member: Joshua McBryde

7:45
discussion of # of board members and club members, number of board members will be between 5 and 9, with the president acting as the decider for a tie-breaker vote
7:53
casey to get a non-profit banking
7:57
meetings shall be capped at 120 minutes
7:57
meetings third Tuesday of the month
7:59
Matt went to Parks and rec advisory board meeting last week. He described main goals, including establishing a permanent position to play. Positive and receptive of our mission
Meeting prospect in early march with director of advisory board.
8:04
Justin has acquired a large amount of wood, proposal for nail removal party.
8:07
Adam will be in contact regarding photos and write ups of polo whips.
8:07
Casey needs information from Matt for banking
8:09
membership dues, voting rights and membership, t-shirt sales are separate
8:10
shop discounts
8:34
conversation is tabled, number of sponsored members will be determined
8:36
probationary period for board membership to be brought up next meeting
8:38
Matt – parks department and outdoor hockey rink, group of people trying to make this happen. Matt is meeting with this person soon, and we should try to get on board with them. Who wants to go to this meeting with Matt?

Overview
Voting of board members
Organization updates (meeting day, duration, etc)
Parks & Rec
Matt’s meeting with board
Outdoor hockey rink group
Sponsorship
Banking, donations, receipts

Action Items
- Banking information
- Sponsorship
- GRbikepolo.com
- Hockey Rink meeting

St. Patricks Day Polo!

Polo.

Tomorrow.

Under the S-Curve.

7PM.

What better way to celebrate the holiday than on a bike... playing polo.

And you don't even have to wear green.

Enough said. Be there today at 3pm

Need more details? Go to our Facebook page.

Polo Itch!

UPDATE: 2/20 1:40PM | NO POLO | WE WILL PLAY SOON ENOUGH BE ON THE LOOKOUT!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2PM - 5PM, UNDER THE S-CURVE

I've got an itch that needs to be scratched. A Polo Itch.

Sunday doesn't look like the best for weather but most of the snow is gone and I'm not afraid of the temperature or the 'mix'...

So here's the deal, if 6 people RSVP by Sunday at noon. It's on like Donkey Kong!

Go to the Facebook Event page to RSVP. Hope to see you there!

nommin

Alex's Rig.

This is my 1973 Botecchia Deluxe given to me by my friend Fish as a frame and fork a few years back. In my hands, it originally spent some time as some sort of single speed winter beater slash all-around junker before realizing it would make a pretty killer polo whip when the big polo boom of Grand Rapids came around in the spring of 2009.

This bike, like many other polo bikes around this great land called America, is outfitted almost fully of found, free, or otherwise completely random parts bin parts, with exception to a black 32h Velocity Chukker on the rear and a 32h Velocity Fusion on the front.....which could probably use a hell of a tune-up.

I once read that fixed gear polo is a thing of the past, and I am a recent believer. My gearing is 30x16 with a freewheel which may be just about perfect. An old SR Apex touring crank with a weirdo 86 BCD for the little chainring to keep it STEEZY. nom?

ARE YOU NOMMIN?!?!?!?!?!??!

GR Polo Bikes: Alo's Experimental Rig

Well, I already posted this over on the Velocity blog and League of Bike Polo but figured it's worthy of doing here plus give me a reason to finally start highlighting all the bikes we use here in Grand Rapids.

As I've stated on both of the other sites, this is an experimental set-up, especially given the extreme setback of the seatpost. I've already started to brain storm ways of reinforcing the seatpost if I like the set-up. I'm sure there will be some tweaking before I have this totally dialed but I'm excited to get this thing going. Hopefully we'll have some nights to play here soon.

Here is some spec on the bike:

Frame: Schwinn FrontierCrank: Raceface 180mm crank - 34T Surly Chain Ring
Stem/Handlebar - Cannondale C4 Stem shimmed down to work on 1" fork with a handlebar from an old Bridgestone handlebar - lots of sweep [also shimmed]
Seatpost: Black Ops set-back
Front wheel: 26" Velocity Aeroheat 32H - Robins Egg Blue [RIP] w/ gold nips and hub, 3X
Rear wheel: 26" Velocity Cliffhanger laced to a custom spaced SS hub w/ a 5-speed FW
Brakes: mix and match, from the double pull lever to the Red Tektro front V-brake to the rear old-new stock from a local shop

Travel time?

As seen over at Urban Velo.

London Open 2010 Highlights from Jon Marshall on Vimeo.