Osaka Bike Polo and grilled chicken with friends

Soon after I had bought my fixie bike, I met a nice bike polo player on the way home who kindly informed me that there was an Osaka Polo club and that I was free to join them anytime.  They meet every Monday and Wednesday night either at Osaka Castle Park or another park, as well as Saturday during the day at the Castle park.  My first time was on a beautiful sunny Saturday.  And, since this was in the peak of summer, it was unbearably hot.  It was incredibly hot.  Everyone was constantly going to the vending machine to get something to replenish all the liquid they were loosing. 

Everyone was very nice and open to teaching me.  My bike isn't set up for polo as ideally as it could be but I tried my best.  And, was horrible.  I scored once which I was happy about but was slow as a dead badger out there. 

Teams are randomly drawn each round and players line up behind their goal for the start-

Someone on the sideline counts down and players sprint for the ball in the middle and the game is on!

There was even another American there, Kip-

Things can get pretty close contact and bikes and bodies are frequently hit.  Everyone is friends though so no there are no hard feelings-

Its a big game of cat and mouse.  If you have that ball, there are at least two players gunning for you-

The game is slow and technical for probably more than half of the game.  You can't put a foot on the ground and if you do you have to touch a marker off course before entering the game play again.  Lots of balancing and tricky mallet work-

I had a ton of fun and met some pretty cool people then.  I wish I could do it every week but for my bike to be competitive, it would loose all the practicality of using it as a real bike.  The people in the club either love playing so much they don't care about that or more likely have another bike to use on a day to day basis. I cannot afford that.  

Later that night Dancho took Yukino and I out to a yakitori place somewhere near Kyobashi station.  Nice and small with great food-