It was late summer in Washington, D.C. I had just finished a long day of work at my bike shop. I hopped on my bike and rode through the warm early evening air, the rush hour traffic, the smashed glass and potholes. I hopped off at an empty lot surrounded by a chain link fence in the South East.

Some familiar faces lined the edges of the lot, smiling, slapping hands, and talking about crank sets. Tattoos, piercings, tattered clothing, crazy hair, and other counter-culture markers distinguished this crowd from the well-dressed folks that work in the elegant buildings on Capitol Hill. It was a collection of DC bike kids—a group consisting of messengers, mechanics, fixed-gear heads, hardcore commuters, critical massers, and the like. They had gathered for their weekly game of bike polo.

Teams formed and brought their “polo bikes” out onto the court. (A polo bike is generally a trashy single-speed or fixed gear that can be beat up without worry. Some players install special front wheels so that polo mallets won’t get caught in the spokes.) My buddy Mike rode in a few minutes later hauling a trailer and some equipment behind his bike. He brought a grill, charcoal, and fixings for a big vegan barbeque. He also brought a stereo for tunes during the game.

[Below: 30 seconds of DC players on the court.]

Everyone else sat around the perimeter of the court, hooting and cheering and heckling the participants. Most people had crazy nicknames. Most people had polo scars to show off, and tales of ruined bicycles from past games.

It’s a subculture based around the bicycle. Bikes mean different things to different people, but most of the folks in this crew view the bicycle as a tool for bringing about positive social change. Some use bikes to battle social and environmental injustice, fight against oil domination, oppose consumer lifestyles that require purchasing expensive automobiles (granted, many of us couldn’t afford a car even if we wanted one), and celebrate the bicycle as a form of both personal and social liberation. The weekly bike polo event was an excuse to bring together like-minded activists and social outcasts—the young, the impoverished, the dispossessed, and the active—for a raucous and bloody game that involves smashing into each other and scoring goals on bikes.

We didn’t have nice carbon fiber frames or a fancy court. We didn’t have Lycra shorts, sponsorship, or a city permit to play. But what we did have was a passion for bicycles, a community that supports that passion, and hot veggie burgers fresh off the grill.

[Below: Fox actually did a news segment on DC Bike Polo. Crazy...]