BART Magazine (Japan) reported on Polo:

The Bay Area is a haven for cycling enthusiasts concerned with their health. There are more and more white-collar workers riding their bikes from their homes to the train station [blah blah]. . . . . Given that kind of environment, it's no surprise that people are coming up with new sports for bikes.

(second headline) Here are some truly "pleasure-specific" relationships worthy of web-clubbing. "I want to have fun playing bike polo, so I'm gathering friends online."

There's something I love doing, but I can't do it alone.... If that's the place you find yourself, then the Internet can pay off big time in finding new comrades. Here's one such story…

One of the fastest growing sports in the Bay Area these days is "Bike Polo." In other words, polo played not on horses, but on bicycles.

A little past six on a recent evening in Golden Gate Park in the city of San Francisco. A vast green lawn. Men come riding up on their bicycles, more and more of them.

"It's only been eight weeks since we started this, but now we're coming here every Wednesday night to play, " explains Michael, who by day works at a bank. "It all started when I heard about this sport called bike polo, and thought I'd like to try it. At first I asked around in my circle of friends, but I wanted to get more people involved. So I put up a notice on a web mailing list. People interested in joining send us e-mail."

There was already a home page for bicycle enthusiasts in the Bay Area with hundreds of participants; the key to Michael's success was linking his own groups' notice to that page. He's been joined not just by other players from the Bay Area, but by visiting businessmen from Chicago and even Tokyo (!).

But this part is also very like the Bay Area. After the game, everyone heads right back home. The point of this group is bike polo, not

hoisting a beer after it's over. It's the very model of "pleasure-specific" friendships.

Bike Polo Fan Club

Organizer Michael is bringing in new comrades, not with a web site, but

with a mailing list (ML). There are lots of bicycle mailing lists in the

Bay Area, but bike polo lists are rare.

A visitor from Chicago during Bike Summer '99 in SF trying polo.