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A Thanksgiving-season Tradition On Wheels

It’s not thanksgiving without turkey, stuffing and family, but some folks in Richmond take it a step further. For them, it’s not the Thanksgiving season without the annual Turducken bike polo tournament.

It’s a chilly, overcast day at the Randolph community tennis courts, and the spectacle unfolding before me is a site to behold - two teams of three players, all on bicycles - are furiously dashing back and forth on the hardcourt surface with mallets in one hand, bike handlebars in the other, and the sheer force of will at their backs. This is bike polo, and today’s event is the coveted 10th annual Turducken, a local version of a now nationally-played sport that has roots in Portland, New York and Richmond.

A bit of #bikepolo for a @wvtfradioiq story that airs tomorrow! #TurduckenX A post shared by Brad Kutner (@patioweather_rva) on Nov 21, 2017 at 10:00am PST

 

"It seemed like a fun game and just jumped in and caught the bug,” says Sean McCormick. He’s a veteran bike polo player who helped form Turducken ten years ago and has since helped keep it alive. "We started playing in a ramshackle court down in Oregon hill and we started out with some dummies with makeshift mallets and bikes they were riding everywhere. Nothing specialized and specific to it and it kind of grew from there.”

McCormick is among the one hundred or so people who are trying to keep warm, sometimes with the help of a little liquid courage, as more than a dozen teams compete for a cash prize and the coveted title of Turducken Ten champions.

The sport is beautiful to watch. Similar to ballet, the teams dance around on modified bikes that help manage the short bursts of speed and tight cornering required to pass the ball between one another using only “mallets.” Since the sport's inception about 15 years ago, companies have sprouted up to produce bike parts like wheel shields and professional grade mallets. But one man, Zack Archibald, a Portland native who helped bring the game to Richmond, remembers the good old days. "We started playing bike polo in Richmond we got some ski poles and PBR cans” That’s what the mallets were made of back then.

"If someone moved to your town and wanted to play bike polo and do a bunch of volunteer work then there would be bike polo,” Archibald remembers.

From there a national sport cropped up under the banner of the ’North American Hardcourt Bike Polo Association.' Competitive teams developed regionally and industry-wide rules and standards were created.

But Turducken, despite bringing some of those nationally recognized, skilled competitors, is known for adhering to the old ways. "The competition level here is super high, really good camaraderie, everybody here knows everybody… and there’s no rules.  This tourney is more lax in terms of what’s allowed vs standard NAH tournaments," says Chris Barber. He’s a member of Shadynasty, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based team that participates in about eight tournaments a year. And while everyone in attendance seems to agree the lawlessness adds to Turducken’s appeal, it can also be a bit hard on the body.

Kaycie Tatum, a Richmond native and 10-year veteran of the sport, points to two long scars on her chin and reminisces about a particularly brutal incident a few years back. "Two layers of stitches right here, 5 and 7, reaching over grabbing a ball. Landed face first.  I was like ‘are you sure I can’t just super glue it?’ and I looked in the mirror and my mouth was full of chipped teeth,” Tatum remembers.

But beyond the lawlessness and the flesh wounds, Turducken is also known for a massive, end-of-the-event meal shared by spectators and competitors alike. Giant pans of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and of course the titular Turducken, a duck stuffed in a chicken then stuffed into a turkey, are spread out on folding tables near the center of the court. The sun has since set, but the steam from the meal can be seen via cell phone lights as people shovel food into their mouths after a hard day's competition.

One man, Nick Vaughn, stands a bit taller than the rest. His team, the Means, won that day. Now they have championship rings and a cool wad of cash in their pockets. A Richmond native, Vaughn also helps organize the event and while he’s still glowing from his win, he’s already thinking about next year. “We’ll always be back, the format’s a little different every year, so we’ll try and think of something creative and fun and keep the game interesting and fun and fresh. It was nice getting some cash and some championship rings. MGM Grand at the national harbor can look out for us in a few hours.” 

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.