MY, THAT'S A DANDY HORSE

After devoting minutes of brainpower trying to come up with a really cool name for the TANDEM we have finally decided on "Dandy Horse"... "what!?" I hear you cry, you don't think that's a cool sounding name? Well let me fill you in on the history:
In 1839 Kirkpatrick MacMillan a Scottish blacksmith added a treadle pedal system to the current ' Boneshaker ' velocipedes that were propelled by pushing along the ground with your feet, thus he created the daddy of the modern pedal bicycle. These were called Dandy Horses.
Kirkpatrick never filed a patent so other so-called 'inventors of the bicycle' dispute his title. What is on record in newspaper archives is that in 1842 he was fined for hitting a pedestrian while travelling at 8mph. So although there may be many claims to inventing the bicycle, there can be no dispute that the first person to get a ticket was a Scotsman... put that in your Dandy Horse and smoke it!

SUNDAY EQUALS FUNDAY

This being the third Millportpoloco we have by now realised just how difficult it is to get people moving on the Sunday morning. This is due to the ' Lord of the Flies ' mentality that takes over city-boy couriers the moment they get out into the wilderness, in 2005 this resulted in arson and probably the highest percentage of injuries at any courier event...ever. In 2006 the fragility of James Tait's mental state by Sunday threw up one of the weirdest alleycats this reporter has witnessed ( see photos ).
So this year we are going to keep it fun and not too physically taxing, that means sea jumping on a child's BMX off the pier and track stand pillow fights. Two great events and limited risk of drowning. BRING YOUR TRUNKS.

BROWN THUNDER

The track tandem is starting to take shape. You can follow it's progress in it's very own blog HERE it's a good way to keep the BIKE BOOTY guys on their toes.

MILLPOCALYPSE NOW - WHAT'S ON

I just noticed there is no explaination of what actually happens at a Millportpoloco so for the uninitiated here's a brief run down.


FRIDAY - URBAN KEIRIN :The Friday night events take place in the city of GLASGOW ( 2006 European capital of Drug abuse, knife crime and heart disease ) but don't let that put you off we'll be in the posh part. James Tait ( yes that Jaimzey Tait ) is responsible for this night, last year he put on some fine local bands in the Halt Bar followed by Night Keirin around Park Circus, despite the late start this is still a live traffic event, as Selim found out last year. He was fine, his bike wasn't.Expect more of the same this year.


SATURDAY - MILLPORT :This is when the weekend really gets started. Our destination is the island of Great Cumbrae a one hour train ride and 15 min ferry trip away. We leave Glasgow at 10:30am and arrive in Millport, the island's only town, at around midday. The town has everything we need food and drink wise so all you'll need is a bike and a tent and clean underwear if you're posh. The main event is a ten mile individual time-trial around the coast road ( there is only one other road so you can't go wrong ) this is a bit different for couriers who are used to starting and stopping a lot but the scenery is beautiful if you decide halfway round that you've shot yer bolt. An added feature this year is the track tandem Bike Booty are supplying, this means that at any point during the day two person teams can put in a time around the island, bear in mind the start/finish line is on the pier and the tandem is not drilled for a brake. When the time-trial finishes (usually late afternoon) we go and set up camp then the island is yours to explore, which at Millportpolocos 1 and 2 has meant go to The Tavern and sample their £1 whisky. Then there's the huge campfire and some sort of musical entertainment that goes on far too late.

SUNDAY - RANDOM ACTS :Sunday has no fixed program of events.At Millportpoloco 1 it was track bike events (skids, stands, circles) which unfortunately were cancelled due to the massive casualty rate from the night before*. Then last year was the alleycat laid on by James with the infamous swimming checkpoint. So at the present time Sunday's events haven't been decided but prizegiving will take place at the end of it.

*see upcoming 2005 report for full details

2007 DATE FINALLY DECIDED

After thinking about changing this years dates because they clash with the Dublin CMWC post event in Holland we decided that, fuck it, we'll just go ahead. Scotland has a short summer and the calendar is already busy,plus we're fae Glasgow and don't give a shite. So Aug. 10th - 12th it is. If I remember correctly we ran the first Millportpoloco on the same weekend as the New York CMWC and it didn't cause any harm to either event.