A Punk Rocker's Tale: Tall Bike Jousting in SLC

A large crowd gathers under an inconsequential highway overpass on a clear Friday night. Graffiti-sprayed railroad cars and rusting chain-link fences backdrop an unlikely scene. Cody Barnhill looks across the dimly lit asphalt at his opponent. Supported by a friend, he balances about four feet above the ground on the saddle of his tall bike. Under his arm is a ten-foot-long pvc pipe with the head of a stuffed, toy teddy bear impaled on the end. As stage smoke curls around the tall bike’s wheels, acoustic punk band Bombs and Beating Hearts begins another angry ballad. The crowd of over a hundred spectators begins to cheer in anticipation. “I’m fucking amped,” says Barnhill. 

Mark Polichette, organizer and MC for the event, calls out: “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 JOUST!” and the two unprotected challengers pedal forward, lances pointed at each other’s hearts. A resounding “Ooooh” is heard from the crowd as both ride by without a hit. Barnhill and his opponent turn around and immediately charge again. Only one man can win the princess and the gold. As the jousters reach their marks, Barnhill loses his balance and quickly jumps off his bike, landing on his feet and avoiding a cracked skull. 

Welcome to the punk rock version of A Knight’s Tale. 

The Tall Bike Joust held on May 15 is Salt Lake’s third joust and most popular freak bike event. Attracting citizens and cyclists from all walks of life—including hobos and cops—it can’t be described as less than epic. There’s just one question: What the fuck is tall bike jousting?!

“The second I heard about people doing stuff like that, I had to get on the internet, and after seeing it on the internet, I was like, I have to see this in person, I have to do this,” says Polichette, who has helped in the construction and design of many of the tall bikes you see around town.  The idea of jousting has been around for centuries, back when knights strutted their stuff on armor-clad horses, but Polichette was inspired by the tall bike events in bike meccas like Portland, Seattle and New York. The movie B.I.K.E. attributes the origin of tall bike jousting to the Black Label Bike Club, a freak bike organization founded in 1992 in Minneapolis with a chapter in New York City. How they combined tall bikes and medieval jousting, we may never know… 

“Why did people joust on horses? ‘Cause it’s an insanely risky thing to do, it makes for a great show, and you’ve gotta be a badass to be willing to do it,” says Polichette. He offers some insight on the motives behind the idea of  the sport.  “Anybody who has ridden a bike has thought of pushing someone off. It’s kind of cool how there’s a culture behind it,” he says. “The world’s based on challenges. You’ve got wrestling, you’ve got boxing, fencing… you’ve got all sorts of one on one competition. Here’s something to involve the tall bikes with.” 

A tall bike, for those who don’t know, is a bicycle made from two frames welded together. The height depends on the frames, but the average tall bike measures about four feet from the ground to the saddle. Most of the lances used at the joust are made from thick pvc pipes measuring about ten feet in length, the ends softened with rags, stuffed animals and even boxing gloves. The rules of the joust are simple: randomly chosen one round eliminations, the first person to hit the ground loses and the winner goes on to fight again.

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Comments on this article

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Chetti

The JULY 3rd event was INTENSE! see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yU3DpqOnD4 for videos of the February 28th event

Posted on September 3, 2009 by Erik

Check out some photos from the most recent August event. http://erikseo.com/blog/2009/personal-work/tall-bike-jousting/

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