Consider This - Part 4 - Things To Know

24 hours from now, people will be flocking into St. Louis to embark on a weekend dedicated to partying hard and creating life-long memories.

If you are arriving in STL on FRIDAY NIGHT, we are meeting at Felix's in Dogtown. We will descend on Felix's around 9:30 PM. Felix's is located at the following address:

Felix's Pizza Pub
6335 Clayton Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63139

Mention "STL BIKE POLO" and enjoy $3 well drinks and bombs.

Before you begin your journey of partying for 24 hours, there are five things you should know about SATURDAY:

1.  Tip Mouse:  Mouse has been present and awake for every second of every Lock-In we have ever hosted. Mouse mops up your spills and slings you beers all night. He is easily one of the greatest people STL Bike Polo has had the privilege to meet. Be sure to bring extra money to help fill Mouse's tip jar. He's worth every penny you tip him...and a hell of a lot more.

2.  We will be partying for 24 hours, and we need a soundtrack providing the backdrop. If you feel inclined, feel free to make a mixed CD full of your favorite jams.

(time out from partying to play polo)

3.  If you plan to interrupt your partying to play a game of polo or two, you will probably need at least one mallet. Feel free to bring all the mallets you think you will need, but remember that only one of your mallets is allowed in the rack holding next game piles. We have always frowned on line-jumping - we're all friends here. Leave your mallet at the end of the line and wait your turn.

4.  When you park your car at The Skatium, try to park as close to the building as possible and take anything valuable out of your car. A couple of years ago, we had an issue with cars being broken into. But if you park near the building and remove all valuables, your windows should remain intact.

5.  Lock-In #5 is obviously taking place at The Skatium. It is slightly chilly and a little drafty inside The Skatium, so showing up in shorts and a t-shirt would be inadvisable. Party hard to stay warm. The party starts at NOON on Saturday.

The St. Louis Skatium
120 E Catalan Street.
St. Louis, MO 63111

Consider This - Part 3 - Food and Drinks

Inside the Skatium, rules are more like guidelines. For 24 hours, we will be free to party until our hearts are content.

But there are some rules that the establishment we are renting for 24-hours has to pretend to follow.

One rule involves Mouse's ability to give you beer. Basically, around 1AM the Skatium has to pretend to stop serving alcoholic beverages for a couple hours. Don't be sad. This has happened every year of the Lock-In's existence. Technically, no alcohol is supposed to be distributed after 1AM, but as most of you know, that didn't stop beer from quietly exchanging hands at the bar.

If you want to continue ingesting beer throughout the night, consider bringing a case of beer or two with you to the Skatium. This will help you attempt to quench your desire to drink for two reasons:

A). The "stop serving at 1AM" rule won't interrupt your fun if you have your own stash.

B). We are buying a bunch of beer. That beer could last most of the day. After that, we'll probably go on our yearly beer run. If you want to drink without the risk of any drinking interruptions, having a personal stash would be wise.

Also, speaking of personal stashes, if you have any special dietary needs, it would be wise bring a supply of your unique food. The food we have arranged for Lock-In #5 will be similar to what we have had in the previous 24-hour romps. 

Pizza and sandwiches. 

Hot Cheetos and Takis.



If you are hankering for some tofu and gluten-free granola, please do not be surprised when we have not catered to your specific tastes.

Consider This - Part 2 - Party Supplies

Partying is awesome.

Partying with sunglasses on is even better.

Partying in Onesies is possibly the best party style.

Partying with a cold beer in creative koozies helps keep the party lubricated.

Partying in sleeping bags is WAAAYYYYY better than sleeping in sleeping bags.

Partying with Sharpies results in awesome knuckle tattoos.

Partying with Andrew W.K. is the best kind of partying

Everything you bring to the Lock-In makes it more enjoyable!

Don't forget your party supplies when packing your bags before heading to Lock-In #5!

REMINDER:

Assess your housing needs amongst everyone in your club, and then get those housing requests to us ASAP.

Consider This - Part 1 - Housing

You're coming to party for 24-hours on January 18th?

Awesome!

Partying is one of the greatest activities known to man, and doing it for 24 consecutive hours in St. Louis is hard to beat.

If you are coming into St. Louis on Friday, January 17, you may want to sleep at some point before heading to our 24-hour party spot on Saturday the 18th.

If you would like a warm, dry place to rest your party spirit the night before Lock-In #5, we have two suggestions for you:

First, rack your brain and see if you or your friends know anyone that lives in St. Louis (People that do not play bike polo.). If it is possible for you to find housing with someone outside of the polo community in or near St. Louis, that would be a huge help. The St. Louis club is not gigantic, so housing the entire Lock-In crowd with people from our club is a big ask. That is not to say it is impossible for our club to house all of you on Friday night, but if your first action could be exploring the option of staying with someone in St. Louis that is not associated with our club, that would be helpful.

Second, if finding housing in St. Louis on your own is impossible, we would be happy to be as accommodating as possible. To secure housing with a member of St. Louis Bike Polo, we need you to talk to everyone in your club that is attending the Lock-In and figure out how many of you need housing. Then one person from your group should contact us and politely provide us with where you are from and how many people from your city you need us to house. This should be a simple task. Communicate with your club mates, and then send us a single, polite and concise email.

That email should be sent to:  LockInHousing@gmail.com

Of course, sleep is not required, and if you want to party nonstop from Friday night until Sunday afternoon, we fully support that endeavor (we even have suggestions on places to party long after everyone has called it a night). The Super Lock-In Experience...A full weekend of nonstop partying! Go for it! We believe in you!

Clock's ticking...

The window to finalize your registration is closing soon, and we're currently showing that only half of the registrants have paid for their space.

If you're not paid by 11:59pm CST on December 17th, your space will be opened up to someone on the waitlist.

Have a legitimate reason why you need an extension?
Get in touch: lockinpayment@gmail.com

Pay Up, Sucka!

Registration for Lock-In #5 went as smoothly as could be, and we now have a list of polo partiers ready to descend upon the Gateway City for 24-hours of fun.

If you registered for Lock-In #5, we reserved a spot for you inside of our South City 24-hour party spot. But you cannot take full ownership of that spot until you pay for it.

This is how you should go about paying for your spot at Lock-In #5:

Starting RIGHT NOW, you have 10 days to send us your Lock-In payment. If you fail to send us your entrance fee within that 10-day window, your spot will be offered to someone on the waiting list. Simply put, you must pay before 11:59 PM on December 17, 2013.

Pay attention!

Our Paypal account email has changed this year. If you brain is running on autopilot and you make the mistake of sending money to the wrong Lock-In email address, you may lose your spot.

This year, we need you to send $35.00 (+ $1.32 to cover Paypal fees) to LockInPayment@gmail.com...When you send this payment, SEND IT AS A "GIFT.:

When you send this gift payment, in the note section, please let us know the following information:

Your Name:
Your Club:

If you are paying for multiple people, your note should include the following information:

Person #1 You Are Paying For:
Person #1's Club:

Person #2 You Are Paying For:
Person #2's Club:

You get the idea.

Failing to follow these instructions will have consequences. Do not simply send money from an obscure email address with no information about where that money came from or for who it is reserving a spot at Lock-In #5.

Simple enough?

Go.

Now.

Registration is full!

As of earlier today, our 24-hour bike polo party is at capacity. If you reserved a spot, congratulations.

Keep in mind, your spot is not guaranteed until you pay for it. Payment instructions will be announced this week.

If you still want to sign up, we can put you on the waiting list. Things come up and people drop out every year, so there's a chance you can get access to the party...you just gotta let us know you're interested. (and if you discover that you won't be able to make it, let us know so we can let someone else in!)

You're Invited...To Sign Up

Last year’s Lock-In was a success. Every Lock-In has been a success. But Saint Louis Bike Polo thinks it may be time for some Real Talk about the happenings inside and outside of the Skatium.

We love partying.

Saint Louis Bike Polo lives to party…and occasionally, to play bike polo on the side.

We love partying, and we want you to love partying too.

If there is any way that we can help you facilitate your party urges, we want to be your tag-team-partner in the steel cage of partying. Together, we have the spirit, creativity, and gumption to create party memories that will last the rest of our lives.

But if we are being honest, there is a dramatic difference between partying and having fun –VS– being careless and destructive for the hell of it.

Lines were definitely crossed last year.

Partying for 24-hours at the Skatium is not a no-holds-barred-anything-goes main event where carnage is free to run rampant all night and the Skatium staff is left to clean up the mess in the morning.

The Skatium is a rare gem of a party spot. It is a location that those of us in Saint Louis visit multiple times throughout the year. Mouse is a friend of ours, and Robert (the Skatium’s owner) appreciates our business and trusts us to respect his property during our stay.

So it really sucks to see and hear their disappointment over some of the events that transpired last year and the mess they had to clean up after we left.

It sucks to have to apologize for the actions and poor decisions of others.

It also sucks that the Saint Louis club is being charged more to rent the Skatium for Lock-In #5 after what happened at last year’s event. Everything you do at the Saint Louis Bike Polo Lock-In has a ripple effect. That effect can be positive or negative. Last year, the lasting impression was more negative than positive.

We can redeem ourselves. We can still have fun…because having fun is easy! But it may be time for some common sense ground rules.

If breaking chairs is your idea of fun and partying, great! Bring a stack of your own chairs and smash away. But breaking and destroying Skatium property is unacceptable and has consequences.

If you love setting off explosives in the heat of partying, that’s cool. We love a good explosion. The Skatium, however, does not. Explosives sound like gunshots. And neighbors call the police when they think they hear gunshots. The Skatium does not want nor need police making unannounced visits.

Speaking of unannounced visits, showing up to Lock-In #5 without registering will not be tolerated. Last year, several people thought they were important enough to show up at the door the day of and weasel their way into the 24-hour party. Unfortunately for us, we were too kind to turn them away.

This year will be different.

If you attempt to show up at Lock-In #5 without registering and without being accepted, you will be turned away. This is not an empty threat. Having people crash our party throws a wrench into our plans. We budget beer and food based on our planned attendance, so showing up the day of is a selfish dick move that takes away from the Lock-In attendees that followed directions. If you think you will be able to show up to Lock-In #5 unannounced, please realize you are greatly mistaken.

With a few minor tweaks from last year, Lock-In #5 will be fantastic experience that will provide memories that we will laugh about and celebrate for years to come. Please do not think that we want to squash your fun. We just need to be on a similar page in regards to what kinds of fun are allowed and encouraged at our 24-hour party. We look forward to sharing this amazing experience with you in January.

If you still want to party with us at Lock-In #5, here is how you can register:

READ CAREFULLY!!!

Send an email to STLBikePoloLockIn@gmail.com at 7:06PM CST on December 1 with the following information:

Name: first name
Club: city, state
Shirt Size: S/M/L/XL

We have 55 spots open this year. After the initial rush of registration, we will sort through the chaos and send confirmation emails.

You must sign up yourself. Do not sign up yourself and eight of your friends.

Incomplete submissions will be deleted, and no confirmation will be sent.

Confusing submissions will be deleted, and no confirmation will be sent.

Sob story submissions about why you missed registration will be deleted, and no confirmation will be sent.

Thanks for reading.

-Saint Louis Bike Polo Lock-In Staff

Announcing: The Saint Louis Bike Polo Lock-In #5

This winter St. Louis Bike Polo will once again be hosting the greatest 24 hour bike polo party in the known universe. You are invited to join us in St. Louis for 24 hours of partying and polo from noon on Saturday, January 18th until noon on Sunday the 19th.

We've thrown this party four times with memorable results. The people that seem to enjoy it the most are the ones that have no problem staying awake all night and can go with the flow. Our party/polo location only has one court, and with almost 75+ polo players, party goers should not expect to be on the court every other game. The wait time between games will be long since we do not allow mallet stacking or any other form of line jumping. In other words if you are trying play 40 games in 24 hours, you are going to be disappointed.

But if you are trying to party (and play some polo) you'll have a blast. We will provide some beer and food, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring a cooler full of whatever you want, especially if you have special dietary needs. We'll also provide a big ass pinata, some little motorbikes, and an hour of rollerskating. Donut shop runs featuring thrash metal soundtracks, spiritual awakenings, merit badges and broken bones are all a possibility. 

For the most part we'll be playing it by ear.

So what do you say? Are you up for it?

If so, do this:

1. Keep an eye on STLBikePoloLockIn.blogspot.com for information about registration that will be posted within the week.
2. Encourage your friends to do the same!
3. Follow the registration instructions precisely.
4. Prepare yourself for the best party bike polo has to offer.

Because Once (A Year) is Never Enough...

After four years of hosting the world's greatest 24-hour bike polo party in January, Saint Louis Bike Polo has decided to throw our grand party twice a year! Too much of a good think is never a bad thing, so come party with us for 24-hours on Memorial Day weekend! Registration starts at 4:20PM on 4/20/2013.

There's a strict limit of 65 attendees (not including STL players).

Registration is $30 per person.

The first 65 people to send us their entrance fee after 4:20PM on 4/20 will be accepted into our weekend-long party.

More details will be posted shortly.