Chances are, you’ve seen them on the local playing field, where they’ve been coming to play together every Sunday for the last several years. And now, you can see bike polo on the big screen.

That’s right, we’re talking “Mallethead,” the myth, the mania and now the movie.

No, it’s not a film on bad hair styles (although the film does feature a few.) In fact, the name is an obscure reference to “Cool Hand Luke” – but the similarities end there. Think of it as a “sprocket-mentary,” if you will, on how a small handful of locals have royally turned the sport of kings on its head.

“It’s kind of funny, because horse polo is such a conservative sport, and we’re the opposite,” said “Mallethead” Director Jon Bailey, known for another local cult cinema classic of sorts, “de Roller Races.”

Although the sport of bicycle polo has been slow to catch on locally, with only a dedicated handful of players, you will find they are a passionate lot, foregoing family, fashion, loved ones, regular jobs and even the occasional morning shower to do what they love best.

“We’ve been talking about a movie on bike polo for years but could never get it going because we always just wanted to play,” said Chad Cheeney, who not only co-

produced the film but also stars as the honorary leader, delivering perhaps the most brilliant mockumentary soliloquy since Nigel’s ode to black in “Spinal Tap.”

Needless to say, you can practically smell the White Lightning, saddle chafe, gas station burritos and back-seat funk as eight dedicated players cram into a white Westfalia headed toward their first-ever “game.”

“The premise is traveling to an event, training and playing along the way,” said Cheeney. “It really is a dream to play another team because basically, all we do is play each other.”

The film was shot over four or five days, with Bailey typically behind the camera. From there, reams of footage were whittled down to 20 minutes. A soundtrack featuring local bands as well as bands that are friends of the players rounds out the action.

“Mallethead” makes its world premiere Fri., Oct. 19, at the Smiley Auditorium, with festivities, possibly including New Belgium beer, starting at 7 p.m. and show at 8. The evening will be a fund-raiser for the future Durango Community Bicycle Co-op and also feature another short film on the Durango bicycling scene, “Durango DEVO.” The event will have a “Day of the Dead” theme, complete with a funeral and casket in which attendees are invited to

throw letters or mementos of bikes that have met an untimely demise. “I personally have had two bikes stolen over the years,” said Bailey, who dedicated “Mallethead” to the memory of “The Killer,” his pink singlespeed that went missing late last summer after a practical joke went awry. “Anybody who has lost a bike over the years and wants to drop in a note or picture is welcome.”

– Missy Votel