Polo: It's the ultimate prep sport, possibly last watched by the general masses when Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts to a match in the 1990s classic Pretty Woman. But some riders at the Chicagoland Bike Federation's annual Bank of America Bike the Drive caught a look at the new polo sweeping the cycling world-bike polo. It's an imitation of polo, on bikes, with six people on a field (also known as a roped off space) at once. The newest brand of polo players are the Chicago Bike Polo Club, and after starting off with six bike messengers playing around, they have become the bike polo ambassadors of Chicago in a small, but growing group.

"For awhile it was just six people who would come out every weekend and now we get a dozen or two who come out and play," said Mike Morell, one of the founding members of the club.

The game came to the group, who are mostly bike messengers by profession, from a group of bike messengers in Milwaukee who they met at bike races and other events. It took a few months to catch on, especially with the small number of participants and the lack of background. Loosely based on bike polo that is popular in England and other European countries, the polo players are still trying to figure out the rules, not to mention strategy.

"We were horrible," Morell said of the beginning matches against Milwaukee's club. "But now Chicago's brought their game up."

After improving their own game, the Chicago messengers brought the game to Madison, where it's also quicky gaining popularity.

"They destroy us," Morell lamented.

Morell said the love of the game is just based on his love of cycling, making it the perfect after-party for this year's Bike The Drive, where riders got to travel down the normally busy Lakeshore Drive.

In what has become an annual family tradition, Lakeshore Drive was closed from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. to vehicle traffic and was open only to bikes. Rain showers and cloudy weather early in the morning didn't stop the thousands of cyclists who took to the streets. Cyclists could choose either a northbound route to Hollywood Blvd. or a southbound route to 57th Street. Each 15-mile route began from Grant Park. Some cyclists chose to do the whole length of the drive.

The clouds cleared once the ride ended and cyclists enjoyed a festival with live music and food in Grant Park once they made it off the highway. The event also serves as a great way to raise awareness about biking to work, one of Mayor Daley's signature causes, and the environment overall. Organizations like I-Go cars and World Bicycle Relief, a volunteer sustainability program that's spreading across Africa, were on hand to spread their causes.

But for some local residents like Candace Hill, who dragged her son Colin and his friend Greg to enjoy the morning riding on the drive, it was just about a little family health time. "I'm an old fat lady who needs exercise," she said, "It's my second year doing it, and I just had two handsome escorts."