Anyone passing the library this year may have noticed the Ultimate Bike Frisbee Club practicing on the lawn. What appears to be a mass of cyclists throwing Frisbees is actually a sport invented by two ISU juniors.

Ryan Grimm and Will Allen developed ultimate bike Frisbee when they biked to campus one afternoon last summer.

“Will and I were riding our bikes to campus to play Frisbee,” said Grimm, junior in computer science. “We started messing around, tossing the Frisbee to each other, and the idea grew from there.”

The rules for ultimate bike Frisbee are nearly the same as ultimate Frisbee. But in ultimate bike Frisbee, all players must ride bicycles while tossing the Frisbee back and forth to their teammates.

Grimm said ultimate Frisbee is similar to rugby. If the Frisbee touches the ground it’s the other team’s possession.

“It is hard to forget about your bike and concentrate on catching the Frisbee,” said Allen, junior in mechanical engineering. “You really have to trust your bike.”

Ultimate bike Frisbee is rougher than ultimate Frisbee, said Alex Syhlman, junior in management information systems.

“We’ve had quite a few crashes,” Syhlman said, “but they only result in a few bumps and bruises.”

The club practices in front of the library as often as they can in the afternoons.

“We practice near the library because we like the attention,” Allen said. “People see us and think, `I’d like to do that.'”

The Ultimate Bike Frisbee Club is about a dozen members strong, and members hopes to increase its membership, Grimm said. The club plans to organize competitions after more members join.

Steve Reid, senior in mechanical engineering, said the main goal of the club is to have fun, but said he hopes to start competing soon.

Club members encourage any student or staff member who enjoys bicycling and playing Frisbee to participate.

Anyone interested in joining the Ultimate Bike Frisbee Club should contact any of the mentioned club members at 572-7687 or check out their Web site – which will be up by the end of the week – at www.scc.iastate.edu/cy-cling.