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Police Bike School

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
i finished the school a few weeks ago but just now have the time to write about it.

first off, it's sponsored by the Law Enforcement Bicycle Association (LEBA). It was very basic as it should be since there were people in the class that hadn't ridden a bike since they were about 10 yrs old.

the first day was basics, nomeclature, safety....blah..blah..blah. then, after lunch, we did a 10 mile ride through downtown and surrounding areas. that was pretty fun as i hung in the back w/ one of the instructors and chatted about bike stuff. that instructor is actually a fairly decent trials rider and we had several unnoficial mini-competitions during the week to include a 4+ minute trackstand battle :D (LEBA only requires a 10 second track-stand to pass)

Day two was more of the same, but included a 20 mile ride and the super cool thing was that the halfway point turned out to be the same place that has our little, "city ordained" freeride/dirt jump park. so i made sure to finish my two laps around the park quickly so that i had some time to play at the freeride zone. the whole time i was hitting the dirt jumps i was thinking to myself....."i'm getting paid for this!!!"

Wednesday was mostly outside working on technical stuff followed by a 10 mile trail ride....that too was a blast as there were a couple sections that had a fun drop or two and the main group took the go-around while the instructor and I did a little show and tell on the drops :D ( i took the big hit that day instead of the P2 :thumb: )

Thursday was more tech stuff, lots of riding around tightly placed cones. very fun.

friday was the test, battle ball and battle box. two ill-concieved games that you play on bikes, think polo mixed w/ football on bikes and battlebox was a very tiny cone box where the winner was the last one still on the bike. i won that :D
then we had a killer night urban ride through downtown in a torrential downpour. probably the most fun i've ever had in a group ride setting.

anyhoo...i only took a few pics as we were so busy most of the time and only got one pic of me actually riding.

tight circle course where they kept adding more riders to the mix...pretty fun

"M" track cone cours. actually pretty tech, especially for riders that haven't been on a bike in 15 years.

how we were instructed to take stairs.....

i took the much faster, "skip the stairs" method ;)


and of course...the best pic of all. a P2 on back of a police car :thumb:


my department doesn't have an official bike unit yet but we're working on it and i may even get a budget for tools/tires/tubes to set up a small workstation since they found out that i used to be a mechanic at a bike shop. it's amazing how much illegal activity you can sneak up on with a bike and i think my department is beginning to realize the advantages :thumb:
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
yup! :D ;)

could you keep from riding wheelies/manuals in the ample down time waiting for others to practice/complete the course?
i couldn't.

you're just jealous because i got paid to ride for a week.

oh yeah, almost forgot....we went to the range on friday and practiced a 1/2 mile uphill sprint, then had to jump off and sprint 75yds on foot and shoot. it was amusing to watch a lot of the riders go to their knees as soon as they started to run because of the different muscles used.
 

MTB_Rob_NC

What do I have to do to get you in this car TODAY?
Nov 15, 2002
3,428
0
Charlotte, NC
Ha... that is cool. And just think of all the community outreach programs you can include Lil Manimal in.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
That's cool. I was talking to one of the local departments about being on the bike force as a volenter, but have yet to find the time. They get free work for all thier bikes at one of the local shops. Cool deal, I must say.

They said I couldn't use my own bike though. Bastards!
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
motomike said:
Tubby did you here about the dude that crashed and his brake lever stuck into his leg and broke off?
yeah, his name is dewey. pretty harsh crash, down a long hill, he hit a hole hidden by the grass, started to lose it then hit another dip and went OTB. brake lever broke off into his leg. the dr. stuck her finger in past the 2nd knuckle to check it. i think he got 7 stiches.

i offered to put him in a child seat on the back of my bike for the night ride ;)
 

GumbaFish

Turbo Monkey
Oct 5, 2004
1,747
0
Rochester N.Y.
I had some cops watching me the other day for about half an hour. I was just practicing wheelies,endos, and following parking lot lines to practice for skinnies. I couldn't tell if they were just wasting time, contemplating telling me to go home, or just watching me ride.
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
Haha there is a police academy just down the street from where i live. One day i was rolling thru on my way to some trails and there were some cadets chatting outside one of the halls. i rolled by and startled one she screamed all crazy like and the other two dudes there were laughin. i really didn't mean to scare the crap out of her, it was pretty funny.
 

sanjuro

Tube Smuggler
Sep 13, 2004
17,373
0
SF
Serious (sorta) question: if you fired your gun while riding, could you hit a target and would you lose you job?
 

face

Monkey
Sep 14, 2005
209
0
northern utah
GumbaFish said:
I had some cops watching me the other day for about half an hour. I was just practicing wheelies,endos, and following parking lot lines to practice for skinnies. I couldn't tell if they were just wasting time, contemplating telling me to go home, or just watching me ride.
thats funny we were jumping in the hills and a coupla cops came up in their jeep and watched for a while then just gave us a thumbs up and took off. i think they were jealous :eviltongu
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
GumbaFish said:
I had some cops watching me the other day for about half an hour. I was just practicing wheelies,endos, and following parking lot lines to practice for skinnies. I couldn't tell if they were just wasting time, contemplating telling me to go home, or just watching me ride.
most likely the latter. bikes aren't much of a threat to public structure...or at least most cops don't think they are :sneaky:

unless you're trespassing in a high profile area it shouldn't be an issue. on the other hand, high profile stunts....like roof drops will probably catch the eye of roving cops. just common sense.


chicodude said:
I thought you had a z-150 on you p.2?
i did. traded it to pangeist for his super-T. put that on the big hit and put the dj II on the p2. the stiffer dj II matches well w/ the p2 and the uber plush super t balances out the big hit much better than the dj II.....i was going to put the z150 on the big hit but i had a stupid day and cut the steer tube down :mad:
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,383
9,289
MTB New England
Hahaha...sweet pics!! So what's the deal...did you pass? Did you get bike-cop certification? Or is this just a training session for your own on-the-job benefit?