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Yesterday, I had the pleasure of serving among the cadre of judges for a motorcycle police “skills competition,” otherwise known as a “police rodeo.” This was the 39th year for this event, and the 15th at which I have served as a Lead Judge. <\/p>\n
For many hours, I was surrounded by…
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\n… men (and a few women) in uniform, patrol boots, and motorcycles.<\/p>\n
The event was held in a location about 50 miles south from where I live. The planning committee that organizes this event chooses a location that varies based on what PD the President of the planning committee comes from. This time (and next year), it was pretty dern far away for me, but I would not miss it.<\/p>\n
While this is a multi-day event, I only went on Saturday this year. Being the Acting Boss, I could not take off work during the week. <\/p>\n
I departed my home at 0530 so I could avoid traffic on really bad interstate highways. Particularly I-95 south of the Beltway — it is really really, I mean really, awful. Lanes disappear, merge, and are hard to figure out because the signage is confusing. I arrived at 0640.<\/p>\n
It was dark when I left home, so true to my promise to The Spouse and myself, I drove my truck. Ordinarily, I would ride my own Harley to get there, but I do not ride in the dark any more. They really don’t care what vehicle a judge uses to get there anyway. <\/p>\n
I am very glad that I did not ride my Harley because the return trip took 2.5 HOURS through stop-and-stop-and-stop congestion over 25 miserable miles. There were no crashes or anything — this congestion is “normal” in Virginia. That would have been painful astride a heat engine that a Harley is known to be. The congestion magically disappeared as soon as I crossed back into Maryland. (Did I say that I hate driving in Virginia???)<\/p>\n
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It was great to be there again. I know many of the cops who are regulars — from all jurisdictions. While their brotherhood is tight among themselves, I was welcomed, greeted warmly, and thanked a lot by the cops who were there. They know how to extend appreciation to volunteers.<\/p>\n
In fact, throughout the morning when I was Co-Lead Judge for the “timed run” — meaning that I would start a cop into the course and click a stopwatch when his front tire crossed the entry line — then walk about 200 meters to the end of the course to determine when the rider ended (stop-in-a-box, boots down). Then walk back to the start for my next rider. Ya know, health enthusiasts say that one should walk 10,000 steps each day. I think I got “my steps” for at least a week or more! (Thankfully, I was wearing comfortable boots — my Bellevilles again, so my feet were fine throughout the day.)<\/p>\n
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I would collect the scores from on-course judges — points are given for touching a cone, knocking down a cone, remaining in the approved path-of-travel, putting a foot down, or (worst), dropping the bike. That happens even to the most experienced riders. It is darn hard to keep balance when turning on such tight turns and circles set up for this event.<\/p>\n
I would mark the score on the rider’s card and give it back to him so he could bring it to the next event in the competition.<\/p>\n
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Some observations for this year: <\/p>\n
* There were about 100 riders who competed. While not nearly the highest participation compared with previous event participation, it was a decent showing.<\/p>\n
* Experience as a judge is noticed and appreciated. We got all the cops through the timed run in two hours by expediting how my other Co-Lead Judge and I worked. <\/p>\n
* Cops are very caring people. Several cops brought me water during the duration of the event because I could not take a break. One tossed me a towel because I was hot and sweat was running into my eyes. Another cop gave me a pen when the pen that I had crapped out. They take care of each other, and that included taking care of us volunteers. I greatly appreciated that.<\/p>\n
* The vast majority of boots that the cops were wearing were dress-instep Dehners. The boys from Baton Rouge like their Chippewa Trooper boots, and a couple cops from Pittsburgh like their Chippewa Hi-Shine engineers. But most of the cops were from PDs based in Northern Virginia, and they all copy the biggest outfit — Fairfax — who wear lug-soled Dress Instep Dehner patrol boots.<\/p>\n
* Motorcops are observant. One of them came up to me and asked, “are you that booted dude guy? I have a question about my boots…” then discussed his questions and concerns about lug soles vs. mini-lug soles vs. nitrile soles for about 10 minutes. Several other cops listened, and at the end of our conversation, the cop said, “you really know your boots. Thanks!”<\/p>\n
* Cops who know you are respectful and insist that others be respectful, too. Early in the morning, a bystander who was watching us organize things said something to another guy with whom he was standing about “fags being married.” I don’t know where that came from. But a cop I know well and who knows me and my relationship went over to those guys and spoke to them about respect and acceptance. I did not ask him to do that — he did it on his own. As I said, cops take care of their friends. Thanks!<\/p>\n
Overall, I enjoyed serving again. It was fun and a great opportunity to contribute my skills, knowledge, and time to help those who serve and help us every day.<\/p>\n
I took hundreds of photos. I tried using my GoPro set to take photos every 0.5 seconds, but apparently I did not set it up correctly because when I looked at the digital imagery I captured, I had video, not stills. I did not have time to fiddle with it while working, so I missed the opportunity to make sure it was doing what I thought it should have been doing. Oh well… next year.<\/p>\n
I will post photos on my “cop galleries” when I can find time to process the photos and upload them. Meanwhile, enjoy this photo, a classic of what I saw all day:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bootedmanblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CopsMAP1705.jpg?resize=584%2C753\")
Life is short: enjoy serving cops!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of serving among the cadre of judges for a motorcycle police “skills competition,” otherwise known as a “police rodeo.” This was the 39th year for this event, and the 15th at which I have served … Continue reading