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http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060225/NEWS01/602250329/1010Ever wonder how law-enforcement officers on motorcycles make those sharp turns and zig-zags during crowd control and chases?
They do it by rounding up some construction cones and practicing in motorcycle rodeos, like the annual Capital City Challenge sponsored this weekend by the Leon County Sheriff's Office. This year, agencies from as far away as Kane County, Ill., outside Chicago, and Harker Heights, Texas, have come to Tallahassee to compete in this year's challenge, which is also a fund-raiser for the Leon County Special Olympics.
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The real competition is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today in the Sears parking lot of the Governor's Square mall. The riders competing practiced throughout the day on Friday and attended a dinner hosted by the Capital City Harley-Davidson shop, which donated a motorcycle at dealer-cost to be raffled.
More than 70 riders registered their Harley-Davidsons and BMW bikes to compete in three different divisions on five different courses that have names like Maelstrom and Crazy Horse to either exhilarate or intimidate the riders.
But the riders really aren't intimidated by each other because they have a bond: their bikes.
"Police work is a brotherhood anyway," Capt. Jesse Bowman of Fairfax County, Va. said. "But there is a special brotherhood among motorcycle officers."
But the riders will point out while it's training for their job, it's also for a good cause.
Last year the event raised more than $5,000 for the Special Olympics. While organizers won't know how much money will be raised until after today, the number of riders nearly doubled.
Contact reporter Daniela Vel‡zquez at (850) 599-2161 or [email protected].
Originally published February 25, 2006
