IPMBA's Annual Police on Bikes Conference features an excellent mix of on-bike and classroom sessions presented by experts from around the country. On-bike sessions include basic, intermediate and advanced bicycle handling skills, firearms skills, bike patrol tactics, and officer survival. Classroom sessions include community policing, safety and liability, health & fitness, and bicycle maintenance. The Conference also features the nation's largest bicycle patrol-related product exhibition.

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Heroes, Friends, Phenoms

By Officer Kirby Beck,
Coon Rapids PD (MN)

The 1999 Police on Bikes conference in Chicago is now history. What a fabulous time we had. Chicago PD proved to be a marvelous host, and Lt. Tom Northfell and Officer Ray Ranne were nothing short of Supermen in dealing with all that conferences entail. The officers of the Chicago Lakefront bike team, along with their Sgt. Joe Andruzzi, were great support staff who hopefully found a little time to enjoy the conference themselves. Finally, the conference wouldn't have happened at all without the tremendous work and energy of IPMBA Executive Director Jennifer Horan and Program Manager Andrew Davis. Great job guys! My thanks to all of them for a job well done.

But two things really stand out in my mind as highlights of the conference. The first was IPMBA's awarding of Certificates of Valor to three Tempe Arizona bike officers who survived an ambush from a suicidal assassin on March 19th of this year. The first two awards went to Officers Chuck Bridges and Steve Smith. Chuck was shot in the vest and survived with minimal injury. Steve was tied up with an arrestee, who he had to move out of the way and protect, before he could join Steve and return fire to end the man's murderous rampage. The third award went to Sgt John Shaffer. Everyone, including me, had tears in their eyes in that tremendously emotional moment.

John, you see, had been shot and so severely wounded that doctors still can't explain why he is alive today. People who have their superior vena cava nicked in three places usually die within a few moments. Yet here was John - with his beaming wife at his side - hurting, but able to stand to receive his special award. It was one of the more memorable moments of my life to be able to shake his hand and give him that award. John's will to live is extraordinary, and something we all should have the courage to emulate. All three of these officers were genuinely great people and it was a pleasure to get to meet them and share a little bit of their lives. I hope I have what they all have if fate ever catches up to me as it did to them that night. They did our profession proud.

The second highlight of the conference had to be the inimitable Hans "No Way" Rey. I have seen his shows before, and I even have one of his videos. Yet I always have to convince my brain that what my eyes are seeing is really happening. People aren't suppose to be able to do THAT with a bike! Somehow gravity doesn't seem to work the same with Hans. Besides being a bike "phenom," he is also a bona fide nice guy. He made himself available for autographs and for two very well attended workshops where he shared some of his techniques and secrets.

It was one of those workshops where one of the funnier moments of the conference happened. Hans was effortlessly jumping a 2-3 foot concrete wall at the lot where the students had gathered. A Chicago bike messenger had stopped a moment to check out what was going on. He turned to one of the officers and said rather sarcastically, "Who does he think HE is...Hans Rey?" The officer looked at him for an instant and said, "That IS Hans Rey!" The messenger looked at Hans' logo covered jersey and decided it really was the man himself. He promptly got on his portable radio to notify his fellow messengers. It wasn't long before they were the second largest group of cyclists.

We made Hans an honorary member of IPMBA at the bar Friday night, and he said he hopes to be able to come to future conferences. We're going to work hard at making that happen.

The next impression I have of the conference was how great it was to see so many old friends again, and how many great new people I had a chance to meet. I can only hope that their experiences at the conference were as wonderful as mine. The conference did had some small glitches - I don't want to pretend those didn't exist - but hopefully those in attendance didn't notice them too much.

Finally, speaking of glitches. If anyone has video tape of the crash at the front of the group ride to the competition site at Grant Park, the one where I turned right and Al Simpson (fellow board member from Florida) didn't, it will be worth several beers in Tucson to you. It is a perfect example of diversion crash! Fortunately my leg didn't hurt nearly as much as my pride did. Thank goodness I know that falling is part of cycling. It also seems that the ground magnet won that round.