[jeffw-13]

The road out of Gambrill Mountain state park is a winding downhill that just begs to be driven hard, especially after several hours of beating the **** outa my bike.

I get near the bottom and there sits a a black & white Dodge Charger with the word 'SHERIFF' on the door. Damn! I slam on the brakes but it's too late. He pulls out behind me, lights on.

I roll down the window & hand him my stuff.

Cop "Sir are you aware that the posted speed limit is 30 MPH."

Me "Yeah. How fast was i going?"

Cop "I clocked you at 49."

Me "Damn. That's gonna be expensive."

Cop "where are you coming from."

Me "I was just riding my bike up on the mountain."

Cop "Oh yeah? where's your bike?"

Me "in the bed, under the cover."

Cop "Mountain bike?.

Me "Yeah, just got an Ibex full suspension. Do you ride?"

Cop "Yeah! I have a Haro. Are there any good trails up there?.

Me "Hell yeah! that's some of the best riding in the area just up the hill!"

Cop "You ever ridden at Schaeffer Farms? That's sweet down there!"

Me "No but I've heard of it and I plan to get down there when I get a chance but it's a little far."


After a little more chit chat about bikes & riding...

Cop "I'm gonna go make sure your license is valid & that you don't have any warrants.

Me "Cool."

Cop comes back & hands me a warning ticket :thumbsup: :ihih:

"Watch your speed, OK?"

Me "You bet."

I shake his hand & thank him for the warning & the trail tip & drive off.

 

[daleksic]

I got clocked at 24mph riding my bike on the sidewalk in a 20mph school zone.... I didn't think my bike had a signature for the radar to pick up but i got warned that if I ride that fast I should do it on the street and not on the sidewalk.

No ticket just a "friendly reminder".

 

[Guest]

goes to prove that some cops are really good guys, even though i have such a love/hate relationship with them.

one of the foot patrol guys in a neighborhood i used to work in was one of the best there was.

and hey jeff...watch your speed!

 

[DIRTJUNKIE]

My bike got me out of a ticket

How ironic, I once got a ticket so I bought a bike.

Funny story BTW, I guess all it takes is to share the same passion.
How often do you see a motorcycle cop pull over a motorcycle?

 

[dumpy]

I once had the same thing happen, but it was ski boots in the back of my car. The cop started talking about his patroller days and taking Outer Limits at K-Mart at full speed on teles before it got mogulled (for the non-skiers and those lucky enough to not have to ski on the east coast, thats pretty bad ass). 20 minutes of chit chat later and i'm driving away

 

[dumpy]

Funny story BTW, I guess all it takes is to share the same passion.
How often do you see a motorcycle cop pull over a motorcycle?

How often do you see anyone pull over a motorcycle?

 

[marktomin]

How often do you see anyone pull over a motorcycle?

very often in NYC but that's maybe because I had a motorcycle at one point and I tend to notice these.

 

[Deme Moore]

Oooooh... guy going 19mph over in the middle of nowhere, the cop lets him go and all of sudden he's the "good guy". Just because a thief has a radar gun doesn't make them worthy of respect.

America. Where you're free to be arrested by every uneducated bumpkin badge and sentenced by a no-law-school county judge. "Freedom"... yeah ok.

Rant off.

 

[crashedandburned]

Me "Yeah. How fast was i going?"

Cop "I clocked you at 49."

You were doing ONLY 49? I usually coast down that hill faster than that!

I didn't think my bike had a signature for the radar to pick up

On the base where I work, the Federal Police have one of those radar trailers and like to set it on the exit to the base. Speed limit is 25 and flashes at 30. I love making it flash one my bike when cycling home!
:thumbsup:

 

[MTBigSky]

Good story.

The only time I've been stopped by a cop is by a bike cop as I was riding my bike home from work. I blew through a four-way stop and I heard someone say something say something to me in passing. I stopped and turned around and saw it was a bike cop. He asked to see some identification and gave me a warning.

 

[cazloco]

I once got out of a ticket for speeding in a geo metro. Long story short, he was having a bad day and I made him laugh.

It's always cool to get out of a ticket no matter what the reason. Doesn't it remind us that cops are human? Wow, a cop mountainbiker. You should of asked him if he rode a black cannondale with "POLICE" written on the down tube. "Yeah, I've seen you."

But of course, the bummer is that word is going to get back to the sheriff that the deputy at the bottom of gambrill mountain is letting mtbers off with warnings.

Hey, when you're speeding down that raod, you're keeping an eye out for bicyclist, right?

Caz

 

[aaron04]

I have met every cop in the county where I live, they all came to see me because my neighbor called them. In one year I had the police at my house 59 times. (True story) A couple bought the house next to me and from the first week they started calling the police, reporting loud music, my dog barking, me washing my car after 9 pm, me getting home late at night after my daughter had surgery, they even called the police and reported that birds living in the tree in front of my house were chirping to loud!
The police came over to my house every time the neighbor called and found that there was no loud music, no barking dog, nothing going on. The neighbor told them that I had a scanner and would turn off my music whenever I heard a call to the cops. (I have no scanner) After 15 or so unsubstantiated calls the cops started staking out my house to see if I had any music or whatever playing loud, when the neighbor would call the dispatcher would tell the neighbor that an officer was outside my house and heard nothing! That didnt stop my psycho neighbor! They kept it up until I sued them and won 5 grand!
Anyway, the moral of my story is that every cop that came to my house was very pleasant, didnt automatically think I was guilty, after awhile they would just stop coming and call me instead, a couple even testified in court for me.
Ive been pulled over for speeding and let go with a warning several times except the time when I was REALLY speeding. I hear so many people talk about cops as thought they are worse than criminals, these are usually the ones who are breaking the law and are mad that they got caught, they need to blame someone else. I rarely hear an innocent person talk crap about police. I think the vast majority of police officers are actually doing a good job, it's a job I wouldn't want because I would get sick of all the crap they have to deal with on a daily basis. OK, I'm done.

 

[IARider]

Dealing with the scum of society on a daily basis would get old for me really quickly. Thats awesome that the cop let you go, I've always enjoyed chit-chatting with police.
I just really don't understand how anybody could get mad about getting a speeding ticket or any other kind of traffic ticket, you broke the law, you deserve a ticket. If you don't want a ticket, follow the laws. We all make choices.

 

[Razorfish]

I got clocked at 24mph riding my bike on the sidewalk in a 20mph school zone.... I didn't think my bike had a signature for the radar to pick up but i got warned that if I ride that fast I should do it on the street and not on the sidewalk.

No ticket just a "friendly reminder".

Even WAY back in the 80's our local neighborhood cop would be clocking cars in the school zone. We'd ride on the street in the same area and then stop by his car and he would tell us our speed and show the readout on the radar gun. He was a cool cop and all the kids liked him. I don't remember if anybody ever got over 25 though. Probably not on our POS bikes.

 

[burninator]

in my experience

I find that the best way to get out of a ticket is to just pull over before the cop even gets his lights on. If you are definitely speeding and you see a cop either hit the brake lights or pull out to come after you , just pull over.

I've done this 3 times and all 3 times I got out of the ticket. Each time I pulled over before the cop could either turn around or get back on his motorcycle. I turned my car off, rolled down the window and had my documents ready and in hand before the cop even pulled up. The first time I did it I was driving from Truckee to Tahoe City, doing at least 20 over and the cop didn't even bother to get out of his car, he just pulled up next to me, rolled down the passenger window, asked me where I was going and then told me to slow it down.

I know that this goes against the lawyers view that you should never admit guilt, but I think that the cops appreciate the honesty and not having to chase you down.

 

[xocomaox]

I find that the best way to get out of a ticket is to just pull over before the cop even gets his lights on. If you are definitely speeding and you see a cop either hit the brake lights or pull out to come after you , just pull over.

I've done this 3 times and all 3 times I got out of the ticket. Each time I pulled over before the cop could either turn around or get back on his motorcycle. I turned my car off, rolled down the window and had my documents ready and in hand before the cop even pulled up. The first time I did it I was driving from Truckee to Tahoe City, doing at least 20 over and the cop didn't even bother to get out of his car, he just pulled up next to me, rolled down the passenger window, asked me where I was going and then told me to slow it down.

I know that this goes against the lawyers view that you should never admit guilt, but I think that the cops appreciate the honesty and not having to chase you down.

Must be nice living in a place where cops don't have to fill a quota.

Yeah, I've been pulled over for going 36mph in a 35mph zone. Got a ticket for it. Cops are *******s around here.

It's funny though, the nice ones are never running radar. They are usually traffic cops that are probably too nice to do the dirty work.

 

[Deme Moore]

I just really don't understand how anybody could get mad about getting a speeding ticket or any other kind of traffic ticket, you broke the law, you deserve a ticket. If you don't want a ticket, follow the laws. We all make choices.

What if the rules are stupid? We could make laws requiring you to surrender 95% of your income to the authorities. I guess you'll high five the cop for coming over the house to collect your paycheck?

Speed enforcement is an important public safety issue, but it's also true that far too many counties set artificially low limits to generate revenue. This does absolutely nothing for public safety and the fact that auto insurers lobby for this and hand out radar equipment (so they can raise your rates further) makes it even more despicable. When a police officer is sitting in the middle of nowhere on a stretch of road that is marked low and nabbing unsuspecting passer by they don't deserve anyone's respect. Highway robbery in the truest sense of the word.

Maybe you need to spend time in countries that actually enjoy freedom to sense the difference. Where elected officials actually fear for losing office if they pass nefarious laws. Where laws regarding safety and speed have to submit to national standards instead of the passing whims of every bumblef$#% township you happen to be driving through at the moment.

I agree that anyone playing speed racer on public roads is asking for it. But who here hasn't been caught by some craftily designed speed limit change?

 

[opivyattack]

What if the rules are stupid? We could make laws requiring you to surrender 95% of your income to the authorities. I guess you'll high five the cop for coming over the house to collect your paycheck?

Speed enforcement is an important public safety issue, but it's also true that far too many counties set artificially low limits to generate revenue. This does absolutely nothing for public safety and the fact that auto insurers lobby for this and hand out radar equipment (so they can raise your rates further) makes it even more despicable. When a police officer is sitting in the middle of nowhere on a stretch of road that is marked low and nabbing unsuspecting passer by they don't deserve anyone's respect. Highway robbery in the truest sense of the word.

Maybe you need to spend time in countries that actually enjoy freedom to sense the difference. Where elected officials actually fear for losing office if they pass nefarious laws. Where laws regarding safety and speed have to submit to national standards instead of the passing whims of every bumblef$#% township you happen to be driving through at the moment.

I agree that anyone playing speed racer on public roads is asking for it. But who here hasn't been caught by some craftily designed speed limit change?

This statement is just idiotic. You're completely neglecting the fact that the police officers themselves are just pawns. They just do what they've been told to do. They do not make, set, or change the rules or speed limits. They have a little discretion but in the large scheme of things they are just pawns. For you to say that they don't deserve respect is ridiculous. You can keep speeding trying to make your statement and getting tickets. It isn't helping your situation at all. People that get all pissed off about the fact that we have protection and security in this country are ridiculous. They just get mad because there are rules that they have to follow and they love to fight authority. Speed limits are a worthy cause in my opinion and probably in most others so the argument is just ignorant.

 

[Deme Moore]

This statement is just idiotic. You're completely neglecting the fact that the police officers themselves are just pawns. They just do what they've been told to do. They do not make, set, or change the rules or speed limits. They have a little discretion but in the large scheme of things they are just pawns.

Soldiers are pawns too. Now if they came along and pwned your whole family, are you going to respect them for doing so?

Any officer who sits around all day writing tickets (and not all do) is a waste of life, IMHO. Yes, pay the ticket, get it over with, be more careful in the future. But I don't have to pretend he's "a good guy" just because he let me go. He let's some dude go just because they both MTB. What about the poor single mom slinging hash who can't afford the sport? She gets nailed, no free ride... Good guy my a$$!

I'd have more respect for the pawn argument if the law was applied equally and fairly to all. The fact that he's choosing to play roadside judge makes him something more than a pawn in this discussion.

 

[Razorfish]

This statement is just idiotic. You're completely neglecting the fact that the police officers themselves are just pawns. They just do what they've been told to do. They do not make, set, or change the rules or speed limits. They have a little discretion but in the large scheme of things they are just pawns. For you to say that they don't deserve respect is ridiculous. You can keep speeding trying to make your statement and getting tickets. It isn't helping your situation at all. People that get all pissed off about the fact that we have protection and security in this country are ridiculous. They just get mad because there are rules that they have to follow and they love to fight authority. Speed limits are a worthy cause in my opinion and probably in most others so the argument is just ignorant.

Agreed. His statements are ignorant, but your use of "pawn" is a poor choice. If that's true then you, I and everybody are just pawns in the bigger picture. Being a police officer is an honorable profession. Sometimes we may feel victimized for what is really our own failure to take responsibility for our own actions. Without them we'd live in a crime, violent and anarchy world.