No bulls, no ropes, no cowboy hats. Just a bunch of guys and gals on hogs—as in Harley-Davidson motorcycles—not to mention BMWs and Kawasakis.

The Third Annual Central California Motorcycle Police Skills Competition, or “Rodeo,” as these events are usually called, was hosted by the Visalia P.D., at Plaza Park Holiday Inn. The competition drew twenty-six officers from departments as far away as Ventura.

It’s timed, it’s tense, and it’s a tribute to the training and skill motorcycle police officers use every day to keep our streets safe—the same skills that save their lives in a high-risk, traffic-packed environment.

In these rodeos, police officers maneuver their motorcycles through a complex maze of orange traffic cones full of near-impossible turns, sharp corners, and circles. Points are deducted for hitting cones, touching a foot down, or running off the course.

Competition is divided into two categories: Harley-Davidson and Metric. Generally, the Metric bike is the more maneuverable bike, but just try and tell that to a seasoned veteran like Visalia Traffic Division Officer Brent Miller. Like the rest of the Visalia Traffic Division Motorcycle officers, Miller rides a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide—759 lbs. of raw power. Watching Officer Miller take his motorcycle around the course is like watching poetry in motion. And it’s a close call when he goes head-to-head with a Ventura P.D. BMW.

“It’s fun,” says Miller, “but as soon as that stopwatch comes out, you kind of feel your pulse race up. I want to be better than everybody else.”

There’s more to it than just getting the fastest time. To win this competition, your performance has to be flawless.

While the intent is to keep the “shiny side up,” as the officers like to put it, there’s always an undercurrent of anticipation for the next spill to happen—much to the delight of both competitors and spectators alike.

“It turns into a spectacle,” says Miller. “In the later runs, (officers) start riding a little harder and now you’ve got cones getting knocked over, people dropping bikes.”

Even though dropping one of these big motorcycles can result in some dings and scraped chrome, not to mention a few blows to the ego, it’s inevitable when pushing the limits in a demanding competition like this. It’s also a vital part of training for motorcycle officers who have the skills to make split-second decisions in real life situations.

“We have a good time but we’re also honing our skill. And it takes a lot of skill to ride one of those bikes out there. It helps us be more comfortable at different speeds on the bike and helps us negotiate through traffic,” Miller says. “In public, there’s bigger stakes. (It’s) not just “slide, hit a cone. It could be a kid. It could be a car.”

Top gun in this year’s Rodeo was Officer Quinn Rediker from Ventura. And next year’s rodeo plans are already in the works. Officer Miller wants to hold the competition in a new location in the hopes of attracting more spectators, vendors, and business for Visalia merchants.

“My goal is to get it to a spot where it’s convenient for people to watch—downtown or Mooney Boulevard. To make it a big competition, spectator-wise, that would make me happy,” says Miller. “I want people to see that we’re good people, we like to have fun and I want people to see that we’re good riders, too.”

Major sponsors of this year’s competition were Kaweah Delta Imaging, All Estates Realty, Grants Air Conditioning, Visalia Harley Davidson, and the Elks Lodge.