Burbank is a long way from Lompoc, but Officer Fernando Munoz knows the way back on his motorcycle.

Munoz and 10 other motorcycle patrol officers with the Burbank Police Department, grabbed their BMW and Kawasaki motorcycles and headed up Highway 101 to Lompoc, where Munoz grew up and attended Lompoc High School.

The small army of bike officers visited the home of Rick Munoz, Fernando's brother, in Miguelito Canyon, for a barbecue lunch. They returned to Burbank later that day.

Munoz, 33, has been a police officer for 10 years. He was a Los Angeles police officer for five years before joining the Burbank police in 2000. Now living in Santa Clarita, he visits most of his family in Lompoc at least once a month.

The trip was meant to train the officers on riding in formation, a law enforcement operation done from time to time for security, parade or funeral detail.

”This helps in getting a feel for everybody,“ Munoz said of the training. ”When you're riding for eight hours straight, you get a good feel for how the group is riding together.“

Formation riding involves the motorcycle officers lining their bikes up two to a row in a lane, from front to end in close proximity.

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Munoz said practice, which takes place twice a year, makes a perfect team.

”You have to know your limitations on a bike and be aware of sharing your lane with another motorcycle,“ he said. ”The whole purpose of this type of riding is you want it to look like it's a single motorcycle going down the street instead of bikes going back and forth swaying. We have to have two solid motorcycle rows and that's the challenge.“

Neil Nisperos can be reached at 736-2313, Ext. 108, or nnisperos@lompocrecord.com.

October 11, 2005