Bull riding

Usually when I read High Country News, it's to check out Ray Ring's work. Tonight, I find a long, entertaining read by someone else:

I am staying in a room on the same floor as the bull riders. The hallway is brilliantly lit and mostly quiet but for the muffled giggles and drunken laughter coming through closed doors.

Around midnight, the sex begins.

My bed feels like a plank as I lie on it, listening to intermittent copulation from various locations. This sport cannot be considered properly without the sex. It is one of the raw elements of bull riding, as if PBR were a straight shot to the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a direct connection to vulgar desires.

At 3:00 a.m., I lay awake wondering how they manage to keep up with so little sleep. Maybe they have been cycling from room to room, pausing for rest in between. Maybe I'm the only one who feels like I've been tumbling around in a washing machine all night.

At 6 in the morning, it starts up again.

I come slowly awake facedown on a pillow, reminding myself why I asked for this room. I'd wanted to get as close to this sport as possible, to spend as much time with the bull riders as I could. I sure as hell was not going to actually get on a bull. But this morning I feel as if I've been in the arena all night.

I roll out of bed groggy and swipe a hotel writing pad off the nightstand. With pen in hand and my forehead against the wall, I listen through to the other side and start writing. It sounds like fish slapping on pavement.



Fun fact: Bull riding groupies are called "buckle bunnies."

http://www.hcn.org/issues/41.9/the-rise-of-the-minotaur?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email

 

Rodeo groupies in general, actually.

I once sent a story from the foyer of the University of Wyoming's Arena-Auditorium — sitting on the floor with my laptop up on a chair and using my company cell phone as a modem — following a Bull Riders Only show in Laramie some years ago. UW didn't figure any of the football writers would be sticking around for the BRO show so didn't have any media facilities available. Made deadline, too. ;D

 

Is it possible to write an uninteresting story that includes the phrase "Around midnight, the sex began." ?

 

it was a dark and horny night

 

Excellent.

As for the story, a great read. If the PBR were coming to town next week, as it does annually, I would be going.

Heck, I may do anyway when it does show up. I've always thought about doing so, and this may have pushed me over the edge. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks a lot Frank.

 

We had a fish fry at my buddy's in-laws' farm a couple weekends ago. His father-in-law is a former 5X PBR Stock Contractor of the Year. We're sitting there shootin' the breeze after eating, and up walks his father-in-law, his brother-in-law (an established bull rider), and Matt Austin.

For those of you who know bull riding, you know who "Poindexter" is. He's a nice fella.

 

MY favorite line.

Thanks for sharing this, Frank. I'm a big rodeo fan, but didn't know much about the PBR until reading this. This gets me hyped for the summer rodeo season.

 

PBR is my fav. I love me some bull riders. I've got several in my family. Those boys are way crazier than the rest of rodeo cowboys. Most of them have, well, useful skills.

 

wish I were a bull rider.

 

If you add "Somewhere east of Barstow," it makes it even more interesting.

Yesterday Piaget, today Maslow.

 

A lot of these guys live on the wild side, but are nice folks. Not trying to make generalizations of any group, but it seems unusual for people this crazy and wild to be as genuine as many of these guys are.

Of course, since most bull riders are so small, plenty of them have little man's syndrome. That fuels their drive.