PUEBLO, Colo. (June 14, 2010) - “I go everywhere I can every chance I get,” said McKennon Wimberly.
For three weeks in late May and early June, Wimberly and nine other riders from the Built Ford Tough Series joined their Australian counterparts for a series of three PBR-sanctioned events, along with plenty of other adventures Down Under.
Wimberly, Rocky McDonald, Luke Snyder, Caleb Sanderson, Skeeter Kingsolver, Harve Stewart, Ned Cross, Cody Campbell, Chance Roberts and Zack Brown went to Australia with Brendon Clark, Ben Jones, and Pete and Jared Farley.
Wimberly, Stewart and American announcer Matt West spent a week on Magnetic Island, where they rented scooters to get around town. Cross and McDonald rented a van and drove 12 hours out into the Outback to visit Australian bull rider Grant Wells.
“I didn’t think it would be so weird driving on the other side of the road,” said Cross, who was visiting Australia for the first time, “but everything else was kind of like I expected.”
He was impressed by the Outback.
“That’s a different type of place,” he said. “It never seems like it ends. It’s just as desolate as you can get, and there’s nobody around forever and ever, it seems like. I’ve never been in a place with that much wide-open range.”
It’s so desolate that McDonald’s uncle and cousin, who were traveling in a second car, ran out of gas before they could even reach Wells’ remote ranch.
“They were lucky we were with them in two cars,” Cross said. “We got worried a couple more times about running out of gas.”
Eventually Cross and McDonald made it back to civilization, and found themselves enjoying a day at Surfers Paradise along the famous Gold Coast.
Although he admits he wasn’t very good at surfing, Cross said he enjoyed being out in the water. “I never even got up on the board,” he said, adding that it “wears you out pretty fast.”
“We all kind of went our separate ways and did our own things,” said Wimberly, who was making his second trip to Australia. He also went in 2008.
According to Wimberly, Sanderson spent time with the Farley family while Snyder went off with Clark. Kingsolver, Campbell and Roberts spent a week on a 300,000-acre ranch, where they went hunting by helicopter.
The ranch was 40 miles from a small town and more than 30 miles off the main highway on a dirt road. The experience, which took place between the first two PBR events, gave Kingsolver and the others a real sense of what ranch life is like in Australia.
Kingsolver explained that the couple who owns the ranch actually used an old fertilizer container as a holding tank for water that he used to take showers.
“It was pretty cool,” Kingsolver said, adding, “Yeah, I did good at the bull riding, but I also had fun just going around looking at stuff.”
The Kansas native didn’t win any of the three events, but he covered more bulls than anyone else and won the series.
As for the bull riding events, Wimberly noticed a big difference with the bulls this year, compared to those two years ago.
“The breeding program has gotten a lot better since the last time I was there,” he said. “They have some young bulls coming up that have some bloodlines behind them, even some American bloodlines. They’re getting into it a little deeper.
“Every bull that I rode I was at least 84, and I rode one in the short round that I was 90 on and probably could have even been a couple more. He was really rank. They’ve dang sure raised some good ones.”
Overall, the American riders complimented the staff of PBR Australia for not only putting on a quality bull riding event, but for arranging the various trips they took during the week.
“They made sure we were out seeing stuff,” Kingsolver said.
“That’s one big advantage with the bull riding, is we’re all 20, 21, 22 years old, and we get to travel around the world,” Wimberly said. “We get to go hang out with some friends we don’t get to see very often and enjoy life a little bit and make new friends.”
NEWS and NOTES
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The best of 2010: PBR.TV is counting down the top rides of the year. This week, check out rides Nos. 11-20, then vote for your favorite here.
