SHIPPING CONTAINERS TAKE BMX RIDER DREW BEZANSON TO NEW HEIGHTS

Aug 31, 2015

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 5431 times

Imagine, looking over the ledge into the abyss of a dizzying 40ft drop. As your palms grow sweaty, you’re reluctant to get too close as the vertigo kicks in – nerves freeze you in your tracks. But for professional BMX rider Drew Bezanson, his goal is to launch himself from that 4-storey ledge and onto a curved wall suspended in space 6ft. away which will return him safely to where he started. Controlling those nerves and accepting the fear are what set Bezanson apart from the pack, as documented in his latest video release ‘Uncontainable’ from Red Bull.

Bezanson admits to feeling fear, it just takes him a bit more than most to get there – roughly 40ft. to be exact. On a secret site near his home of Truro, Nova Scotia, Drew worked tirelessly throughout the summer with renowned ramp builders to put together some of the biggest BMX obstacles ever ridden using enormous shipping containers that could be stacked and rearranged in endless configurations. Each individual shipping container stands at roughly 9.6ft. – when stacked 4 high, that’s 38.4ft above ground. For scale, that’s roughly the same as a 4 story building. An additional 8ft. larger than the highest platform in competitive diving. Asked about his fearless approach to the project, Bezanson said

“Everyone feels fear... but that was my goal, to ride stuff that would really scare me. Setups that I enjoy riding that were much bigger than what I’ve ridden in the past. To push my personal limits on a bike and to ride stuff I would never get the opportunity to ride unless it was built”.

No other park has ever required him to use a crane just to get him to the top of the ramp... Pushing himself beyond his comfort zone is Drew Bezanson’s life pursuit, with the goal of elevating the sport of BMX and putting his skills to the test. With a reputation in the sport for going bigger than most athletes in his field, he has quickly outgrown the confines of standard skateparks. The obstacles at most community skateparks average about 6ft. high, topping out at roughly 10ft on the larger end. Specialty vert ramps used in professional competition typically weigh in at around 20ft. For Uncontainable, Bezanson’s mission was to build features that would truly test him.

“In terms of bike ramps, this is for sure the biggest I’ve ever built... everything is twice the size of what others guys are riding. Drew lives in a different world right now, and by far a game changer for BMX” said Nate Wessel, renowned ramp builder on the project who has worked on everything from BMX parks to car stunt ramps.

By Red Bull

Watch the video on FATBMX HERE.