HALIFAX, NS – August 27, 2015 – 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 four-storey ledge and onto a curved wall suspended in mid-air six feet 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, Bezanson 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 the same as a four-storey building, that’s eight feet more 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.