Roadspill

Spent Aug 2st in a most interesting way: I worked! Yes, work has been slow this summer, but that could be because I have been jetting around the planet in search of invisible lines, could it?

Yesterday I was producing a story on the world's only pro female bronc buster! We were out in Abbotsford BC, where it was hot and dusty and I swear I had been transported to the Canadian prairies.

Kaila Mussell is 25 and is a pretty cool woman. She's in a sport where there have been no women for 60 years! And she competes directly against the menfolk. We were able to get right down to where the gate is that she launches out of on a bucking horse. The power of the horse is incredible, and it makes you wonder why anyone would care to do such a thing.

It's a hard life for Kaila (from Chilliwack, BC). Now what she is a pro, she has to go to various rodeos to compete and get better. And she generally rides once per rodeo -- only for 8 seconds, if she doesn't get bucked off. Unfortunately she did yesterday. So far this year, she has been to 60 rodeos -- driving all night to get to the next one. Sometimes sleeping in her car. Sometimes bunking with people. Rarely staying in a hotel, as it costs money, and there isn't a lot of money at this stage in her career.

But she has focus and grit, and will do very well in the years to come.

And that is how I spent my Saturday.