ONSLOW MOUNTAIN – Drew Bezanson grew up just like any other kid with posters of his heroes on his wall.
Now when he comes home, he can point to almost all of the BMX riders in them and say he has their phone number, is friends with them or has beaten them in competition.
Who knew that could happen to a kid who just likes to ride his bike? Especially one from Colchester County where places to do so are less than abundant.
“Everything that I have and I am is just because I like to ride,” said the 20-year-old Onslow Mountain resident. “I have gotten more out of life, learned more and met so many people because of this.
“If BMX was a person, I could never repay it.”
But maybe he is in a sense. Because thanks to Bezanson, aspiring riders in this area have a prime example to look at showing them that they don’t have to be from the United States, British Columbia or Ontario to make it in the freestyle BMX world.
“For sure,” Bezanson said. “If you just put your mind to it you can accomplish anything.”
And Bezanson just about has.
He recently laid claim to the Simpel Session 10 title in Talinn, Estonia, the biggest win of his career. The event is the largest BMX competition in Europe and attracted 110 competitors from 30 countries. Aside from the 1,000 in attendance, the competition was also watched by about 250,000 viewers on the Internet.
“I was instantly on Cloud 9,” Bezanson said of the win. “I was lost for words. I did like 10 interviews right after it and they were all asking me how I felt and I was speechless.”
Although he is already sponsored by companies like DK Bicycles, DC Shoes, Fox, Ryder Distribution, The Shadow Conspiracy, Skull Candy headphones and Poc Helmets, he now has others knocking on his door.
The Simpel Session win may have also opened the door to the X Games, the NHL of the BMX world, which competitors can enter by invite only and will be held this summer.
“I would be ecstatic if I got that,” he said.
It’s the latest step in what is a blossoming career for Bezanson. Upon leaving home earlier this week - after a two-week break - to go back to Toronto, Bezanson will shoot a segment for the Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet. He is also on the cover of the March 2010 edition of BMX Plus. Next weekend he’ll be at Canada’s largest competition, the Toronto BMX Championship. Later this month he will compete at an event in Halifax, followed by a trip to France in May then on to Germany in June. He’ll also compete in the AST Dew Tour, a four stop total-points series in July that visits Chicago, Portland, Salt Lake City and Orlando.
It all started when Bezanson, who was a motocross racer, was introduced to the sport by a friend when he was 11. He was instantly hooked. He started riding every day and began travelling to competitions in the Eastern U.S. and Canada by age 16.
His BMX fever even convinced parents Dave and Laura to clean out the attic in their garage to make way for a half-pipe so he could ride all year long, whenever he wanted.
“I played team sports growing up but the thing I didn’t like about them was that I could only play them on their time. I would be ready to play like two days before practice and by the time it came the feeling was gone. With BMX I could ride whenever I wanted because it’s an individual thing. If I watched a video on the Internet and it got me pumped up, I could just come out here and ride,” Bezanson said, standing in the middle of the half-pipe with his bike.
Once he started travelling, Bezanson’s network grew larger and larger to the point where he now has contacts all over the world. And visiting those contacts has opened his eyes, especially a trip to Columbia.
“We really don’t know how good we have it here,” he said. “I just appreciate things so much more now.”
Bezanson continues to ride every day, unless he’s on a plane somewhere. And if you think his BMX fever is subsiding, then you’re wrong.
“I don’t consider it a job at all,” he said with a smile. “I love it more than ever now because it’s allowed me to see the world and meet incredible people. The day I look at it as a job is the day it’s over for me.”
But that will be a while yet because Bezanson said he wants to take it as far as he can, to household name status if possible, like Dave Mirra, the Babe Ruth of BMX, who just happened to invite Bezanson to a competition at his home recently.
“I want to be the same level as him,” he said. “He’s a guy everybody knows.”
If you watch Bezanson ride, that’s a likely scenario. No athlete can get anywhere without passion. Passion is all that powers the pedals of Bezanson’s bike and it can carry him as far as he wants to go.
sports@trurodaily.com
