Ride a Tornado: Hang on for 8 Unpredictable Seconds

Climb on board a bull with Cory Rasch, the Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Cowboy.
Tighten the rope really well. Clutch your boots as best you can to the bull’s sides. And when they open the chute?
Whoa boy, hold on for eight seconds of a tornado ride.
See Rasch among 90 bull-riding sons of guns on Jan. 30-31 when Professional Bull Riders (PBR) rowdies up Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.
PBR’s Enterprise Tour will offer two nights of bucking bulls and 45 wild-eyed cowboys on each night who aim to hang on – for money and for their lives.
“It’s like jumping out of an airplane,” Rasch said by phone Monday afternoon from his home in Clarksville, Tenn. “You’re scared, but you’re pumped up with so much adrenaline.”
Bull riders are like NASCAR drivers but without sheet metal and seat belts. They ride 2,000 tightly coiled pounds of pure muscle and meanness, bulls with names like Nasty and McNasty. Concentration is essential.
“Bull riding is 90 percent mental,” Rasch said. “You can beat yourself up before you even get on the bull. Plus, you can die.”
Formed in 1992, about 1,200 riders are licensed to compete in Pueblo, Colo.-based PBR. Four divisions exist within PBR, the main one being the Built Ford Tough Tour.
“The Built Ford Tough is like Major League Baseball compared to the minor leagues,” Rasch said. “The Enterprise is full of guys trying to make enough points to get into the Built Ford Tough Tour.”
In Johnson City, 45 bull riders will compete on the first night, 10 of which will advance to a deciding round for the night. Then, another 45 riders repeat the process the next night. The rider with the highest points total wins the overall event. As for Rasch, he will ride on Friday night.
A 12-year professional bull rider, Rasch competed in PBR’s top division for about six years, until two years ago. That is until PBR’s debut in New York City and sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. It proved a pinnacle night for PBR, but not for Rasch.
Thrown from a bull, Rasch was then gored and stepped on by the raging bull.
“I lacerated my kidney and spleen, broke four ribs and a vertebrae in my back,” he said. “When I was in the hospital anytime a nurse looked at my chart it said, ‘hit by bull.’ They thought it was supposed to be ‘hit by bus.’ I said, ‘No, I was hit by a bull.’ And they said, ‘How do you get hit by a bull in New York City?’ ”
Another time, in Atlanta, Ga., Rasch suffered a torn knee ligament and head injury. Add in way too many cuts and bruises along with more broken fingers than any hand could hold.
And yet, Rasch still rides.
“It’s only eight seconds,” he said. “If you can’t endure a little pain, then you need to find something else to do.”
And so for now on most weekends, the black-clad cowboy from Clarksville, Tenn., takes off for locales across the country. Not an easy life.
Still, Rasch has earned enough to buy a large home on 60 acres of land. He has a wife. And come May, he’ll have a son, too.
Meanwhile, around about the time that folks are filing out of Freedom Hall, Rasch will be on the phone.
“After every event, I always call home to my wife and then to my mom to tell them that I’m OK,” Rasch said. “My wife said that until I’ve ridden my last bull, I’d better call home.”

A SAMPLING OF NAMES OF BULLS RIDDEN BY RASCH
Avalanche
Black Bart
Black Sabbath
Bond, James Bond
Bone Crusher
Buzzard Bait
Dirty Harry
Holy Moly
Kid Rock
Louisville Slugger
McNasty
Motley Crue
Nasty
Shotgun Willie
ZZ Top

IF YOU GO
What: Phil Bachman Toyota PBR Enterprise Tour Bull Riding
When: Jan. 30-31, 8 p.m.
Where: Freedom Hall, 1320 Pactolas Road, Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $25 reserved lower level, $20 general admission lower level, $15 general admission upper level, free admission for children under age 2
Info: (423) 461-4884
Web: http://www.pbrnow.com

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .