John Williams’ big bull revelation began almost 20 years ago. At age eight, he visited Rawhide Ranch with a few friends and entered his first sheep-riding competition simply because he thought it would be a fun thing to try. Williams ended up winning the contest two weeks in a row. Recently, he graduated from the ovine to the bovine.
An hour after his first bull-riding pep talk, Williams found himself straddling a 1,300-pound monster with rope in hand. “They didn’t tell me anything except hang on tight,” he recalls. Nevertheless, in Williams’ first attempt he lasted the full eight seconds. One might call it beginner’s luck, but he puts it a different way: “I was scared shitless!”
After Williams’ fourth ride, he was lying face down, knocked out with a mild concussion. “When someone asks if I am afraid of getting hurt, the honest response is that it’s not if I’m going to get hurt but when and how bad.”
Every Wednesday night, Williams makes the trek to Norco, where he practices his sport with other aspiring bull riders. “The other riders don’t respect me yet because I am new at this and I am from the city,” Williams says. “But I can hopefully change their minds through my weekly improvement.” One practice usually costs him 40 dollars for three rides on three different bulls. “A good ride is when everything clicks—when the bull’s movements are in synch with my own, and I am completely focused,” he explains.
Williams’ goals are fairly straightforward: he wants to go pro in four years. With his first competition coming up November 4 and 5 in San Dimas, he has his eye on the prize: “This sport is 90 percent mental. You can’t just sit on a bull and question if this is a good idea. You just gotta go.” // SCOTT JONES
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