The Yorkton Exhibition Summer Fair was four days of entertainment, with musical performances each night, the West Coast Amusements midway, parade, and horse racing to delight the crowds at the event. In the sky, a freestyle motocross show took place every day, and Saskatchewan rider Dustin Blanchard was one of them.
Blanchard has been jumping for three years, but has been on a bike since he was five years old. He says that he was inspired to start jumping by a show just like the one he was performing in that took place in Regina. After the show, he had a few questions for the owner of the ramps, Vince Morgan.
"I went up to him, right here, bought a poster from him and asked how can I get into this? He told me you need a jump, you've got to get some buddies together, and you've got to start riding. Here I am three years later, riding with the same guy."
It's hard work, Blanchard says, and it's more than just hitting the throttle and taking a jump. Physical fitness is the biggest part of the job, as one has to be in great condition to do the tricks.
"You've got to be an athlete, you've got to be as fit as you physically can in order to be able to perform like that... It's a 250 lb bike, and you have to push that away from you, and you're pushing your 170 lb body, and you've got to bring it back, it's a lot of weight moving around in a short amount of time."
While there were some issues with wind, Blanchard says that it was a great event overall, with the crowd steadily building from show to show. It was a home town crowd, and Blanchard notes that friends from Saskatoon were coming down to see him jump in the final event.
"I love when there's a big crowd, it gets you way more pumped up when you're in front of a crowd that's cheering, the tricks get bigger and the extensions get longer and it's way more fun."
