Man vs. beast: The toughest sport on dirt returns to Des Moines

Modern day cowboys of the Professional Bull Riders compete against 2,000-pound bovine athletes in an attempt to complete an 8-second qualified ride.

Two cowboys with Texas connections will be vying for points in the world standings when they and 33 other bull riders make their way to Wells Fargo Arena for some thrilling bull riding action on Saturday, April 27.

Bryan Titman from East Bernard, Texas, who’s No. 44 in the world rankings, and Tye Chandler from Celina, Texas, ranked at No. 91, have been competing together — not against each other — for years. Bull riding is not like other sports where you’re rooting against the other — all the riders are buddies who are competing against the bull.

“We’re a big family and we’re all helping one another do great because we're not competing against one another,” Titman said during a recent phone interview. “We have to beat what we have that night, which is that bull, and you have to beat that bull before I can beat anybody else in the locker room. So, we pretty much help one another. Then we're all there to cheer each other on. We're all there to see each other win, so when everyone does win we're all there to congratulate them as if just like it would be yourself.”

The Pendleton Whiskey Velocity Tour headed to Des Moines is a one-round event with the top 10 scoring riders out of 35 moving onto the championship round. For most of the riders, this will be a one-and-done competition. A rider could be waiting all night for his one ride and get bucked off and he’s done for the night.

“You see, I don’t look at it like that,” Titman says confidently. “I look at it like when I leave this house, I know I'm going to win. So, when I leave here, I know I'm getting on two bulls. If I can keep that mind positive and you keep a good mindset and you know you're going to get on two, and when you get there, you know you're getting on two and you expect to — I just know when I leave here I'm going to win and no matter what happens, you know things will go great.”

Chandler also has a never-say-die attitude when he leaves his house.

“I don't leave the house unless I know I’m winning,” he said during a recent phone call from his Texas ranch. “I don’t show up just to get on one bull; I plan on riding both bulls.

"You give yourself the best chance to win, whatever you think you need to do to be where you are in the position to give yourself a chance to win. Whether that be mentally, physically, or whatever that might be, you have all week to prepare for that and get to that point.”

The Pendleton Whiskey Velocity Tour is PBR’s minor league. It’s the AHL’s Iowa Wild compared to the Minnesota Wild of the NHL, which is PBR’s Unleash the Beast league. You don’t get to the highest level — the Unleash the Beast Tour — without climbing up the ranks through the lower leagues.

“That’s where we all want to be at,” Titman admits. “Each week we move up the scale to get up there in the top 35 where the more money’s at. You just have to keep riding to win; the more bulls you ride the more points you get. And it’s scored based off a points system, so each weekend when you ride, and you place good, you get points on it and that’s what moves you up the scale.”

Bull riding is an extremely dangerous sport, and injuries — even death — come with the job description. Tragically, in January of this year, bull rider Mason Lowe lost his life in an arena in Denver when a bull stepped on his chest. Like most PBR athletes, Chandler has sustained his fair share of injuries, citing a broken back, broken ankle, broken arm and injuries to both hands.

A lot of what a bull rider does is based on reacting to how the bull is bucking. Once a rider is in that bucking chute strapping on his rope, he’s not thinking of a whole heck of a lot except how he’s going to get an 8-second qualified ride.

“By the time you're in the bucking chute, your mind is pretty much clear,” Chandler said. “I don't think too much. You have all week to prepare, so I don't think you should be thinking the day you're doing it. When I show up, I trust my mood and my preparation, and I know my body knows it.”

“That’s ‘game on’ for us,” Titman reiterated. “When I get into the bucking chute, I just breathe, relax, and just take each jump, jump-for-jump. Don’t overthink anything. You’ve got to react instead of thinking. If you think, that's most likely when you're going to get bucked off.”

At 31, Titman’s been performing professionally for eight years now in the PBR. Although that’s not terribly old in a normal life, in bull riding years, he’s getting up there. Realistically, how long does Titman see himself competing?

“Hopefully for another good 15 years,” he said. “I feel phenomenal, my body feels great. I feel young, I feel good. I feel like once I got to about 30, you really look at this sport a lot differently and you focus on it more. Some of those young guys, they don’t really have a care in the world, they're just going at it. Anywhere after about 28, 29, 30 years old, you start to really think and you focus more and hopefully you got a lot more mature. Everything’s been going good and I’ve been having a blessed year.”

IF YOU GO:

What: Pendleton Whiskey Velocity Tour

When: Saturday, April 27 at 7 p.m.

Where: Wells Fargo Arena, 730 3rd St., Des Moines

Ticket information: $17-$152