Flying Cowboys Thrill Fans At Santa Maria Elks Rodeo
SANTA MARIA, Calif. – There’s something a little different at this year’s Santa Maria Elks Rodeo. While the popular rodeo once again includes traditional events such as bull and saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, team roping and mutton bustin’, there’s also a specialty act that gives a whole new meaning to “horsepower.”
“We do freestyle motocross, so it’s pretty cool, dirt bikes flying through the air, gymnastics on the bikes,” said Matt Buyten, who is part of the “Flying Cowboys,” a specialty act stunt team that’s part of Cotton Rosser’s Flying U Rodeo.
Riding a “steel horse”, you can say these cowboys experience the ultimate 8 second ride.
“We bring out the dirt bikes, and go 75 feet, 30 to 35 feet in the air, doing back flips and letting go of the bike in the air,” said Luke Dolin of the Flying Cowboys.
The Flying Cowboys travel the country and perform at various events, particularly at rodeos, where they ride in front of fans that might be skeptical of their inclusion. But according to the riders, they usually win them over quickly.
“Some people don’t like us here because it’s not animal stuff,” said Buyten. “It’s motorcycles and they don’t think they go hand-in-hand, but it’s the new days and a lot of the crowd likes it, we get great reactions from the crowd.”
“The crowds always love it because they’re not expecting to see dirt bikes at rodeos,” said Dolin.
The guys say the reaction from the crowd is all the same, no matter what the age, from young to old, they’re all amazed.
“They’re like, whoa!” said Buyten. “It’s cool, we scare every single mom out there and that’s pretty fun.”
Both riders say they have enjoyed their extensive travel all over the country and internationally, and are fortunate on how they make their living.
“We love to do it and we get a high off of it. It’s awesome,” said Dolin.
“It’s about stoking the crowd out,” said Buyten “They come out and spend their hard earned money, so it’s cool to give back to them and just shred up for them and have fun riding.”
Judging from the reaction from the Santa Maria crowd, everyone in the Elks Unocal Event Center had a lot of fun watching the Flying Cowboys!
