In the world of BMX, Drew Bezanson needs no introduction as he is after all at the very top of this extreme and exciting sport. This kid from Truro, Nova Scotia travels the world with his BMX bike in search of some of the most incredible riding anyone has ever seen. However, Drew’s first love is motocross. With a few days off this past weekend, he made his way up to Moto Park to compete in a CMRC Fall Series event. We caught up with Drew at the end of the day as he was grinning from ear to ear with excitement from an awesome day of racing.
This is Drew Bezanson’s playground. Not too bad for a kid from Truro, NS. photo by Sebas Romero/Red Bull Content Pool
MXP: That is a pretty big smile on your face Drew, you must have had a good day?
Drew: I sure did! I just got a holeshot in my final moto. It was my first holeshot since I was 12 years-old. It felt so good to lead a lap around here, I’m pretty excited right now, as you can probably tell. (laughs)
Yes, it’s pretty easy to see that. I love when people from other sports get so excited about motocross?
It’s a great sport and it was definitely my first love growing up. Actually, these days I still follow everything that goes on in the moto world, and I try to make it to as many events as possible.
You’ve been all over the place lately. How did you end up here at Moto Park? Did you just have a weekend off and decide to go racing?
Pretty much, I’m actually dating a girl in Ontario so lately I’ve been here a little more than usual. I came up to Moto Park to practice about a month ago and Iain [Hayden] told me about this race, so I made some time to come up and do it. Obviously, I don’t get much time to ride dirt bikes so whenever I do I’m all over it.
So how did you end up today?
I finished third in the first moto and second in moto two.
That’s pretty good for just jumping right into the Junior class, and you got a holeshot which is pretty cool.
Honestly it feels like Christmas today!
How often do you get a chance to ride a dirt bike?
Not very often, I would say maybe four or five times a year; sometimes it will be like a few months in between rides. I wish I could get out more but things are busy.
Riding a motocross bike is a tough thing to do sporadically even if you’re in good shape. I know you make your living riding two wheels but do you find it hard just to jump on a dirt bike and go?
For sure, it’s probably the hardest sport in the world to do. In my sport our runs at our competitions are 45 seconds so that’s what I train for. My training is very sprint orientated so my heart rate is used to being very high. I think that helps me when I swing my leg over a dirt bike, however I’d be lying if I said my arms didn’t get pumped up this morning.
Other than the fact that you’re riding something with two wheels, do you find a lot of similarities as far as technique goes in riding a BMX bike and a dirt bike?
A few, for sure. Like I said, I started riding dirt bikes when I was young and I really just got into BMX because I was bored and needed something to do. At the time there weren’t any motocross tracks near me so to go riding I always had to get a ride. That wasn’t always possible so I started to ride BMX around my house. That helped me so much because our sport is so much about timing and judging distance. During those early days in Nova Scotia on my BMX I would build like five jumps in the field behind my house, and then I would practice tripling in and doubling out or doubling in and tripling out. Just learning how to time jumps back then obviously helped me a lot in what I do.
Sounds like you’d enjoy riding a supercross track?
Definitely! I want to get on a real supercross track this winter and practice. I think it would be so fun.
The last ten years of motocross has seen so much evolution with the bikes and the style. Is it the same with BMX?
For sure, like moto there really aren’t any limitations on what you can do so the bar just keeps getting raised all the time. Also, the geometry with BMX bikes has improved so much and now with super-lightweight titanium spokes, the wheel rotation is that much smoother so that helps a lot.
Drew has made a career out of performing the sports biggest tricks. photo by Garth Milan/Red Bull Content Pool
What do you consider the biggest trick you’ve ever done?
That’s a really tough question because it might be a trick or it could have been a transfer or something like that. I would say that one of the coolest things I’ve ever done was during a video we shot at Joyride in Toronto. At the end of the video I did a transfer from one building, over a catwalk and landed in another building. It was completely blind with zero room for error but I pulled it off; that was pretty cool.
Also in 2010, I shot a cover shot for a BMX magazine in Phoenix, AZ. It reminded me of like a big step down on a dirt bike so that was another one. I don’t really know, I guess I hope that my biggest trick is still to come.
I will have to check those out on YouTube. So where do you call home right now?
Currently I rent a place in Costa Mesa, California so that is my home base. I lived in Nova Scotia until I was 17 and then I hit the road. I pretty much lived out of a suitcase for five years before finding a place to call home again. I like it out there and there’s a lot of BMX riders in that area so it’s a great place to train, and it’s also a good place to recharge.
You spend a lot time on road. What is your favourite city to visit and also your favourite restaurant?
Another good question. I’ve been to Estonia a few times and that place is really cool and modern, also there’s an Italian restaurant there that’s amazing. Another place that I love is Hawaii. I know that sounds clichéd but it’s pretty incredible there also.
Do you enjoy the process of travelling or are you pretty much over it and now it’s just part of the job?
I don’t mind travelling. It sometimes get old, especially if you’re stuck in an airport for a long time. However, it’s not too bad most of the time. I have to travel with two bags all the time because I put my BMX bike in one bag with my parts and gear, and then my clothes in the other. Both have to be under 50 lbs as you know. It can be a pain sometimes but as you said, it is part of the job and I love what I do. I’ve been lucky enough to have visited 19 different countries since high school and I still have lots that I want to see.
Even after visiting 19 countries since he was in high school, Drew still loves to fly. photo by Rutger Pauw / Red Bull Content Pool
What is next for you?
Next weekend I’m off to NYC for the final round of the Dew Tour, from there I’m headed back to Wales to finish off a project for Red Bull. That is pretty much my next few weeks.
Well Drew, great job racing today and thanks for talking to MXP. Good luck in the next few months and maybe we’ll catch up down the road?
For sure, thank you and keep in touch.