 A professional bull riding event is coming to Huntington this weekend and I caught up with Tazwell, Virginia native and professional bull rider Michael Lane to get all the info and more. You know bull riding has started with just a group of cowboys who said they wanted to go ride a bull and those 12 took their money and started what is today now called the PBR and it's the PBR is the top 35 best bull riders in the world at the premiere series and then from like 35 to 75 is at the velocity tour and so for us to get on the major league tour which would be called the Unleashed Abyss tour we'd have to do good at the velocity tour events to work our way up to get to go there. Okay you are currently 47th in the world. There's plenty of bull riders out there and you're kind of ahead of the pack there. You're a 10 year veteran so how does it feel to kind of be ranked there? I have goals always staying inside the top 35 but I've had a lot of entries that I've had to go through and this year luckily no major entries but I've had entries that set me out for a couple of months and they keep me from getting to where I need to go so that's a lot of the reason I'm not inside the top 35 right now and this year I'm riding 60% of my bulls so it's just like a high ride percentage for me or for any guy to be able to ride 60% in the years. I just keep trying to make that percentage of how many rides I might go up every year. Okay awesome. Like I said you've been in kind of the industry for about 10 years now. What made you want to get into bull riding? So the PBR was founded in 1992 and I was born in 90 so I was real young and at the age of 4 I started riding sheep at his events. I went there and I seen the old kids ride sheep so I came back home. My siblings had some show sheep and I started riding sheep and then a few years of buying I realized about the PBR and once I've seen the PBR I was born in the term and I wanted to be a professional bull rider and I kept my face strong and believed in myself and not that I've made it anywhere today. I still have a lot more to go from where I've already gone. Kind of walk us through those 8 seconds when you get onto the bull and as soon as the 8 second clock starts we'll never be able to experience something like that so kind of walk us through what your thoughts and your feelings are right before you ride that bull. I'm a very sociable guy outside the arena and stuff but on game day I have a certain routine that I follow and I stick to that every game day. When it comes time to walk into that arena you know that you've worked hard all week and you put a lot of hours of training in so you know you deserve to win and at that point you expect when you walk in that door that it's time to block everything out all the other competitors all of the cameras all the lights just you and your time that you've worked so hard to get and you just have to stay really calm and focused so you know just leading up to that moment when you're about to get on it's just kind of you and that quiet before the storm you know and always seem just to think you know someone has to win why not me and always just use positive vibes and positive quotes to think to myself in that moment. I never want to be thinking about the situation really at hand that's going to be clear minded. Awesome let's talk about your dreams you're obviously following your dreams right now but where do you want to where do you see yourself in the next couple years with bull riding? God willing I'd love to be able to ride another five more years professionally and and make the world finals every year and ultimately be a world champion I mean that pays us a million dollars if I can get a world title under my belt before before I retire that would be great and all you need is a little bit of confidence and determination to keep going because in this sport we we lose a lot more than we win that's unfortunate thing but as long as you don't look at it as winning or losing you just look at it as I have to show up I have to ride whatever bulls they put under me and that's my job may it fall where it falls. What's it like when you go out in front of your friends and family and compete? It's very bittersweet. My family supports me. My wife is very supportive. I have a very strong support group behind me that I don't think I would be able to be where I am today without. Let's talk about Benton Huntington this weekend. Let's kind of tell everyone out there when it is where it is what time to be there. Yes ma'am. The Huntington Invitational is located at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena. It's September 28th at 8 o'clock, September 29th at 7 o'clock and you can buy tickets starting at just $15 at ticketmasters.com. Okay. Anything else you kind of want to say to the listeners out there to kind of tell them about bull riding or anything about you? Yeah for sure. Come check out Action Pack Night Bull Riding that will keep you on the edge of your seat all night long. You never know what's going to be around the corner. Come see one of the world's best entertainers, Matt Merritt. He'll be there keeping you entertained as we're not riding so there's never no boring or dead time and they also give away a fan of the night buckle. So for the bull rider that wins, we get a belt buckle for the fan of the night that Matt Merritt picks out. They get a belt buckle so that's something for all the fans to look forward to and come hollering and come clapping because you want to win that fan of the night buckle. Okay, awesome. That's all I needed. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to speak with me. Yes ma'am for sure and I hope you have a great evening. Thank you. Good luck this weekend and good luck in your future endeavors.