What would summer be without the big Mardi Gras we call the Calgary Stampede. 

Starting off in the parade this morning, I must have waved to 10,000 people (thanks for waving back).  I guess everyone else in Calgary was ready to start this show off right too.  The parade was great, just a nice overcast so it didn’t get too hot.  I saw loads of people funneling down to the grounds to hit the midway and everyone seemed to be loving the beautiful weather.  The rodeo sounded good, we never went over but I could here the crowd from the barns.  There was a beautiful BBQ back at the barns with my Friends of SAIT chuckwagon sponsors and then it hit.  Welcome to Calgary in July, a 15 minute flash flood.  Right before the races, must have been an inch and a half of rain.  Soon the wind blew and the sun came back out, craziest thing you ever seen.  That is unless you have spent the month of July in Calgary, then it was just another flash flood rainstorm during the Stampede.

After months of preparation, thousands of dollars, a dozen hired hands, five separate race meets and one burning desire that only seems to get stronger as the days pass, here we go again.

The Calgary Stampede is just around the corner and we are coming to town.  It has always been an exciting time for me, this time of year.  Even when I was not driving or outriding, I loved coming into Calgary and turning into the Stampede grounds for the first time of the year.  There is nothing like the smell of the river and the sounds of the Stampede equipment moving everything around feverishly to get ready.  That is something I will never forget, and something I love to do every year.  Even more so now that I am racing, when I pull through that gate for the first time, I get excited and giddy.  I know it sounds a little less manly than a chuckwagon driver should be, but this is our Disneyland.  When we roll in it’s the start of something great for us, it’s the realization of one of our greatest dreams.

The dirt on the Stampede track has a distinct taste, the grounds have a specific noisy murmur, the river has an unmistakable continuous bubble that you can almost feel rather than hear and the Calgary Stampede has no equal.

I can’t wait to see you there.

Mark

www.sutherlandracing.ca