He’s Aldergrove’s unicycle cowboy.
One day in his future, 13-year-old Burklan Johnson sees himself saddling up a horse and riding off to survey his vast acreage.
But for now, the Grade 7 home-schooled student can simply long for his future as a rancher and be content to climb into the saddle of his unicycle to get around.
He’s been riding a for the past two years, introduced to the hobby by his older brother Lochlan.
“I really like it,” he said.
“He’s like a 4X4 unicycler,” said his mother, Sheri – admitting she’s astonished and sometimes a little horrified by maneuvers he makes on the cycle.
He catches the attentions of many passersby, and it’s not just the fact that he can skillfully moves around on his unicycle – pedaling five kilometres to church or a little further to downtown Aldergrove.
It’s also his cowboy attire, that often turns heads. That frequently includes a well worn cowboy hat, a leather vest, cowboy boots, jeans, and a bandanna around his neck.
“He’s just a rustic kind of guy,” said Mom, noting he’s one of eight children in the family and the only one with a keen love of the old west.
“I was just born like that,” Burklan said, noting he’s never been to a ranch but knows it’s his calling.
He and his family currently live on five acres in Aldergrove, and have had a few cows and a hundred chickens in the past, but currently they have no animals.
Despite that, he remains steadfast in his conviction that one day he will own and operate his own ranch – likely a cattle ranch, and probably in the B.C. Interior.
“I just know I want to be a rancher when I get older,” he said, climbing back in the saddle of his unicycle and heading for town.
