![]() Nicole Franks’s ‘hotshot’ belt buckle (Photography by Jen Osborne) He was right on the weekend of her 14th birthday, Franks set 21 records in one contest in Oregon and then went on to set another 12 in Alberta the following year. At a contest in Calgary, she approached her father with an idea instead of “poking” the gun out when she drew it, what if she pulled it back, closer to her body? “I said, ‘Nicole, if you can shoot like that, nobody’s ever going to beat you,’” Bob Franks recounts. She started to watch the slingers with a more critical eye. “I obviously came dead last,” she remembers.īut the contest triggered something inside the competitive young woman. The contest was the first time she’d ever shot. ![]() So, at the age of 11, when one of her parents’ friends told her they’d signed her up for a competition, she had to borrow a pair of jeans and boots. Like her mother, Nicole initially didn’t have much interest in fast draw. But after two years of cheering on her husband at meets across the continent, she too took up the sport-and now holds several WFDA records. It’s this unburnt black powder that actually breaks the balloon.) Peggy was reluctant at first. Instead, competitors primarily use black powder blanks, in which a primer ignites the “kicker”-finely ground powder that in turn pushes out coarser powder. Bob Franks joined the local Thunderbird Fast Draw Club in 1993 after poking his head in during one of their practices. The prodigious fast draw family hails from Langley, B.C. Nicole with her mother Peggy Franks, in Courtenay, B.C. She holds more than 50 records with the World Fast Draw Association (WFDA) and remains the women’s elimination eight-foot balloon record holder, with a shoot time of 0.26 seconds. Now 33, Nicole “Fastdraw” Franks first gained recognition when she broke a world record at the age of 12, though she was unable to back it up with a second shot within 0.03 seconds of the first, as is the rule in fast draw. Neither they nor their daughter are surprised. The announcer tells Franks her time: at 0.39 seconds, she’s just outdrawn both of her parents, Bob and Peggy. ![]() #QUICKDRAW REVOLVER CRACK#As soon as it does, there’s a crack and the balloon pops. She’s waiting for the light to blink on, signalling her to shoot. She leans back, her left hand cocked above her studded holster. She pulls up each sleeve on her red-frilled top, brushes her blonde hair over her shoulders, and nods. The announcer asks whether Franks is ready. The stand has a blue balloon at hip height and a light box attached to the top. #QUICKDRAW REVOLVER FULL#Wearing full western regalia, she faces what looks like a microphone stand eight feet away. At the Comox Valley Exhibition, Nicole Franks stands in the centre of the rodeo ring. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |