FORT HALL, Idaho - For the past few years, Wiley Petersen has avoided the question.

Two weeks ago, in Kansas City, Mo., the answer came.

"I'm done riding."

The decision effectively had been made months ago. The 33-year-old, sitting out with yet another in a recent string of injuries, came to the realization that riding bulls had become a job. He no longer had the passion he'd once had.

Last fall, during a conversation with his friend Todd Pierce, Petersen confided that he was finding it difficult to prepare mentally and emotionally for a return.

'I'm 30 years old and I still have a whole life ahead of me, so this is just a chapter that's come to an end.'

Pierce asked Petersen if he would still choose to ride bulls if he knew he was financially secure for the rest of his life.

No one had put the question to him like that, and that day, Petersen knew it was time to quit.

"You're 30-some-odd years old and you're done," he said. "That's hard. It's weird. It's weird to say I'm retiring. Yeah, I'm done riding bulls, but I'm far from being done doing anything else. It's not like I'm going to get an RV and start heading to Phoenix for the winter. I'm 30 years old and I still have a whole life ahead of me, so this is just a chapter that's come to an end.

"I'm going to continue taking those experiences that I've had and pass them on to the younger generation."

Among the many highlights of Wiley Petersen's career was the event title at the 2007 World Finals.

Petersen retires from the PBR having competed in 274 Built Ford Tough Series events. He's won 13 of them, including the 2007 PBR World Finals. He's nodded his head 729 times on the rankest bulls in the world, and made the whistle on 356 of them for an impressive career average of 48.83 percent.

His best season came in 2007 when he finished fourth in the world. In 2006, 2008 and 2009, he finished the season with a riding average of 50 percent or better.

But in the past two years, he rode in just one BFTS event because of injuries to his knees, left shoulder and groin muscle.

Wiley Petersen notches 90.5 points on Booger Butt at the 2007 World Finals.

"I was playing it safe more than I was putting it all on the line," he said.

Professional bull riding is the most dangerous sport in the world, and according to Petersen, it can't be about money. It has to be about the love of the game.

While he loves the sport, it had become just a way to look after his family financially. Petersen and his wife Amy, who works as a nurse, have two small boys, Kaden and Rylan.

He'll miss the camaraderie in the locker room and the weekly interaction with PBR fans, but being home will give him more time with his family, and more time to coach Little League games. He also plans to continue working with up-and-coming bull riders.

Petersen delivers the invocation at the 2011 Iron Cowboy in Arlington, Texas.

He's not unprepared for life after competition.

He's released a workout video, taught bull riding schools, mentored youth groups at church camps, performed mission work and made himself available to newcomers on the BFTS. He plans to continue those things, and even work to educate bull riders on the importance of being well-rounded professional athletes.

He hopes to share his story, and perhaps make an impact on others.

"I'm from Fort Hall, Idaho," said Petersen. "I wasn't the standout bull rider in high school and all that, and I made it to the PBR."

'It's a little scary, but I'm going to take the same attitude I did when I was first starting to ride bulls.'

As for the next step, he said, "It's definitely unnerving. It's a little scary, but I'm going to take the same attitude I did when I was first starting to ride bulls."

In the immediate future, he plans to continue representing his sponsors - Project Filter and Herculiner - and, on Aug. 8, he'll host his annual Touring Pro Division event in Fort Hall.

"I was comfortable with bull riding," he said. "That's my world. That's what I know, but with work and dedication you can overcome anything."

SEND-OFF: A retirement celebration for Petersen is being planned for Saturday, May 12, at the Boise (Idaho) Invitational. Details are forthcoming. More information can be found by friending Wiley Petersen on Facebook.