The beginning
I started riding dirt bikes at the age of 14, but have been passionate about dirtbikes since I was about 5 years old. My father never rode so I find it a bit odd that I grew such a strong passion at such a young age. Growing up, my father had a landscaping and snow removal company and I followed in his footsteps and got my own local contracts. I cut lawns and shovelled snow every winter and summer until I had a fat stack of money to buy myself my first dirtbike at 14 years old; a 1982 YZ 60. At the time I was mostly skateboarding and had just learned how to ollie. Nonetheless, I got on that bike and figured out the power band roosting up the dirt. Not too soon after, I started building jumps in the forest behind my house — I was so stoked!
Since then I’ve been jumping pretty much anything and everything. When I eventually grew out of that bike, my parents — supporting my passion — made a deal that I’d take over some lawn contracts for two years in order to finance my next dirt bike; a 1994 RM125. I was so excited to finally have a bike that was my size and had good suspension. I began riding my new bike regularly at the local tracks. I would have so much fun jumping that I’d just cut the track and hit the biggest jumps over and over again, throwing little whips, can cans and heel clickers. Eventually I decided that the jumps weren’t big enough. I convinced my dad to help build me some jumps in the forest with his loader. Being a very niche sport in a relatively small community, I quickly became friends with other local riders who, altogether, helped build a proper freestyle motocross (FMX) compound with actual ramps.
Where I’m at today
I’ve hit a few bumps on the road but I’ve come to accept that “it is what it is” — dirtbikes are dangerous. Despite that, I’ll never give up on myself. I’ll only get better and better while learning from my mistakes.
I’ve now been jumping ramps since 2007, throwing whips and nac nacs. In 2015 I decided to focus more on flips, FMX tricks and making motocross my career. This summer has been my first season as a professional FMX rider and it’s been amazing. I’m employed by USFMX — my booking agency. Being able to ride professionally feels like a dream come true. As a teenager, I never would have thought this could be possible, but now I see that it’s very possible.