Why don’t we start this off by giving the readers some background on where this thing we call BMX started for you?
Well BMX started for me when I first went to the skate park on a skateboard. About five minutes into being there I was standing on the flat bottom of the spine mini and someone on a bike jumped the spine and smashed me! I went home that night and told my pops I didn’t want to skateboard anymore and next time I was there on my 16-inch Haro Backtrail! Ever since then I’ve been hooked.
When did you realize what BMX actually was and can you think of a specific moment that you remember thinking you wanted to be a part of it?
I don’t know to be honest. I was just so hyped on the feeling that I got from riding and progressing that nothing else really crossed my mind. But if I had to pinpoint a moment where I put it together that BMX is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life I’d say it was winning my first local contest. I was 12 in the Expert class at Somerville skate park. I smiled the whole way home.
Where exactly did you grow up and what was it like getting your start on the East Coast? It’s not the same palm tree lined streets and 24/7 sunshine you are used to these days that’s for sure.
I think that the East Coast made me who I am in a sense. I didn’t know any different so the winters and shitty attitudes didn’t even faze me. I had the Incline Club skate park like five minutes away. I’d say that place basically raised me in a sense, well the locals at the park at least. I had a backyard ramp setup and I remember one year it snowed around four feet and I was out there as soon as the snow stopped shoveling it. We started riding with 12-foot piles of snow on every side of the ramp, three hoodies, gloves, thermal pants; the whole nine. I can honestly say there’s a part of me that misses the East Coast winters.