Hometown: Dothan, AL (Circle City BMX Track – My Eternal Home Track)
Current Home: Montgomery, AL (Fountain City BMX, Prattville, AL)
Occupations:
“Pays the Bills Job” - Graphic Designer and Marketing for PH&J Architects, Inc. in Montgomery, AL
“Most Fun Job” - Owner, Designer, Production, etc... for HRPdesigns Custom Number Plates
"Most Rewarding Job” – Team Manager for HRPdesigns Factory and National Racing Teams
How I got started in BMX:
• First Race in 1980 at Oak Mountain BMX (my older step brother was racing and I was usually told to get in the car we were going racing, so I did. It was a hobby until my first national)
• First National January 1984 Miami “Boystown” War of the Stars (I was hooked after that, I knew I had found “my sport”)
• 2nd Turning point in my love of this sport, In mid 84’ my dad and step-mom split up and I was left as the only BMXer in the house, but the day that truly changed my life was Sunday December 30, 1984 when my Father passed away, basically 20 minutes after I arrived back from the National held in Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, AL. As stunning and surreal as that event was for me, BMX saved me. This sport really helped me get through this part of my life, I had moved in with my Aunt and Uncle, but the families and friends who took me to races and let me join their BMX families got me through a very difficult 1985 and honestly for the rest of my career. I can never repay them all, but that further cemented my love of this sport.
• Turned Expert after the 1984 NBL Grands year (age 14) and did the local, state, and national, east coast scene until 1991, turning pro in 1989, before having to have both shoulders reconstructed in 1991 and then going off to college.
• Raced for Betsill’s Bike shop (my hometown shop) 83’-87’, Factory Phase II in 87’-89’, and finally the “Gulf Riders” 89’-91’.
• Started racing again briefly and sparingly from 94’-96’ after moving to the Tampa Bay area, but hung the bike up again in 96’.
• The week after the 9-11-01 incident, an old friend called me up and told me that he was racing at our old home track in Dothan and I should come down and ride. It was like a duck to water, it just felt natural and I have been racing on and off again ever since.
• I started HRPdesigns Custom BMX Numberplates in 2003.
• Started racing for “Team Motofiller” in the NBL (with several of my old school buddies back in the sport just like me), as I transitioned to the ABA in 2006 we branded the ABA team “TwentyH.com” (a spinoff of HRPdesigns) with me as Team Manager.
• With a few new rider additions the HRPdesigns Factory Team was born in 2009.
• The team gives me a way to help out riders get to races and have a good time and a home at these races, very similar to how I was taken in by others after my Father died. Running the team has really been a very rewarding experience for me.
Quick Facts:
• Designed my first BMX number plate for myself in 1987, who would have thought I would have turned it into a business 20 year later.
• In 2003, I discovered my graphic design skills and education could be utilized in conjunction with my passion for BMX racing, and began making number plates for myself. When the riders at the local tracks learned of the creations, the requests for custom designs and plates started to roll in. As the demand for the plates grew, it seemed natural to tie the whole thing together and HRPdesigns Custom BMX Number Plates was born. HRPdesigns plates have been seen all over the world, on many of the top rider’s bikes and with multiple teams.
• First modern national I photographed, Rockford 2007.
• I owe Mike Carruth, Dan Mooney, Jerry Landrum, and Jasen Krenek for tons of photo tips. Thanks guys.