Personal History
Some people call me Shoemaker. I am fourteen years. I have one younger sister, she is eleven. She's pretty cool, but I would never tell her that. My parents are unique in that they are older than most parents. My dad is sixty-seven and my mom is fifty. They say being older makes them better parents. I don't know about all that, but I love them and they take good care of us. I live on a farm. We have all the typical farm animals. I have to work on our farm. Everyone has to do their share. I mostly help with the animals. Sometimes I even milk the goats. We have a garden and grow a lot of our own food.
In school I am in the ninth grade. I attend Mary G. Montgomery High School. My goal this year is to try to make straight "A's" each quarter. My Mom helps make sure I am ready for my test. If I don't make good grades (A's and B's) my parents won't let me ride. Needless to say, I make sure I take care of all my school work. My first bike was a Honda 50, then a Kawasaki KLX 110, then a KTM SX 65, and now I'm riding a 2013 Yamaha YZ 85 (supermini, big wheel, 104cc). All the bikes I had until I got my 65 were trail bikes, in other words, they weren't the real deal racing machines. My excitment about racing began when I got my KTM SX 65. When I realized how much more power and speed it had over my trail bikes I wanted to see how fast I could go. I started begging my parents to take me to a race. They weren't so sure about racing, but I was. Finally they took me to a race and I'm hooked. There aren't any tracks close to my home so I wanted my parents to put in a track so I could practice. They told me if I made good grades all year they would see what they could do. So I made good grades all year. My dad laid out a small track with two jumps and one bank curve. I loved it but it got old after a while. This is the part where I say thank heaven for grandparents. My papaw is the bomb! He got a bull dozer and built me a real track. It is totally awesome! Now it's all up to me to practice hard, ride fast and most importantly have fun!!! I'm just a normal kid that loves to ride his dirtbike.
Riding Goals
I want to increase the number of races I enter in 2015. Weather permitting I want to practice daily. I want to improve all my riding skills. I want to be faster in the curves and better at passing. I want to learn and improve at every race. Toward the end of the year I want to be winning all my races. My long term goal is to qualify for Loretta's.
Competitive Highlights
I moved from my 2005 KTM SX 65 to a 2012 Yamaha YZ 85 to a 2013 Yamaha YZ 85 ( supermini, big wheel, 104cc). My performance on the track has improved. I've gotten the hole shot several times which felt pretty good. I placed 1st at Atmore MX in Alabama. I learned and gained experience at each race.