SJ Sports: Cross Training

Sometimes a chance meeting, even in the most remote of places, can lead to great things. Just ask Wally and Danny Palmer. Several years ago, as they were riding dirt bikes along the trails on the fringe of the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the pair was spotted by a stranger who saw something in them no one else had. Now the pair is looking at a promising future in the world of motocross.

Wally, 17 and a junior at Cherokee, and his brother, Danny, 16 and a sophomore, are two rising stars in the world of Enduro Motocross, a sport in which their peers are often older than their father. But how all this came about is the most interesting aspect of this story. An innocent, chance meeting with a stranger lead to the start of a beautiful relationship. "We were riding our dirt bikes in the woods in Atco one day and Jim (Crisella) saw us," Wally Palmer said. "He came up to us and asked us if we wanted to get into this. First he told us we had to get better dirt bikes, then come back to see him. We've been doing this ever since."

"Our neighbors always had bikes that we rode," Danny Palmer said. "We had trikes (three-wheelers) that our parents bought us and we rode those. Then Wally met Jim and he let us ride his dirt bike and we were hooked." Unlike watching a pitcher throw a fastball or a basketball player run an offense, scouting talent on a motorcycle does not seem like one can do with ease. However, Jim Crisella, a racing aficionado from the Atco area, liked what he saw immediately. "You can pretty much tell a good rider by the way they sit on the bike," Crisella said. "It's the first thing I saw in these guys. And in Wally I saw how aggressive he can be. I told the two to tell their parents to get them a real dirt bike and see me. I would help them out." That is exactly what Crisella did. He took the two young riders under his wing and turned them into successful riders in the Enduro circuit.

Enduro racing is different from that of other races in the motocross circuit. In what are known as hare scrambles, the opponent is not as much the other racers, but the clock. The objective is to travel as much distance as possible in two hours. Not too difficult, right? Now try it as you are traveling at various speeds through the woods and over bumpy and hilly terrains. Not exactly Sunday softball league stuff.

In Wally Palmer's first race, he finished third. Again, his competition was years older and had years more experience. However, those factors obviously did not matter to Wally or Danny as the pair quickly made names for themselves on the circuit. Last season the brothers finished 1-2 in the East Coast Enduro Association's Youth Hare Scramble Series. In the 85cc category for riders ages 12 to 15, Wally took first with 161 points and Danny was just two points behind. In their most recent race, the Snowball race in West Virginia, Danny finished second in the 85cc division and Wally, despite crashing his bike, finished fourth. "Wally has gone from C class to A class in just one year," Crisella said. "That is something that does not happen too often, which says a lot about Wally's talent."

Although the pair train around the Atco Raceway, they often find themselves traveling hundreds of miles to the various Enduro races — many as far south as the Carolinas and as far west as Ohio. But Wally, along with Crisella and some of the sponsors which he has brought on board, has his eyes set on an even bigger road trip. Later this spring, Wally will travel out to Ohio for the qualifying race for the International Six Day Race. Each year, the top 25 riders from each country partake in this six-day event. This summer, the international race will be held in Russia.

While some may think sitting on a bike for a couple hours does not require much training, they may want to reconsider. The pair train as if they were preparing for another other, seemingly more physical sport. Both Wally and Danny Palmer spend their afternoons lifting weights in the Cherokee weight room, as well as getting in a couple of miles of running. The two also show their dedication to the sport by eschewing the traditional teen-ager diet of junk food and colas and replacing it with a low-salt diet with plenty of water and sports drinks. While their strict conditioning has helped them physically, it has also helped them mentally. Now, sitting through a 40-minute English class pales in comparison to riding a cycle for two hours. The improvement in concentration has obviously helped the Palmers, as the pair are good students at Cherokee, averaging A's and B's.

Although getting good grades are an incentive in their own right, the Palmer boys have another incentive to do well — their parents. Both boys made it known that if their grades drop, mom (Sherry) and dad (Wally Sr.) will put a halt to their riding careers. "We have to have good grades," Danny Palmer said. "If not, our parents won't let us ride and neither will our sponsors. They want us to do well in school."

The future looks bright for both Palmers as they hope to take their riding skills with them beyond high school. Wally Palmer spends his summer working with Crisella at his heating/cooling company, a field he'd like to work in full time after school. In the meantime, the family will continue to ride, and they will continue to travel during the spring and summer in their recently purchased camper — which will cut their housing expenses as well as allow them to stay closer to the race tracks and get a better feel for them prior to races.

Wherever the trail leads for Wally and Danny Palmer, one can bet it will be a successful one. And who knows? Maybe they will find their own unsuspecting, next great rider.

Content provided by South Jersey Sports Club.

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Author: Sean Fallon-SJ SportsClub