I don’t ride dirt bikes largely because it requires balance, agility, and skills that my life has not caused me to acquire. I am more than happy to watch the guys who are great riders do their thing in motocross races, trials competitions, and across the desert. In this case we see rider Wally Palmer attempting to climb the stupidly crazy Backdoor section at the King Of The Hammers during a practice session. He is riding a cool Christini dirt bike which is actually two wheel drive. There is a driveshaft running up through the frame of the machine that gets to a gear under the handlebars and that gear turns another shaft that ultimately turns a ring gear up front. At first it does not seem like he has a snowball’s chance in hell of making it and Palmer wipes out in painful fashion. At one point he literally goes face first into the rocks…but he does not give up.

If anything this is a study in the human problem solving ability. He was “here” and he need to get “there”. Figuring out the way to do it on a dirt bike is what separates us from the apes. The failed attempts showed him what would not work and ironically, it is the line that he seemed to be trying to avoid that ultimately got him over the top.

One last thing. We wanted to come through the screen and punch the guy who was yelling out, “That was your face!” when Palmer went down. That idiot deserved to get pushed into the canyon. When you are the guy sitting there eating Doritos and someone is trying to do something incredible and encountering a spot of trouble and your first reaction is to yell something at him straight out of junior high, you’re a DB.

I wish Palmer would have thrown that moron the double freedom rockets when he got to the top but the truth is he was probably so focused he heard none of it anyway.

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE A GUY WHO DOESN’T GIVE UP AND SUCCEEDS –