By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Justin Parmer keeps climbing back in the saddle.

He has been knocked around and he can recite a laundry list of injuries he has suffered, but each time he falls, Parmer gets right back in the driver’s seat.

Parmer, a freshman at Troup High, is a Motocross racer.

Even if you’re not familiar with the sport, you’ve seen the images.

Picture a mass of men on motorcycles flying around a dirt track, jumping over hills, taking hair-pin turns, all while separated by less than an arm’s length from the drivers next to them.

It is the definition of an extreme activity, and for Parmer, it is the only sport that gives him any satisfaction.

He loves everything about it, from the speed, to the jumps, to the competition, and to the camaraderie he enjoys with his fellow riders.

“I’ve tried everything else, soccer, baseball,” Parmer said from his family home on Old Newton Road Monday evening. “Racing’s for me. It’s something I’m good at and I enjoy.”

Parmer, who’ll turn 15 on Wednesday, has been hooked since he was 5-years-old and his parents got him his first motorcycle.

He began racing a short while later, and pretty soon he was finishing at or near the top in every race he competed in.

The past year was Parmer’s best yet.

Competing in the Best of Georgia series, he finished first in the 250c class and the 450c class.

The series includes races at a number of different tracks in the state, and Parmer had the highest point total in the two divisions he competed in.

This year, Parmer is moving up to the 250b and 450b classes, and his goal is to qualify for nationals in both classes.

Eventually, Parmer wants to be a professional Motocross driver, and if that doesn’t work out, he’d “like to be associated with the industry somehow.”

Whatever Parmer does, he’ll have the support of his parents, Jody and Karen.

Jody keeps the bike up and running, which can be a big job in a sport where the equipment takes a beating.

“You spend all week getting ready for the next one,” Karen said.

Added Jody: “You hope nothing’s broke at the track. If it is, you have to get parts before the next weekend.”

It is an expensive sport, and the Parmers are sponsored by Peachstate Powersports, which helps allay the costs of parts.

“As many parts as we buy, that means a lot,” Karen said.

Watching their son fly around a track can be tough, especially when he has a rough landing.

Justin has had his share of injuries, including two broken collarbones.

“I’ve broken both wrists, and what else…I’ve had like three concussions,” he said.

The parents know the risks, but it’s something they can live with.

“What do you do when it’s all the kid wants to do,” Karen said. “You can’t wrap them in bubble wrap. Every sport has risks.”

Jodi said they make sure Justin is as safe as possible during races.

“We bought him just about everything you can buy him for safety,” he said. “He’s got the neck brace, the knee brace. He probably puts on $1,000 worth of safety gear.”

Justin said the wrecks are just a part of the sport.

“You know when you start there’s going to be a risk,” he said. “You know it’s out there.”

He does what he can to minimize the risks during races.

A lot of the accidents happen when bikes bump each other.

“I try to avoid all that (contact),” he said. “I try to stay as far away from that as possible.”

Justin got his first taste of racing when he went to a Supercross event when he was 5.

He wanted a motorcycle, and his parents made a deal with him.

“He wanted a bike really bad, so his daddy said, when you can ride a bike without training wheels, we’ll buy you one,” Karen said. “Two days later, he was riding his bike. He was out there every day just pedaling.”

Added Jodi: “He fell a lot, but he really wanted to ride.”

Justin’s first bike was a Honda, and as he has grown, his parents have gotten him bigger and bigger machines.

He’s been involved in the sport for more than seven years now, racing in dozens of events each year, but he hasn’t grown tired of it yet.

So the Parmers continue to load up the trailer on weekends and head to tracks across the Southeast to compete.

The family is taking a break at the moment, with the next race not scheduled until March in Louisiana.

“I don’t think I’ll ever quit,” he said. “I just love racing.”