Rider killed in motorcycle crash was a Tae Kwon Do competitor

By SONJA ISGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Alfredo Valdes had already made his mark in the TaeKwonDo world and
was trying to find his way in the adult world, when he crashed his
motorcycle Tuesday and died at age 20.

In Valdes' teen years he clocked hours on the mats at Pil-Sung
TaeKwonDo School in Lake Worth. The work paid off with medals from
competitions around the country, said school owner Ginger Palhof.

"He was my student for five or six years - one of my most talented
students," she recalled Wednesday.

He'd been on her mind a lot lately as she assembled a scrapbook for
one of his buddies, another TaeKwonDo student.

"We gave this boy a scrapbook of his career, so I spent the last
three weeks looking at Alfredo's picture every day," Palhof said.

Then Tuesday, her phone began ringing incessantly. Valdes' friends
calling to share the news.

"It was absolutely heart wrenching," she said.

Police said Valdes was on Parker Avenue just north of Forest Hill
Boulevard when he crashed into the back of a Ford van. Valdes tried
to pass the van only to swerve back into his lane to avoid oncoming
traffic, West Palm Beach officer Jim Saridakis said Tuesday.

When he did that he hit the back of the van, his motorcycle skidded
for about 80 feet as he tried to brake. He died instantly, the
officer said.

Valdes was a well-traveled, highly decorated competitor before he
left TaeKwonDo in his late teens, Palhof said.

At 14, he won a gold medal in forms at the national Junior Olympics
in Minnesota. And he just kept winning, both at the choreography of
the sport and the sparring.

"He was one of the best in the nation of TaeKwonDo for many years,"
Palhof said. But all boys grow up.

Palhof said she last saw Valdes four or five months ago, he told her
he wanted to enroll his nephew in the school.

"He loved TaeKwonDo and he was exceptional."