THE TRAIL IS rated with a smiling
green circle in an approachable blue square,
just a step up from the easiest terrain for
beginner mountain bikers. The dirt is rusty
from a winter’s worth of decomposing pine
needles and redwood bark. Spongy from last
night’s rain, it sucks the momentum from
the rider’s tires as he approaches each lippy
mound. Still, when he leaves the ground you
can see he has style: He turns the handlebar,
whips the back end of the bike in the air.
He slashes the crumbling edge of a corner,
spraying a rooster’s tail of dirt. His moves
are so quick and casual as to seem almost
involuntary, the twitch of muscles that carry
years and years of memory.
Memory: To see him ride today, you
would never know the rider has memory
of what it feels like to ride his bike off a
cliff’s edge. He has memory of leaping off
of wooden ramps as tall as buildings and
watching the world revolve around him as he
spins on his bicycle, of hearing crowds roar
from the thrill of witnessing him stretch
the perception of what is humanly possible.
Just three years ago this ride was impos-
sible. To ever walk again without crutches,
improbable. At one point, to ever take a piss
again without assistance from a medical
device, questionable. To see him pop his
front wheel up to splash over puddles, you
would never know that three years ago the
rider was given a 5 percent chance of ever
feeling anything below his waist. Or that
when he gets off his bike, he still can’t walk
more than 10 or 15 feet without a cane.
72 BICYCLING.COM • ISSUE 5