HardTail

          By Sum Guyy

As I look through the window, I see tall pine trees rushing past my view. Through a clearing of foliage, I see a clear water lake, looking almost like a mirror, reflecting the mountains and the cool blue sky almost hidden behind the trees. My friend and I had been on a journey around the country and were passing by Washington so we decided to visit Canada for the Whistler mountains, as they inhabited a famous mountain bike park.

“We’re leaving Seattle right now, just a few more minutes.” Parker said, clearly tired from driving for so long. “We are passing by Everett right now.  Fifty-seven minutes till we’re at Bellingham, then we’ll find a hotel somewhere around there”  

Once we were there, we decided to stay at some place called ‘Hotel Leo.’  Above the front door, there were almost convincing gold colored letters that read ‘The Leopard’. 

Stepping in, I realized why this place was worth the cost. The walls were painted a relaxing coyote brown, the floors were cool, tan and grey tiles. 

“Come on Jake, let’s get checked in and go upstairs, I want to go to bed.” Parker let out as he moped his way around me. 

“Tomorrow I’ll drive again, so that you don’t have to deal with navigating into Canada, then I’ll get us to North Vancouver so we can stop at another hotel and drop off our stuff before we head out for Whistler.” I said enthusiastically. At this point Parker had gone up to the front desk and grabbed our keys.

“I got us in, let’s go.” Parker say’s with a yawn, His face almost covered by his usual grey sweatshirt, along with some jeans. As we were walking to the elevator, we passed an all white statue, elevated by black cushioned leather seats. 

“Come on Jake.”  Parker spoke as I hurriedly jogged to the elevator. The elevator looked like any other elevator, but only on the inside. The outside doors were covered with wood that had unique designs engraved into it. 

“Which floor?” I asked once I was inside, turning toward the buttons while still trying to juggle my luggage on my back.

“Number three.” I shifted so that I could reach the buttons and press the three. I leaned up against the side of the elevator as the doors shut behind us. 

After a few seconds I asked Parker “So, do you want to grab breakfast somewhere in the morning or wait till we’re there to eat?” I said when the doors finally opened to our floor, Parker immediately started to shuffle out the elevator.

“When we’re there.” Parker spoke. Walking toward what I assumed to be the way to our room. In the hotel room, there was a small kitchen area, maybe able to space two people, complete with an oven, sink, stove, and some cabinets. Opening the cabinets I saw a toaster ready to be plugged in. In another cabinet, there were a couple glasses and fragile looking bowls. Off to the side of the kitchen there was a small table probably able to fit three people, if you really wanted to. There were two sets of black plates with tea cups placed on top. Over in the bedroom side of the room, there were two blank white beds. Facing them was a small tv on a short wood stand. 

“G’night” Parker said, skulking into the room and belly flopping into the farthest bed. I shut the door, locking it of course, and noticed the bathroom right where the door must’ve been when it was open. I walked over to my bed and got in, relaxing and waiting for the morning.

I woke up to Parker shouting “Let’s go!” and “Come on, we’re late!”. I looked at the digital clock next to me to see it read 11:27 AM. 

“Oh, shoot!” I started too. “Weren’t we supposed to leave at seven? Did your alarms not go off?”

“Must not have, I don’t know. I got woken up by the room service outside the door.” Parker said frustrated. Once Parker and I got out the door we had to get fast food and bolt. Chowing it down like our life depended on it when we were getting in the van. Me in the front seat, Parker in the back checking the map. 

“ We’ve got another hour and a half, we will probably arrive at around one twenty.” Parker spoke, picking up a fry from the bag. I got the van started and was blasting the heat because of the cold of Canada.

Once there, we decided to stay at the Whistler Cascade Lodge. We were pre-checked in and ran up to our room, navigating through the college-like building. We could only hope they would let us in due to how late we were. After dropping our stuff in the room, we went out to meet with kids we remembered from school for the rest of the day. 

Waking up in the morning we noticed a very thin sheet of snow on the ground. Deciding to ignore it, we got dressed and set off for the bike park. When we got to the bike park and met with some friends, we went on a few trails that weren’t blocked due to the snow like ‘Upper EZ does It’, and ‘World Cup Single Track’.

We hit trails with table tops and berms, even ramps and platforms made from pure wood. The wood was slightly slippery which meant less traction, but more speed. Meaning we would be able to reach the tops of the ramps easier.

“Guys, a double black diamond just opened up, Lower Joyride. Wanna go hit it?” One of the guys spoke up, off to the side of the group. 

“If you all are up for the challenge,” The front person said, he must have been from around here.

The group of course agreed to it all, except I was a little worried that my old hard tail bike would be able to complete this trail in-tact.

We made our way toward the section of the Whistler that had all the black diamonds and more experienced bikers area. My bike kept shaking and taking most of the blow of these trails through the rough terrain we went across to get to there. I knew the park would close in about an hour and a half so we had to take the trails as they were the fastest way around, of course not when going uphill, but for the most part it was a straight shot around part of the mountain.

 We finally arrived at the trail’s head. It read in bold black and yellow text, “BEWARE, EXPERT TRAIL, ONE WAY OUT.” Meaning, if we start, we have to finish. Which seemed more menacing then the lead biker put off. 

“Are you all ready? Let’s start then.” The lead biker spoke, already descending into the trail.

“Alright then.” Parker and I almost said in sync, letting out a laugh. 

“Oh, shoot, let’s go.” I said, realising the group had started following the lead. I set on my goggles and swallowed big, hoping my bike will keep up with the roughness of the trail. 

We speed down the trail, nearly sliding off the trail at some points but still gaining speed. 

“Guy’s look! Slow down and check this out!” We hear up ahead. I almost immediately slam the brakes down to my handlebars, trying to slow down with such immense speed. I finally come to a stop behind Parker, appearing to be the last one of the group to reach this mystery checkpoint. 

“There’s an unmarked part of the trail, it must be new!” The leader shouted enthusiastically. “And I think you should go, since you were the last down the trail, it’s only fair.” I turned my head from the trees surrounding us to the leader, who was lifting his finger in my direction. 

“Come’on, you let us lead you down that part of the trail, now you lead us.” You could almost tell there was a grin under his helmet, face completely covered by hid mask and goggles. 

I shook my head no, trying to get out of this mess. 

“I was just talking to my friend and got distra-” I tried to let out when the lead started chanting.

“Just go lead! Just go lead! Just go lead!” Over a few seconds the group started to join in, I’m pretty sure half were cheering me on and trying to encourage me, while the other half were just trying to be jerks. “LEAD! LEAD! LEAD! LEAD!” The group started to close around me and almost herd me to the mystery trail. Just as if I was a sheep and they were a pack of dogs.

I was suddenly shoved from the side and suddenly started on the trail. My bike was vibrating and bouncing around from the unfinished dirt and loose rock trail. I gained speed and started gliding on the trail, unable to find any traction. Suddenly my front tire jumped into the air, and slammed back down, making a metallic noise. 

I tried to look behind me and noticed the sound was my bike chain, hanging from the gear shifter, then suddenly flew off. I looked back ahead just in time to notice a sharp berm. I quickly struggled to fix my position on my bike before I went into the berm. I noticed the berm was really, breakneck sharp, causing me to feel as if I was being pushed into the ground. 

As I reached the end of the turn the trail began to suddenly drop into a very steep decline. I had to pull myself up to not go head over handles and frontflip off the bike. At the end of the decline, I had too much speed, noticing the ramp up onto an old, wooden platform. I took flight when I got slingshotted off the wooden ramp. 

I looked below mid air to see a broken, splintering wooden ramp. My eyes hurt from the intense speed. I notice ground covered in sticks and rocks growing nearer.  And a split second later I was on the ground.

I tried to lift my head only to be hit with a massive, blaring headache. I tried to get up only to be hit with a surge of pain, not being able to move my legs. I tried to grab for my phone and didn’t feel its weight in my pocket. I shout for help but no one responds, I’m stuck here. I find a small rock, but big enough to support my head. I try to move it under but only to feel that same throbbing ache. 

I finally manage to lift my head far enough to fit the rock under, just enough to raise my head and see the rest of my body. I gaze at my legs to find my bike folded on top of my legs. My pants were red in some spots, and my left foot was twisted. 

I set my head back down and groaned, in the background I faintly heard yelling, someone, most likely Parker was shouting. I couldn’t make anything out over the throbbing headache. 

In about half an hour, presumably, I woke up to being lifted into a thin bed. I try to look around and notice about five men wearing full orange uniforms. They lifted me into a loft with cords on all corners. 

I suddenly get hit with the sound of a heavy fan spinning fast. I gaze up to see an orange and red helicopter hovering right above. I suddenly lost consciousness again after starting to be lifted into the helicopter.Three months later I had fully recovered and had learnt I broke my left leg and ankle, while my right foot got shattered. I now stick to intermediate trails while biking, and am still friends with Parker and we continue our journey around the USA. My old bike was scrap and I set up a go-fund-me and was able to pay for a new, safer bike. Thank the lord for Canada’s free medical care, as all I had to cover was the bikes. I went to court with the ones who forced me down that trail, and won, getting around $12,000 and ended up buying a new van to travel in through-out the country. END.