
Clip the curbing: check. Drive to the edge: check. Plunge downhill, butt off, tip in, knee down: check. Find the apex, patience, hold it. Now! Gas...
Suddenly, I’m out of my seat. The bike bucks with a bull's brutality. Like head-locking a longhorn, I hold on for dear life – to no avail. I’m airborne; sent over the handlebars, ass over tea kettle. Smack! My head and shoulder slam on the pavement. I spin, like a toppled dreidel on sandpaper. Sparks fly, spitting from grinding footpegs and shoulder plates.