Coaster Brake Challenge 32 Heat 4: Shonobi Rising (long cut, no music)

In the gritty outskirts of Shonobi, where ancient traditions clashed with the modern grime of steel and rubber, there was a new kind of warrior: the coaster brake racers. Bred for courage and trained in secret trails through jagged mountains, these fighters rode single-speed mountain bikes equipped with coaster brakes — a mechanical limit that demanded absolute skill, precision, and an unbreakable will.

The Great Race was held every season under the watchful eye of the Shonobi elders, who once favored swordplay and hand-to-hand combat but had come to revere this new trial. It was a vicious cycle around the mountain's rocky cliffs, narrow ledges, and unpredictable switchbacks. Riders, clad in patched armor and leather gloves, bore no swords. Their weapons were their bikes and their ability to brake with a single instinctive twist of the pedals.

As they rocketed down the steep initial incline, Kaida led with precision, gliding past boulders and dodging low-hanging branches. Renjiro closed in, his coaster brake shrieking as he narrowly avoided skidding off a sheer drop. Their wheels spun faster, rubber scraping against ancient rock. Both riders knew the next bend was the race’s deadliest — a brutal hairpin where control meant survival.

Kaida leaned back, engaging her brake with the ease of muscle memory, perfectly skidding through the turn. But Renjiro had anticipated this. At the last moment, he yanked his bike onto a hidden side trail, skipping the turn altogether. He shot past Kaida, grinning over his shoulder, sure of his victory.

But Kaida wasn’t finished. She veered down another path, one only known to the truly brave: the Shattered Spine, a jagged descent infamous for its unyielding terrain. Kaida hurtled down, risking everything as she braked hard, fishtailing dangerously on the edge of control. Rocks sprayed, and her tires screamed against the dirt. When she emerged, Renjiro’s path met hers — but she was ahead by mere inches.

With the finish line in sight, they barreled forward. Renjiro closed in one last time, desperate to overtake her. They were neck and neck when, with a final, flawless skid, Kaida crossed the finish line, her rear wheel a mere hair's breadth in front of Renjiro’s.

Silence filled the air as Kaida dismounted, her breath heavy, eyes focused. She had won, and the elders nodded in respect. As the sun dipped behind Shonobi’s mountains, her victory etched a new chapter into the lore of coaster brake warriors, her skill and courage forever bound to the ancient stones and unforgiving trails.

See you in January for Coaster Brake Challenge series 33.
Info at http://atomiccycles.com/coaster.html