THE HAND OF GOD?

Canadian endurance racer Cory Wallace spends much of his life bikepacking in remote lands. Here, the three-time 24-hour world champ shares a frightening, and enlightening, close call. Did divine intervention save the day?

- Cory Wallace

"In 2016 I was up in Dharamshala in the Indian Himalayas, which is the city where the Dalai Lama lives. There was a hike into the mountains, and I thought I'd take my bike up it. It was about 10km, up to a ridge at 3,000m. At the entrance gate, the park rangers said I couldn't take my bike because it was too dangerous. But I was up for the challenge, and so I rode up to the ridgetop, which was on a really gnarly hiking trail that turned out to be about 50/50 hike-a-bike.