They come form all over the world to see the mythical beast. Coiled around its own body, a serpent with no head or tail, the one of a kind, Human Powered Rollercoaster. Most have only heard about the fabled track. A track so monstrous, so defying that only those who are truly brave of heart would dare challenge it.

To hear of such a thing is something, but to actually see the beast up close, to see its joints, its trusses, its undergarments. To walk into the warehouse at 4601 Yonge and see it for the first time. Now that was something.

The track was all encompassing, all engrossing. Bands on the big stage would try their hardest to entice people away from it, but to no avail. When the track was open, all eyes were upon it.

Many of these people who came out of town to race on the figure eight behemoth were fast. On the road they had no equa. Yah maybe some of those road weenies that do nothing but race and wear spandex and think they are so cool and fast, but when in full on traffic they had no equal how's that. But on the track speed mattered, but not as much as chutzpah and having no brains.

But there was much damage before people even got close to the track. A few days before the race John Clement broke his leg in two places while bunnyhopping up onto a sidewalk. Johnathon Pilley from Vancouver crashed during a parking garage ride on Wednesday night and shaved most of the skin of his right thigh.

Thursday was the opener. For some it was the first time they had ridden the track. But regardless of who you were it meant a trip to the local supermarket. Thursday was meet the track day and if you wanted into the warehouse you had to put down a can of food. To try out the track you had to put down another.

By the end of the evening there was a huge box of canned items waiting for the food bank. But that night there would be a few people who would have hoped they had never heard of the Daily Food Bank let alone the Rollercoaster of Doom.

While there were many crashes the worst of the day were Anna Ast from Toronto and Jesse from Montreal. Anna Ast crashed during her practice laps with the result of having one tooth knocked out and a broken wrist. Jesse, doing one of the last runs of the night, slipped off the track while going under the bridge and slammed his jaw into an upright beam. Breaking said jaw in two places and for good measures, fracturing it twice on the other side.

Two incredibly fast riders, but they were equalized by the track. The figure eight is unforgiving to all those who take it in the least bit frivolous. The rest of the week-end would play itself out in this scenario. Fast riders would feel the wrath of the track.

The track was the one thing no one could count on. You could be the fastest guy out there, but at the flick of a tongue it would eat you up. As Pete Lord, the track commentator so bluntly called it, "The Human Powered Meat Grinder."

And grind it did all through the week-end and anything could happen and it usually did. Jonas Lansford broke his hand in three places. some kid from Boston broke his collar bone coming off the off ramp. John Elliot from London sliding into someone who had bailed in front of him and couldn't get out of his way.

The races kept coming up on crap shoots. Guido Bruidoclarke's race against Buffalo Bill. The two of them were worried about the far better in shape Breward, Pete, but in the end it was Buffalo Bill beating both Pete and Guido.

The same with the race between Edgar Apse from Toronto and Moe Stenkie from London, or Berlin or somewhere. Edgar was well in the lead with Moe about a half lap behind. The race was surely Edgar's, but he bailed and Moe was able to overtake him and win.

The biggest upset of the Friday races was Joel Lajoie, of Montreal against Joe Dias of Toronto. Dias who was a previous champion of the track. Lajoie was a rookie, but Joel beat Dias by a good mark taking him out of contention. In a burst of enthusiasm Joel pulled a wheelie coming across the finish line and crashed, but he was able to go ahead to the finals.

The track continued to take its toll, taking out perfectly good riders until it came down to the finals on Saturday night and what racing it was.

The women's got under way with Crissima Pearce of Jet Fuel, Stacey Hutton of Vancouver, Maogosha Pyjor of Lakeshore Racing Team and Haley Ferguson of Toronto.

What would appear to be a race of equals quickly turned into a race between two women, Stacey Hutton who had flatted out last year in Vancouver and Crissima Pearce who was two time champion. In the end the race was Crissima Pearce's who took the checkered flag, but was not allowed to ride a victory lap with it. Maogosha Pyjor came in third and Haley Ferguson fourth.

For the men's final the final contestants were Dirk Dikhaus of Arnhem, reigning world figure eight champ. Kevin X from somewhere, were not sure. Sean Noonon of Toronto and Joel Lajoie, of Montreal.

The men's final was on and from the offset the race was Dirk's. He quickly pulled ahead leaving Kevin X and Sean Noonan to battle it out for second and third. Joel dropped out of the race soon after it started for reasons unknown, though some say it was for a smoke break.

Although Dirk had built a substantial lead, it could all come tumbling down if he were to crash. He kept up the pace and was able to take his second victory on the human powered rollercoaster. Oh yeah, he was able to take a couple of laps with the checkered flag.

In the end it was not who was the fastest who was the great victor and was able to stand on stage for a few seconds of glory. It was those who understood the nuances of the track. In the end it was the track who decided the winner, not the rider.

So is this the end of the road for the Human Powered Rollercoaster? Only time and Dunhill will say. But if the interest in the track is any indication of what is to happen then the track will rise.

With it will come a new breed of riders who have heard about this incredible space entity known as the HPR and hope to tame it. But the track, it can never be trained, it can only be appreciated like all things wild.

As of this printing the Human Powered Rollercoaster has been renewed for one more Go. Vancouver 98. Stay Tuned for Further Developments.