Backstory: Actually, This Is a ‘Back Story’ About the Lumbar Perils of Reporting From a Roller Coaster 

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• File: Luke Awtry
• Urian Hackney riding the Comet at Six Flags Great Escape

This "backstory" is a part of a collection of articles that describes some of the obstacles that Seven Days reporters faced while pursuing Vermont news, events and people in 2023.

I ruptured a disc in my back shoveling snow at the end of 2022, and it took me months – months! – to upgrade from my usual doctor to a back specialist. After a few weeks of visits and plenty of needles in my back, I was finally on the mend. Then, as I was getting ready to leave my fancy new doctor's office, I let slip: "Hey, so I'm working on this story, and I'm going to take this dude to Great Escape. He's sort of obsessed with roller coasters."

"Oh, how fun!" she replied. "Don't eat too much junk food; the stuff at amusement parks always messes me up when I go. And obviously stay off those rides."

"Hmm? Come again?" I said, my heart sinking.

"Well, yeah, you definitely don't have any business being on anything that jostles you around and hangs you upside down," she said, now using her "Oh, I'm talking to a moron" voice. "You, um, you weren't thinking of doing that, were you?"

"What? Me? No, that would be dumb. Bye!" I lied as I zipped up my jacket and started for the door.

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Two weeks later I was in Queensbury, N.Y., staring up at the wooden roller coaster known as the Comet at Six Flags Great Escape. I'd just bribed the attendant $20 to let the subject of my story, punk-rock drummer Urian Hackney, ride the coaster by himself. The two of us drove there on a Tuesday, along with photographer Luke Awtry, with a single goal: to get a photo of Hackney at the very top of the towering coaster, arms up, for the cover of Seven Days. The stomach-churning amusement perfectly illustrates his wild ride in the music business. And, like I told the doc, he loves roller coasters.

As Hackney started to walk toward the Comet, he turned to look at me and smiled.

"You're riding the next one with me, right?" he said.

The voices of my doctor, editors, partner — even former surgeon general C. Everett Koop — all popped into my head. "Don't be stupid, Chris. Just ride the tea cups with him or something."

Twenty minutes later, Hackney and I were screaming together in joy as we plummeted through the air, consequences be damned. As we staggered out of the cart, Hackney pointed to another coaster at the park.

"We gotta do that one next."

My back felt fine, but I knew I'd already tempted fate that day.

"Next time, man," I said. Plus, I didn't feel like bribing anyone else.