I had regained my balance by the time we hit the door—which was good, as it opened out onto the subway tracks, and we were racing between a tag-covered concrete wall on my right…and a subway train on my left.

We matched speeds with it for a moment, and I glanced over to see a dozen commuters staring blankly at me through the lit glass panels. I had an insane impulse to wave at them, but didn’t want to take a hand away from the handlebars so I just grinned feebly instead.

Then we shot ahead of the train, swerving left to bump onto the tracks. “Hey!” I yelped. “What about the third rail!”

“Rubber is an insulator,” Nicky replied. “All the same, don’t step down. Are you ready to take over now? I can’t drive and sync myself into the bike at the same time.”

“Can you maybe get us out of the subway first?”

We flashed past a station, commuters waiting on either side. I only had time for a glimpse of astonished faces, then we were gone again.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do fine!” Nicky said reassuringly.