20,000th on Excellerator

I gotta go look at that videotape...

I chatted with the guy on 12/27 when I was at Knott's. I had just failed to take my third ride on Xcelerator and was waiting for my girlfriend (yes, that would be PhantomRider3000) (I have not ridden Xcelerator) and she got to talking with him. I thought sure he wasn't expecting to hit 20,000 until sometime in February.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
*** Edited 1/23/2007 3:45:44 PM UTC by RideMan***

I was at Knott's a couple days after Christmas (with Rideman) and talked with the guy. Mr. Krieger was very nice. I was by myself on XCelerator and he jumped in the seat with me. I guess they let him wait at the exit for any empty seats. He told me he expected to hit 20,000 rides by January.

I know a few peeps who are always at Cedar Point riding Dragster and Raptor who have I think 600 or so rides on TTD and over 3,500 on Raptor. Obviously, if they let them sit at the exit, and if Cedar Point were open year-round, they would have way more rides than that. Mr. Krieger is very lucky to be able to wait at the exit like that.

One of the peeps who tallies their rides at CP also tallies what seat they sit in on every ride. Now I think that is sad. Wow! *** *** Edited 1/23/2007 5:56:06 AM UTC by phantomrider3000***

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depotrat said:
Does your watching 24 and reruns of Alias impact the world?

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Are you speaking ill of the discontinued?!

PS. 24 and Alias are two of my favorite shows.

I now know if I chew on someones carotid artery, I can save the world :).

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Jeff said:
Well I guess if you read my blog, you know everything about me. You're awesome.

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Nope, I know very little about you except your blog and how you treat others on this site. You do seem to hold Mr. Krieger to a higher standard than you do yourself. He isn't allowed to use his free time for personal pleasure without being classified as "sad" while you can use free time as you please because the rest of your time is spent impacting the world.

I guess it is you that is awesome and the rest of us, including Mr. Krieger and myself, that haven't discovered a cure for cancer are in the "sad" category.

Whatever dude. Ramble on. You still don't know anything about me. At least I post with my real name though.

I always find it a little irritating talking to enthusiasts that seem to put more of an emphasis on their track records and riding statistics than their actual coaster enthusiasm. I enjoy talking about experiences but they enjoy talking about how many times they rode coaster X in year Y on days when the temperature was Z. Weird.

But sad? I don't think so. Who is anyone to pass judgement on this guy because of how he choses to spend his free time? I don't get how some people believe they are above others because they feel what they do is more important... more important to the future of the world, more important to the future of mankind... whatever.

We all have things we like to do. I like to visit amusement parks. I also enjoy video games, Saturday nights with friends and a few six-packs, sports and cars. None of my interests are likely going to improve the world in which I live, but so what? Just because someone doesn't dedicate large chunks of their free time to helping save the world doesn't mean they aren't doing their part in other ways.

You know what's sad? People that feel they need to validate what they do by claiming someone else's use of their free time is wasteful.

*** Edited 1/23/2007 2:55:19 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

Though I can't imagine riding the same coaster over and over like that, I hope I have done well enought in my working years to be able to enjoy my retirement like that.

Watching 24 and Alias is the real key to being awesome. Everyone knows that.

-Nate

(Except last night's 24 sucked...)

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Rob Ascough said:

Who is anyone to pass judgement on this guy because of how he choses to spend his free time? I don't get how some people believe they are above others because they feel what they do is more important... more important to the future of the world, more important to the future of mankind... whatever.

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I think your taking it to far....I don't think that's the real issue. I don't think anyone said he needs to be reading with orphans, cooking in a soup kitchen, etc. If he wants to just ride Xcellerator all day that's fine...he can! But, to me, for lack of a better term I think it's a little sad when a person basically does one thing and that's it...because whether it's service oriented or not, there's SO much more to life. I have a distant cousin who literally spends all day every day playing some online game like World of Warcraft. He dropped out of his doctorate program and doesn't have a job because he is on there all day. Same deal.

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Jeff said:
Whatever dude. Ramble on. You still don't know anything about me. At least I post with my real name though.

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You may consider it a ramble, but when you look in the mirror tonight, ask yourself if you were being cruel when you went along with labeling him "sad."

Perhaps with some deep thought you could admit that it was an error in judgement and grow from the experience. Most folks expect better from the admin of a site.

If you still think it was OK to judge Mr. Krieger and post your thoughts on an open forum, I will give up.

I agree that there are ways people can take things to the extreme, like dropping out of college to play World of Warcraft, but I don't think that is the case here. We're talking about an older guy that has likely done a lot in his life and is now at the point where he is able to do something selfish for himself. When I'm 61 years old, I'll likely be looking for some form of self-gratification as well.

What bothers me is when people (not mentioning any names) act all high-and-mighty and mention what they do in a way that suggests the other person is somehow irresponsible for doing what s/he does with their time. Besides, it's not like the guy is collecting child porn, he's just having a good time without hurting anyone. I fail to see what the problem is, or could be.

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Peabody said:

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Rob Ascough said:

Who is anyone to pass judgement on this guy because of how he choses to spend his free time? I don't get how some people believe they are above others because they feel what they do is more important... more important to the future of the world, more important to the future of mankind... whatever.

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I think your taking it to far....I don't think that's the real issue. I don't think anyone said he needs to be reading with orphans, cooking in a soup kitchen, etc. If he wants to just ride Xcellerator all day that's fine...he can! But, to me, for lack of a better term I think it's a little sad when a person basically does one thing and that's it...because whether it's service oriented or not, there's SO much more to life. I have a distant cousin who literally spends all day every day playing some online game like World of Warcraft. He dropped out of his doctorate program and doesn't have a job because he is on there all day. Same deal.

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I guess my point is that you are judging the man's life when all you know about him is that he rides a coaster for several hours almost every day. For all you know he also volunteers, helps family members and goes to church every morning.

Many retired folks spend 5 hours almost every day on the golf course or fishing and no one says boo. The golfer may keep track of his scores and averages and even notes on every hole. The fisherman may keep track of how many and how big the fish are each day and no one says boo. How is this any different?

It seems that Mr. Krieger has found a hobby for his retirement that he enjoys and reports on this site make him seem to be a pleasant man and people liked riding with him. Where is the harm? Where is the sadness?

Fishing & golfing are sports. You can get better at them.

How do you get better at riding a coaster 20,000 times?

But that's beyond the point. Fishing and golfing are things you aim to get better at, but some people don't... and many of the people that don't are just fine with that. They still enjoy fishing and golfing. It's all about the guy having a good time as he gets older and I stand by my assertion that it's not up to any of us to judge him because we don't understand why he's doing what he's doing.

Again, I don't see what's so sad about it. What's the difference between riding a coaster for hours and spending hours on the computer blogging? Both are good ways to burn time, and neither one is going to cure world hunger.

*** Edited 1/23/2007 4:16:11 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***

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depotrat said:
Does your watching 24 and reruns of Alias impact the world?

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I'm not sure I see the comparison. Maybe if Jeff watched the same hour of 24 over and over, until he saw that particular episode 20,000 times, it'd be similar?

I'm neither a psychologist or Dr. Phil, but I'm thinking a compulsion on that order has some sort of internal origin. It doesn't necessarily make it sad or bad, but I don't think it's something to applaud or think of as an accomplishment.

*** Edited 1/23/2007 4:21:56 PM UTC by Gemini***

Yeah, I think it's sad. If you don't agree with me, don't agree with me, but don't pretend you know me.

Anything like this is absurd. Seriously. Does this guy have a family or a wife? I think this is exactly like the World of Warcraft dropout story, only at least he's getting a little exercise.

By the way, Walt, I don't think Dr. Phil is actually a doctor. :)

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Gemini said:

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depotrat said:
Does your watching 24 and reruns of Alias impact the world?

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I'm not sure I see the comparison. Maybe if Jeff watched the same hour of 24 over and over, until he saw that particular episode 20,000 times, it'd be similar?

I'm neither a psychologist or Dr. Phil, but I'm thinking a compulsion on that order has some sort of internal origin. It doesn't necessarily make it sad or bad, but I don't think it's something to applaud or think of as an accomplishment.

*** Edited 1/23/2007 4:21:56 PM UTC by Gemini***

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Never said to applaud, just thought it was cruel to label the man "sad."

As for the comparison, it was pointing out that we all use our free time in different ways and to decide our free time use is better spent than another person's, and that they should put their time to better use is really subjective.

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Jeff said:
Yeah, I think it's sad. If you don't agree with me, don't agree with me, but don't pretend you know me.

Anything like this is absurd. Seriously. Does this guy have a family or a wife? I think this is exactly like the World of Warcraft dropout story, only at least he's getting a little exercise.

By the way, Walt, I don't think Dr. Phil is actually a doctor.

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OK,, I give up. You can continue to judge the man even though you know almost nothing about him. I certainly know more about you than you know about him. If it makes you feel superior or something, I will let you go with that. Keep specualting about his life and labeling him and I will stay out of it.

I don't agree with you, Jeff.

Did it ever occur to you that the guy might not have a wife or family? Maybe he's a loner that has no one else in his life and does things like this to fill his free time. Then again, maybe he does have a wife and family. If that was the case, he's still entitled to do what he wants with his life, as long as he's not hurting anyone else. Why do you use that "you don't know anything about me" line when you obviously dedicate a lot of your time to a blog that attempts to get people to know you? And why do you use that line as if the same can't be said about a guy that takes roller coaster riding to the extreme? Who the hell are you to call him sad when you know nothing about him?

Once upon a time you spent hours and hours of your free time setting up a site dedicated to Cedar Point. At the time (before Coasterbuzz and the Coasterbuzz Club that you likely make a ton of money from), it was something that consumed a lot of your time and did nothing for anyone aside from yourself. How is this guy's quest to ride obsessively any different from what you, or anyone else, has done at one point in time?

*** Edited 1/23/2007 4:49:31 PM UTC by Rob Ascough***