Coasting for Kids 2010?

Congrats to Jason and Carrie who raised the 3rd and 4th highest amounts for GKTW. By the way, 1st and 2nd don't seem to be involved with Coasters for Kids.

::: makes mental note to have Carrie help raise funds for my projects :::

[url][url]Today at Kings Island

(That's DaveStroem and family)

Yay.. I love organizational FB pages.. I can actually see photos..

Nice plug for CoasterBuzz and 10 seconds of fame for me. :)

DannerMan!

According to the GKTW reps, Cedar Point's total is now over $17,000.

Like last year, it was a blast. I'm about to fall asleep right now. I suspect I'll be pretty sore tomorrow. I was the only one who stayed on the entire time this year. I managed to get 142 laps. I kept track on the same tally counter I had last year. Every few laps someone would ask me where we were at. The people who took a few breaks knew how many laps they missed and kept track by simply knowing how far behind me they were.

In the morning, they had some very good pastries, coffee and juice. I tried not to have anything that might hinder me later. I had a small glass of OJ and a blueberry muffin. This was all I had since dinner the night before. Around noon, they had some boxed lunches for us.

Just like last year, we began by riding on the red side. Around 10:00 they had us move to the Blue side. IIRC this was around the 39 lap point. They wanted us on that side once the park was open. I was looking forward to this moment because last year they had us exit and go around to get to the Blue side. I used this opportunity to very quickly take a bathroom break. I made it back an on with about a minute to spare. However, this year, they just has us cross through the queues to the other side. This cross over ended up being the only time I ever got out of the train.I know, I'm nuts. But, I never felt the need to eat or use the bathroom. Though the latter crept up on me as the event drew to a close.

Throughout the day we got several funny looks from guests. Many people asked us what we were doing. Many people wanted to know why they couldn't ride on the Blue side. So, I think the knowledge of "Give Kids the World" was significantly spread throughout the day. Many people cheered us on as the Excellent Gemini crew posted updates on our progress fairly regularly. Like last year, this was probably one of the most interactive days in a long time for Gemini. We had almost everyone slapping hands on every run. Lots of Taunting back and forth. It was a blast.

Again, like last year, during one of the runs, the crew posted a challenge to see which made the trains run faster, rowing or the head fins. It was the GP's responsibility to Row while it was our job to do the head fins. Our entire train kept their fins up for the entire ride, save for a few hand slapping opportunities. The GP only had a few people rowing. The difference this year was that we switched up the rolls on the next run. It is very hard to row for the entire ride.

Last year we had zero trims all day. This past off season the park redid the helix trims so they are now automatic. It's safe to say you will rarely if ever see a trimless helix again. This may sound weird coming from an enthusiast. But, the trims made for a much more tolerable ride. Even with the trims, we probably won about 90% of the time. The crew had been releasing our breaks anywhere from 3 to 6 seconds later than the GP to try and time the turn arounds better and give the GP a shot at winning. But, we still won most of the time.

One of the best moments of the day was Bryan Edwards fulfilling his promise. He got his $1,000 in donations and as promised he rode once today. He waited until 5pm for the final run. Since I had been on all day, he rode with me. Not to many people can say they've ridden a coaster with Bryan.

After we were done, everyone got together in the grassy area in front of Gemini for the final ceremony, awards, certificates, photos and thank yous. The GKTW people were very thankful to CoasterBuzz and Cedar Point. GKTW was thrilled at the increased success of the event this year.

In addition to everything else, there was a reporter there (who was operating his own camera) from Orlando. He was originally from the Cleveland area. Also, there was a reporter there from the Sandusky Register. He talked to a few people (including me)

Ok, that's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more to add as other people comment.

But, the trims made for a much more tolerable ride.

I wouldn't mind that at all. The last time I rode Gemini, that helix hurt. I don't mind a trim before a helix, esp. if it's at the end of the ride.

Glad people had fun and raised money and raised awareness of this awesome charity. Wish I could have went to Carowinds, but I know I couldn't have ridden Thunder Road all day, even if it was running like my last good ride on it on the silver side.

So Carrie was on 69 news?? ::giggles::

Seriously though.. Congrats to all those who were fundraisers as well as those who donated.. Definitely a great cause.

Heh. That must be why I was so nervous and goofy. :-/

It really is an amazing cause and it's a privilege to be able to support it this way. My endless gratitude continues to go to everyone who sponsored me, as well as to those who gave for others.

Congrats to all the participants! There's going to be some very happy kids. :)

-Tina

Hey Jason just wanted to say I agree 100% with what you wrote. Today was great, and it makes me wish I would have done this last year. Great job riding the whole time! Hope to see you next year!!

I got a kick out of Ryan hiding in the #1 bin around ride 18 or so. We could hear him talking and were trying to figure out where he was, then he came up out of the #1 bin like Dracula!!!!
I didn't know anyone could even fit in those bins...

FYI, My head hurts and I feel hung over today. :-)

I'm glad I took breaks, and I'm so glad I went over and did a couple of rides on STR. I don't care what anybody says, that ride is ridiculously fun, and is most definitely a flume.

I feel like crap today, too. I should've skipped the gym this morning.

I'm fine so long as I only look straight ahead. No more right turns, please.

It was fun though. I really only took breaks for lunching, sunblocking, and bathrooming, and ended up with 114 laps. At one point there were no less than three of us Bryans-spelled-with-a-Y in close proximity, and I thought the universe might explode, but we managed to survive. So long as we didn't try to buy any name-printed souvenirs all at the same time.

JoshuaTBell said:
I got a kick out of Ryan hiding in the #1 bin around ride 18 or so. We could hear him talking and were trying to figure out where he was, then he came up out of the #1 bin like Dracula!!!!
I didn't know anyone could even fit in those bins...

I also thought it was funny when he went to go get food, and was asking everyone with his mic what they wanted. We were all looking around wondering where he was, and he was getting food!! Haha.

^Aww, darn I missed that part! He was heading down to get food when our train left the station and he was back by the time we returned!

In all it was another great event and I'm so glad I took part in it again this year. It was great to meet some new people and see all the people I met last year that I haven't seen since then. Also was great to have a few old friends riding with us this year... nice to get some new people involved!

Can't really sum it up any better than Jason did, although I'll add one funny guest story... A few times we would mess with the people asking why we were riding and they couldn't. One time I had gotten out of the train to put on sunscreen and as I was getting back in, Lisa tells a group of girls that the restraints were stuck and we had been riding all morning! They looked at us very concerned and said "really?"!! Let me just restate... I had just sat back down into the car and re-buckled and was pulling down the lap bar as this exchange was happening!!

Thanks to all that supported all of us and thanks to the fellow riders and especially the ride staff for another fantastic event!

Vic

^ Yes, especially to the ride staff for being there for the entire run. And even grabbed us an extra Sharpie from Maverick! :)

I apologize to anyone I met that I didn't introduce myself to. I was fried from the sun and Gemini rides - I totally wasn't myself, and felt completely out of it by lunch time. :)