RideMan is having health issues.

I wasn't going to post this here, but I saw it circulating on Facebook.

Our local expert, RideMan, has been battling some issues and has taken a turn for the worse.

Whatever your beliefs, send some love his way.

I was just thinking about him the other day and that I haven't seen him on here in a minute. Horrible to hear, hope all goes well. Miss you Dave!!!

Thoughts and prayers, Dave. Ride on.

Latest is that he pulled through surgery.

Saw the posts on Facebook. He has been resolute through a lot. So happy to read he made it through surgery.

Appreciate you sharing this. Lots of good thoughts and good juju to Dave. Glad to hear he made it through surgery. Hopeful for a good recovery.

Get better Dave, sorry to hear about this. If the surgeons pulled the trigger on an amputation you got a wicked bad cellulitis. Hope you recover soon!

Wishing Dave all the best.

Over the last year or so, I kept going back and forth about posting about his struggles here. Dave is a good guy, and has written some of the most valuable posts on CoasterBuzz. He has had a lot of health problems over the last few years, but he seemed to keep a good attitude about all of it. I know I wouldn't be able to handle it if it were to happen to me.

My heart goes out to him and his friends and family.

I think it’s safe to say that Dave is the most knowledgeable person that we around here have ever known. He’s a technical and mechanical expert and when it comes to amusement rides his mind is like a trap. We both live in Columbus and I would run into him every once in a while, usually at one of his favorite restaurants. I drove by their place just yesterday and wondered how he was getting along. He’s faced these challenges for a while now, and has always remained positive. This recent news makes me sad and I join everyone here in wishing him the best.

Oh ****, you guys. Just saw this:

"It is with a sad heart to inform you that they are removing Dave's tube and putting him into palliative care tonight. It looks like he will be joining our Lord."

(I hate to seem gossipy, but this is being posted on Facebook and we all know and care about Dave)

Oh noooooo!!! So sorry to hear! Such a great guy :(

Dave is a good friend of mine, I'm sad to admit I haven't seen him in a while though. (I had planned to visit him today), but April posted the latest news that the situation in not good.

Hold onto your loved ones. Just a few days ago (July 8) he was doing really well.

We've met before but I wasn't as close to him as you are. I also thought he was doing well, and that he turned the corner.

This is so sad for his family and friends, and for this community. We've lost a few long time valued members.

Dave is on another level with his encyclopedic knowledge. I wish him peace.

At least he will have a peaceful death, rest in peace Dave, I always loved reading your posts.

I've enjoyed reading Dave's knowledge dumps for literal decades, all the way back to the Usenet group rec.rollercoaster, where he posted from the 90's until it closed a couple years ago.

I feel like both on Cbuzz and usenet he rarely started threads but always piped up when some technical detail about rides came up, especially if someone said something incorrect.

When I saw his iconic ascii roller coaster SIG I always knew it was something worth reading:

Humorously, his 'new' request to use the 'canonical magic word' in your emails to him remained in his sig for almost 2 decades.

Also, he maintained a Vimeo page with video of some interesting coasters and amusement devices.
https://vimeo.com/rideman

Thanks Dave Althoff, Jr.

I just found this old thread where RideMan was complaining to Jeff about how the forum was handling SIGs.

https://coasterbuzz.com/For...gnatures-3

Ugh, it's embarrassing how not that sophisticated my code was in those days. Not sure where it is today...

Dave made the Internet work at one point on an Apple II, text only. If nothing else, he made me appreciate the accessibility features of the technology.

Bulletin boards and dial up. Hell yes! I would trade whatever this “internet” is now for that world in a hot minute.

ISA modem, jumper for interrupts, interrupt conflicts, drivers on a floppy, serial mice……. Ughhhhhhh. I’m getting too excited.