I was lucky in the roller coaster experience department. My first roller coaster experiences were with my dad at a young and ripe age in a little town in Ohio called Sandusky, known for its great selection of roller coasters at a little ol’ place called Cedar Point. Ever since then, I’ve been hooked on the large steel or wooden beasts, its cars barreling over a track at high speed.

I’ve lived several places moving down the U.S. East coast, including Williamsport, PA, Randallstown, MD (Baltimore suburb), Chesapeake, VA (Norfolk/Virginia Beach suburb) and Durham, NC. Ever since we landed in Randallstown, a little place north of Richmond, Virginia as been an amusement park destination for me, friends and family. I’ve seen it go through ownership changes, including Paramount’s stint owning it from 1993-2006. In fact, reading through Wikipedia’s Kings Dominion article, I remember the vast majority of this stuff — some both coming and going. Interestingly enough, Cedar Point’s owner, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company ended up buying KD and the four other Paramount owned amusement parks (including Carowinds straddling the border of North and South Carolina).

Kings Dominion is unique in that the amusement park has a ton of roller coasters scattered throughout the park, many of which are the first of their kind. Having so many top-notch coasters aids in scattering the lines and crowds, and makes for an enjoyable time riding nothing but coasters from opening to closing — something I’ve done many times. Kings Dominion, across its multiple owners has been quite innovative on the coaster front as well — with the Anaconda being the first coaster to feature an underwater tunnel, the Volcano Blast Coaster, the world’s first LIM-launched inverted roller coaster.

Plus, until a few years ago Kings Dominion had the prototype air-launched coaster, the Hypersonic XLC, which launched from 0 to 80 miles per hour in 1.8 seconds! Granted the XLC was prone to long bouts of interoperability in its six seasons at Kings Dominion. But such, is the fate of early adopters. I just read that the Hypersonic XLC is actually still at Kings Dominion… sort of:

On the park’s opening day on March 22, 2008, Hypersonic XLC had been disassembled and was placed in a field near the Hurler.[4] In May 2009, Kings Dominion marketing representative John Pagel stated that the coaster is still available for sale, either to another amusement park or as scrap metal.
– From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypersonic_XLC

I’m realizing it’s been like four or five years since I’ve last been there, as last time I was there, the Hypersonic XLC was still in operation, and the Dominator and Backlot Stunt Coaster (formerly The Italian Job: Turbo Coaster). Now if not having a chance to ride
those two coasters wasn’t enough, it seems a recent KD attendee got confirmation that the park is getting a is a gigacoasterc— a roller coaster with a height of between 300 feet and 399 feet, of which it would be only the third in the world, with Cedar Point, of course, having the original (Millennium Force ).

I look forward to seeing the completion of Kings Dominion’s gigacoaster, and eventually hope to get Tyler into the roller coaster riding. I’m thinking in the more immediate future, trips to KD will involve more time in the Nickelodeon Central and Kidzville sections of the park. But eventually, “Volcano,” “Flight of Fear” and the unnamed gigacoaster will be a fun-filled experience for father and son. Tyler’s first coaster is more likely to be Scooby-Doo’s Ghoster Coaster at Kings Dominion, but maybe, at some point, we’ll be able to make the trip to Sandusky, Ohio as well.

Kings Dominion to Get Gigacoaster

Man, I forgot just how flat the vast majority of Florida is! The combination of flat roads and the new light carbon Tarmac Expert made for a great solo training ride this morning for me. It was really weird, glancing down and seeing negative elevation on occasion, or single digit or elevation in the teens. Early this morning, I got 42 miles in, essentially doubling the Tarmac’s mileage.

With my final crit at the end of the year (and at Cat5) just a week away, I’m looking forward to a lot more training miles over the next week.

Aloma Training Route

I’m writing this entry from the passenger seat of our 4Runner packed with Christmas gifts, suitcases and a bunch of bike equipment, barreling down I-95 South, nearing the Florida border.

We got on the road in NC at 7am sharp, driving through a foggy mist that’s left a layer of dirt of Amanda’s Allez and my Tarmac. The weather’s cleared and warmed up to a very un-Christmas-like 76 degrees.

But at the same time, I’m looking so forward to a ton of flat, warm miles in the saddle of my new carbon fiber bike. It’ll also be really great to relax and hang out with the family.

With the ability to blog from the iPhone this trip. I’m hoping to continue to geek out throughout the holiday (though I had technical difficulties post this one, getting “iPhone Communication Error Invalid Post ID” error, making me have to retype the entry), blogging from sunny Central Florida.

If for some reason that doesn’t continue to happen, happy holidays from Keefer Madness – Ryan, Amanda and Bongo.