Sidewinder

Posted by Russ Devan (New Hanover, United States) on 29 February 2008 in Sport & Recreation.

This is an image that I found lurking in the deep recesses of my hard drive which I took last summer. I had totally forgotten about it until recently (with over 200 GB of images, it's easy to do). This is a roller coaster in Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania (yes, that's where they make the chocolate!) that I shot during my company picnic. I didn't get to ride on any of the rides last summer as I had injured my back and could barely walk, let alone ride the rides. So, I did the next best thing. Yes, take pictures. I even remember bringing along the lighter and smaller of my two digital cameras and only one lens so as to put minimal strain on my back while carrying it around.

Three of my four kids are somewhere in this image. If I know my boys, they're probably in the front car (that would be the right side of the image). If memory serves me correctly, this was the second trip through this loop on this part of the ride and they were going around it backwards. My wife and other daughter were on the coaster behind me as I shot this, which launches them vertically to 75 mph (121 km/hr) in 2 seconds. And to think, I went to Hershey Park and all I got was this lousy photograph. Hurumph!

Thanks for stopping by.

“If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk.” - Sir Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of Boy Scouts

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