Best Roller Coaster Ride

As was the case with most youth groups in southeast Michigan, every summer we went to Cedar Point. I expect most of you know this, but for those that don't this is a Roller Coaster enthusiast dream. It seemed every year they put out a new ride and we were always there to try it.

This was my second trip to Cedar Point. About a dozen kids from sixth grade to high school piled into three cars and vans and made the two hour trip. I know that drive like the back of my hand now, but then I not only didn't know every turn, but I wasn't paying attention. The trip was divided into pre-breakfast, before we stopped at the Hardee's beside the turnpike, the boring part and signs and sights, when the advertisements are everywhere and you start to see the tops of the rides as you approach.

The day was fun, but I hadn't really ridden all the rides we had talked about in the car. The Magnum was new, so the line was long and I didn't want to spend much time there and we hadn't walked by some of the other cooler coasters. We had ridden the Blue Streak, the excitement of which was the fact that the bar didn't always lock and the seat belts were frayed. We had ridden the wild mouse and the Iron Dragon. It was fun, but not as thrilling as I had hoped.

Lunch had passed and we were walking across the railroad tracks into the turning path beside the Gemini. I don't remember who I was walking with, but they asked me if I wanted to go on. I told them sure, but I hadn't gone on it before. So, we got in line and I asked all the question you do about a ride as we got closer to the station. I learned that two coasters ran at the same time, a red and a blue. So it was part ride and part race.

As the coaster left the station, I thought about racing and victory and if we had chosen the right color. That went away, though when we climbed the hill, the tallest I had ever been on and at the same time the sky started to spritz on us. I looked over the edge as we near the top and the sky let go. It would be the last thing I saw this ride.

The rain that came down was a thick sheet of fast rain, which became a stinging, even painful, rinse as we rushed down the hill. My body was a mass of stinging cold. I couldn't open my eyes, because the rain stabbed my sensitive orbs when I tried. I had no idea what was coming, which way to lean or how long it would last. It was part water ride, part roller coaster, part blind voicing from side to side. It was awesome.

When we stopped in the station, the whole coaster broke out into laughter and applause. We had experienced something unique and invigorating. Alive.

I have ridden the Gemini many time since then. I have ridden taller and faster coasters, coasters in the dark and more powerful water rides. Through all of that, though, I have never experienced anything quite like that again.