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Man Rides Roller Coaster 20,000 Times


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Man Rides Roller Coaster 20,000 Times

POSTED: 10:57 am PST January 22, 2007

WHITTIER, Calif. -- Richard Krieger's life is a roller coaster. Since semi-retiring from various odd jobs, the 61-year-old Whittier resident has spent his days at Knott's Berry Farm in nearby Buena Park riding the gravity-defying Xcelerator roller coaster.

On Saturday, he boarded the coaster for the 20,000th time, a park record. "It feels almost the same as the first time, only I know what to expect," said Krieger, who has been on the ride an average of 12 times a day for the past 4-1/2 years.

"I'm not sick of it yet," he said.

It's not known whether Krieger has set any other records.

The Xcelerator blasts riders into a 205-foot climb at 82 mph. It is one of Krieger's three favorite coasters in the country. He once rode it 124 times in one day, a feat that took eight hours.

"I don't get motion sick at all," Krieger said. Krieger said he became hooked on coasters growing up in Michigan. He moved to Whittier in 1961 and soon after became a confessed "roller-coaster junkie."

After his milestone Saturday, Krieger was presented with a certificate and an Xcelerator jacket.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Man Rides Roller Coaster 20,000 Times

POSTED: 10:57 am PST January 22, 2007

WHITTIER, Calif. -- Richard Krieger's life is a roller coaster. Since semi-retiring from various odd jobs, the 61-year-old Whittier resident has spent his days at Knott's Berry Farm in nearby Buena Park riding the gravity-defying Xcelerator roller coaster.

On Saturday, he boarded the coaster for the 20,000th time, a park record. "It feels almost the same as the first time, only I know what to expect," said Krieger, who has been on the ride an average of 12 times a day for the past 4-1/2 years.

"I'm not sick of it yet," he said.

It's not known whether Krieger has set any other records.

The Xcelerator blasts riders into a 205-foot climb at 82 mph. It is one of Krieger's three favorite coasters in the country. He once rode it 124 times in one day, a feat that took eight hours.

"I don't get motion sick at all," Krieger said. Krieger said he became hooked on coasters growing up in Michigan. He moved to Whittier in 1961 and soon after became a confessed "roller-coaster junkie."

After his milestone Saturday, Krieger was presented with a certificate and an Xcelerator jacket.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Wow. I think the closest i ever got was 232 rides on Hydra (Dorney PArk, Allentown PA) in the 2005 season.

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