You clutch the safety bar as your car lurches forward out of the station and up, up toward the sky. Suddenly, you plunge downward head first, going faster than you thought possible. Terrified, yet exhilarated, you press against your seat as the car turns, twists, and whips around the track. Your stomach does flip-flops, and you wonder what's next as you hear yourself scream.

Finally, you slide back into the station, sorry that it's over and wondering when you can go again. You've just been on a roller coaster, a ride that's as old as the 19th century but as exciting and fresh as if it were invented yesterday.

From Ice Slides To Roller Coasters

Many centuries ago, a Russian got the idea of building a wooden hill, packing it with snow, and pouring water down it. The water froze, leaving a slick ice slide, and riders sat on sleds and shot down the icy hill.

A visiting Frenchman brought the idea to Paris, but the mild French winters weren't cold enough to freeze the water. So the Frenchman had his sled coast downhill on tubes, or "rollers." Then in 1804, another Frenchman added a twist to the idea by putting wheels on little carriages and sending them downhill on tracks. The roller coaster was on its way! The first true American coaster opened at New York's Coney Island almost a century later. By the 1920s, roller coasters were on a roll. Their popularity soared in the 1950s when Walt Disney opened family-oriented theme parks. It took another giant leap forward in 1955 when Disneyland opened the Matterhorn Bobsled, the first modern coaster running on tubular steel tracks, which give smoother and faster rides than traditional wooden tracks.

Ever since then, theme parks around the world have been competing to build the fastest, highest, scariest, longest, and most terrifying coasters. They have built them on land, over water, and atop buildings. They have built tracks that turn, spiral, pass through dark tunnels, and carry passengers sitting or standing.

Why do so many of us love coasters? Perhaps it's because they offer us the thrill of feeling like we're in great danger while actually being extremely safe. Bars and belts hold us tight. Computer-operated equipment slows the cars, stops them, and keeps them from rolling backwards. It can adjust the space between cars according to the weight of each passenger load. And parks constantly monitor equipment and tracks.

Most important, roller coaster designers keep learning more about the natural forces that make coasters terrifying yet safe. They have even learned from the space program how many gravitational forces (G forces) the human body can take. Can you imagine what future coasters will be like?

keep moving

A roller coaster car gathers momentum as it hurls downward. (Momentum is what keeps your bike rolling for awhile after you stop pedaling.) The momentum that a typical coaster gathers on the first downward plunge powers the rest of the ride.

But momentum gets used up. That's why your bike goes slower and slower after you stop pedaling. And that's why the first drop on an old-fashioned roller coaster is always the highest. The momentum that the cars gather on that drop slowly runs out as they rush around the track.

riding the rides when you have diabetes

If you have diabetes, ask your doctor for specific, personal advice before you do activities like roller coaster rides, especially if you have a "queasy stomach." Roller coasters can be a lot of fun, but for some people, the quick turns and twists can make for upset stomachs. Here are general rules if you do feel sick or throw up:

(1) Check your blood glucose. If it is under 70 mg/dl or dropping quickly, eat or drink something with about 15 grams of carbohydrate, such as 3 graham cracker squares or 3 small cheese or peanut butter-filled cracker-sandwiches. Wait 15 to 20 minutes, then check again.

(2) If it is still below 70 mg/dl: eat glucose tablets or drink more juice with about 15 grams of carbohydrate. Check again every 15 to 20 minutes, and eat another 15 grams of carbohydrate until your blood glucose reaches the number that your doctor has said is safest for you.

(3) If your blood glucose goes over that number, stop eating or drinking, even though you may still feel the symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood glucose), such as sweating or dizziness. Eating more carbohydrate than you need can result in high blood glucose for the remainder of the day.

(4) However, if your next meal is more than an hour away, eat a small snack with about 15 grams of carbohydrate and protein, such as low-fat cheese and crackers.

learn more! You can go to Internet search engines such as Google and type in the words "roller coasters" and "ultimate roller coaster." Check your favorite theme park's Web site for really cool facts; Cedar Point near Sandusky, Ohio, for example, has details about each of its record-number 16 roller coasters! You can also read Roller Coasters: Or I Had So Much Fun, I Almost Puked by Nick Cook, published by Carolrhoda Books, Inc.; Scream Machines: Roller Coasters Past, Present, And Future by Herma Silverstein, published by Walker and Company; and Amusement Parks by Judy Alter, published by a division of Grolier Publishing.

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Diabetes Association
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group