Man rollerblades German wooden coaster
Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 5:45 pm
Speed-freak rides a 860m rollercoaster on rollerskates
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The twists and turns of being flung around a rollercoaster in the usual way is enough excitement for most of us. But for some people - one specific, crazy person in particular - that thrill's just not enough.
German speed-demon Dirk Auer decided to take things up a level, by taking on the Mammoth rollercoaster at a Stuttgart theme park on specially designed roller-skates.
Reaching speeds of up to 90km/h as he sped around the 860 metre track last week, Auer found himself subjected to forces up to 3G as he completed the ride in just over a minute. The stunt was, he said afterwards, 'a lot of fun'.
The skates used - with wheels to grip either side of each track - were created specifically for the stunt. Each had 16 wheels, weighed 20kg, and took 110 hours to build. If he'd fallen from the wooden rollercoaster, at the Tripsdrill theme park, it's likely that Auer would have ended up rather dead.
'This was a very dangerous stunt because there were so many factors to consider,' he understated.
'The roller caster is wooden and so unlike rides made from iron and steel there was always a chance of the odd nail or screw that would not be entirely flat. If the skates were to catch a stray nail then I could have fallen and I would almost certainly have died.'
This isn't the first time that Auer's taken on such a crazy stunt - in fact, he's made a career out of it. He holds numerous world records for his in-line skating, including the record for the fastest speed being pulled behind a car - reaching 191mph while being dragged behind a Porsche.
And Top Gear viewers might remember him for his jet-powered skating antics, racing an Aston Martin V8 Vantage back in 2007:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqgjNdKT ... re=related
Article Here
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.ht ... _page_id=2
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The twists and turns of being flung around a rollercoaster in the usual way is enough excitement for most of us. But for some people - one specific, crazy person in particular - that thrill's just not enough.
German speed-demon Dirk Auer decided to take things up a level, by taking on the Mammoth rollercoaster at a Stuttgart theme park on specially designed roller-skates.
Reaching speeds of up to 90km/h as he sped around the 860 metre track last week, Auer found himself subjected to forces up to 3G as he completed the ride in just over a minute. The stunt was, he said afterwards, 'a lot of fun'.
The skates used - with wheels to grip either side of each track - were created specifically for the stunt. Each had 16 wheels, weighed 20kg, and took 110 hours to build. If he'd fallen from the wooden rollercoaster, at the Tripsdrill theme park, it's likely that Auer would have ended up rather dead.
'This was a very dangerous stunt because there were so many factors to consider,' he understated.
'The roller caster is wooden and so unlike rides made from iron and steel there was always a chance of the odd nail or screw that would not be entirely flat. If the skates were to catch a stray nail then I could have fallen and I would almost certainly have died.'
This isn't the first time that Auer's taken on such a crazy stunt - in fact, he's made a career out of it. He holds numerous world records for his in-line skating, including the record for the fastest speed being pulled behind a car - reaching 191mph while being dragged behind a Porsche.
And Top Gear viewers might remember him for his jet-powered skating antics, racing an Aston Martin V8 Vantage back in 2007:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqgjNdKT ... re=related
Article Here
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.ht ... _page_id=2
