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the cyclone is a pilgrimage point for me, a holy "spot" on the end of little piece of land hanging off of one side of a continent on a small but nonetheless colorful planet full of many holy and joyous "spots." but for my life and experience, though, the metal and wood lattices, the death drops and the sinewy bends of cyclone are a defacto geometry of enlightenment, higher consciousness and pure joy. there are few things that can so easily give me a thrill and change my nervous system into a buzzing and whirling pinball machine made of love for the universe. i guess that there are certain things ive tried in life that created some extraordinary sensations in me, but they werent terribly safe or legal, and the point here is the cyclone, and the cyclone is a very special thing. cyclone is that unique phenomenon, a relatively ancient outcropping of a fast changing pop culture that was not destined to recede as other articles of past popular fascinations have. it is actually a great work of art in a field that is seldom seen as an "artform." it is now a national heritage site, its also widely regarded as a significant part of our world culture and, in my humble and probably not very normal sounding opinion, an inadvertant gateway to the vast and mysterious realms of hyper space and universal intelligence. ok, there, i said it. so now you know that hrry is a beatnik. but allow me to discuss the ride a bit, because i love it THAT much. cyclone has the greatest first drop on any coaster anywhere. you are treated to some freaky and outrageous air on that drop. i have been on millenium force, phantoms revenge etc, some serious and crazy drops for sure. but theres something about the way cyclones drop was engineered...its just not right. you wont be finding a sickly parabola like this on any modern coasters and wont ever again. in the rear car, you dont hit the zenith of your airtime until youre near the bottom of the hill, and then you suddenly slam down at ground level and if you had your eyes closed youd probably think the coaster deposited your arse flat on the sidewalk, cause thats pretty much what it feels like. each subsequent hill is a messy monster of violent and gorgeous air unto themselves. its really indescribable in words, but theres something so crude and raunchy about cyclones hills. there are also many uncomfortable pullouts from the drops which provide you with some heavy and madly vibrating positive Gs. after many back seat rides these pullouts had me going a little swimmy, but in a good way. and of course no discussion of cyclone is complete without mention of the laterals which are totally magnificent. cyclone is a master of the "lats" and "air" combo drops. if one combines the abrasive speed and alien G forces of the cyclone, the strange ebb and flow of the ride, the pain and pleasure, you find that cyclone is something of a zen paradox - a sublimely imperfect perfection. the madness of this ride simply cannot be improved upon. each lurch and spasm in its course cannot be considered a flaw. i have visited cyclone on four occasions in the last eleven years. on each of these occasions i sought companions to accompany me, all of whom had never rode cyclone and two of which had never even heard of it. each time after one ride, these four people were transformed into smiling zombies and started forking over cash for rerides. they couldnt stop THANKING me for taking them to cyclone. a ride on cyclone will make one feel closer to friends and lovers - my trip to cyclone yesterday had me and my girlfriend kissing and smiling like wood nymphs afterwards. ITS THAT GOOD. my own first experience with cyclone reminded me of drinking coffee for the first time in europe after a teenagedom full of dennys and dunkin donuts coffee - "o my god, THIS is coffee." i had no idea coffee could be so good. well thats the revelation of cyclone - "o my god, now this is
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