Total Timber Tour
About the Tour
After 17 trips to the US over 20 years, Adrian & Ian, 2 Roller Coaster Enthusiasts from the UK, had ridden over 600 Roller Coasters, and visited more than 100 Theme Parks. At this time, they had ridden almost every wooden coaster in the US.
Radio Derby's Shane O'Conner and Adrian
In 2008 they planned to ride the remaining 9 wooden coasters they hadn’t ridden. At the end of the trip, they should have been in a position to boast that they had ridden every wooden coaster in the US.
The remaining coasters were spread from New Jersey to Washington State, with the latter in Puyallup only being open for 21 days of the year, 4 in spring and 17 in September.
The ‘Total Timber Tour’ was due to travel through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, Southern Alabama, and through to the West via Utah. The climax of the tour was a ride on the ‘Coaster Thrill Ride’ at Puyallup Fair in September. In all, the tour crossed 20 states, and totals 6769 miles!
However, regretfully, they were not be able to complete their goal of riding every wooden coaster in the United States during the tour. Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast on the day they were to tick off the Cannonball at Waterville, in Gulf Shores, Alabama and this park was within an official evacuation line. Also, Flying Turns at Knoebel's had yet to open although this would not have affected the outcome of the trip alone as long as it remained 'under construction' for the duration of the trip.
The trip website attracted 3000+ hits a day during the tour.
Tour Announcement. August 31 2008.
It is with regret that we have to inform you all that we will not be able to complete our goal of riding every wooden coaster in the United States this tour. Hurricane Gustav is due to hit the Gulf Coast on the day we were to tick off the Cannonball at Waterville, in Gulf Shores, Alabama and this park is within an official evacuation line. Obviously we are both very disappointed not to have completed the tour fully, but are able to put our inconvenience into perspective with relation to all those directly affected by the incoming storm. Our tour will be back on track on Tuesday, and we intend to continue onto Seattle as planned. Rest assured, we will be back to the US in the near future to complete the missed coaster. For more details of today’s events, please see the Day 12 blog.
