Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off

Sometime last year Sheikra opened up with much fanfare at Busch Gardens. This is a dive coaster that Busch Gardens set up to increase attendance (they seem to open a new ride every 3 years or so). The coaster take you up to ~200 feet and then teeters the car over the edge for 3-4 seconds before dropping nearly straight down. There are a few other loops, a second drop and then a finish as it skims over the water throwing up a rooster tail behind it. A couple of weeks before it opened to the public, Busch Gardens set up a photo shoot for some marketing material. My friend Monica, whom I miss seeing after having not seen her in a couple of months due to a new boyfriend, works in the Busch Gardens marketing department and invited me to join. When she invited me for the first photo shoot in late May, I was just getting vertical again after severely twisting my ankle trying to get to second base several weeks before while playing kickball (apparently no means no). Since I figured that they wouldn't want to have crutches in the pictures nor deal with potential liability, I had to pass on the opportunity. A couple of months later another shoot was set up and she remembered me.

We had to show up around 6:30 in the morning and wear colored shirts sans any logos or marks. After signing a photo release we boarded and were told to keep our hands on the handle bars or below us and look like we were having fun. Then we just held on and waited to ride as many times as we could handle. The car would run through the circuit and we would stay in place until ready for the next ride. Unfortunately I could only handle 5 times in a row before I had to take a break before jumping back on 10 minutes later for another 2 rides before the shoot was done. Cameras were set up on the car as well as several places around the coaster to get some good shots. I didn't know if anything came of it until Monica dropped off a small stack of brochures for me while I was at work one day with my smiling face circled on one of them. It is kind of neat to see yourself in print, so I appreciate the opportunity as well as the chance to try out the ride a bit before it was generally open to others.