The Riverside Cyclone was once considered one of the greatest and scariest coasters in the world. As recently as the 2000 season one could experience this creature almost as it was in 1983 when brand new. The only difference was the second drop, which had been raised up about eight feet the previous year (1999)to help the Morgans make it up the next hill. In 2000 the PTCs returned and the Cyclone was in top shape, frightening park guests and reminding them you dont need hundreds of feet of steel first drop for a top notch ride. Unfortunately SF has gotten cheap and didnt want to pay for the constant repairs from the much heavier PTCs, so they reprofiled the first drop by about twenty feet. The ride was still great until the adding of trim breaks on the final third of the coasters run. Sometimes they slow Cyclone down so much that it just crawls back to the station. My rating is based on the runs when the trim brakes dont engage or dont engage to the fullest, at those times Cyclone shows it still has a strong heart beating just below the surface.
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