Negative-G - La Ronde - Le Monstre Showdown 2014

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Le Cobra Rollercoaster at La Ronde, Montreal, Quebec

I see Le Cobra and I think 1980's. The reason it has that connection to me is this is a coaster designed and built by Intamin which is a copy of Shock Wave that opened up at Six Flags Magic Mountain back in 1986.

There was a coaster video that I bought at Six Flags Astroworld back in 1988 and had Shock Wave on it. Back then I'd have to wait until my folks were either out of the house or in bed to get a hold of the TV and VCR in order to check out all of these coasters on the tape that were far away like Shock Wave. That's why when my brain sees this ride I have flash backs to parachute pants, girls with big hair and a decade of really great music.

Shock Wave moved from Six Flags Magic Mountain to Six Flags Great Adventure to Six Flags Astroworld where it last ran. It now sits across from the Ride of Steel at Darien Lake in pieces rusting away. Le Cobra has not moved as many times as its American counterpart although it has covered a greater distance as it opened originally in Sweden at Skara Somerland where it ran from 1988 to 1994 before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and ending up in Montreal.

I've never been a huge stand up coaster fan because as tall as I am I have yet to find comfortable stand up restraints.

The Le Cobra rollercoaster at La Ronde, Montreal, Quebec

One thing that I do enjoy about stand up coasters like Le Cobra are turns, especially when you transition from turning one way to another, as with your head so far above the track you really experience a lot of movement side to side as you go from one direction to the other.