One of the most famous hot dog eating contests takes place at Coney Island amusement park in New York City.

Why not make use of their roller coaster (The Cyclone) at the same time?

Contestants would have to eat all the frankfurters they could during two rides on the roller coaster. After two circuits, the hot dogs eaten are counted and the winner must ride the roller coaster *again*, being sure to keep everything inside. Pacing and knowing your limits are important in this contest, as if you lose your load, the runner-up will then have a chance to ride the coaster for the win.
-- phundug, Jul 04 2007

That is a hilarious concept! I take it that the hotdog supply is somehow strapped down then too?
-- quantum_flux, Jul 04 2007


Not much of a spectator sport though. How about using mechanical bulls instead? The bull gets faster the more hotdogs you eat.
-- marklar, Jul 04 2007


That is one fantastic coaster - much scarier than it looks. It could be improved upon only by the addition of hot dogs and splattered ketchup.
-- wagster, Jul 04 2007


How do you suggest that the hot dogs be counted after they have been consumed?

I suggest mounting wireless video cameras to roller coaster car, that way the hot dogs can be counted as they are being eaten, and people can watch the competition from remote screens.
-- BJS, Jul 04 2007


Gotta be. The whole point is trying to watch people keep it all down.
-- wagster, Jul 04 2007


The contest should be surviving a roller coaster ride *after* eating 50 hot dogs. A video camera facing the contestants would record the results.
-- nuclear hobo, Jul 04 2007


I still think its a bad idea to count the "eaten hot dogs"...
-- BJS, Jul 04 2007


//How do you suggest that the hot dogs be counted// Shirley RFID tags congealed in the hot dogs would do the trick?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 04 2007


I like the way you opted for 'congealed' instead of 'concealed'. It's more evokative of hot dog nastiness.
-- Texticle, Jul 05 2007


I see a new impetus for wanting to sit up front.
-- RayfordSteele, Jul 05 2007


Maybe the seating arrangement is tied to last years results. The "Champ" gets first row, the cars behind are full of the less deserving also rans.
-- cblunds, Jul 05 2007


"...less-deserving also-rans." Are you nuts? The front seat is the easiest one! It's the slowest car of the bunch. Put the champ in the rear seat. If he holds it together there, he's a winner.
-- elhigh, Jul 05 2007


Could you please explain to me how the first car travels slower than the last car without the last car overtaking it?
-- wagster, Jul 05 2007


Zeno's Paradox?

Not you [zeno] - the other guy.
-- Texticle, Jul 05 2007


It's not that the front car travels slower across the whole ride than the rear car, just that it does at the key moments, when the train is about to go down one of those big drops.

When the front car is poised at point X at the top of the roller-coaster, just before the big drop, its speed is 0. By the time the rear car gets to point X, its speed is non-zero, as it's being pulled over the drop by the front cars.

Of course, at point Y just after the bottom of the drop, as the cars begin slowing down, the rear car is going slower when it crosses point Y than the front car was, but because the deceleration after the drop usually happens more gradually than the acceleration at the start of the drop, it's the difference in speeds at the top of the drop that's more noticeable.
-- imaginality, Jul 05 2007


In that case surely the back car is faster on peaks (accellerating) and the front car is faster in troughs (decellerating)?
-- wagster, Jul 05 2007


Yep, absolutely, but I think people are more inclined (no pun intended) to remember the eeek-that's-a-big-drop! moments of a roller-coaster ride more vividly than the troughs, and feel more fear/excitement at those points, so they'd tend to notice the difference in speed at the peaks more than the troughs.

(Little-known, made-up fact: this aspect of roller-coaster rides is where the phrase 'peak experience' derives from.)
-- imaginality, Jul 05 2007


(Little-known, not-made-up fact about rollercoasters: the rate of change of position is "velocity"; the rate of change of velocity is "acceleration"; the rate of change of acceleration is "jerk"; the rate of change of jerk is "snap".)
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 05 2007


I thought 'Jounce' was one of the changes in changes of forces.

Ok, if nobody likes the mechanical bull idea, how about the Pirate Ship, which has huge potential for encountering flying semi-digested hotdogs (not to mention piratical annos).
-- marklar, Jul 08 2007


// 'Jounce' // I think you're right. I half- remembered hearing terms for these higher-differentials, and couldn't recall them, so I Googled and found them. But 'Jounce' sounds more like what I recalled.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 08 2007



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