A man whose plan to ride every rollercoaster in the UK in 16 days was scuppered by Storm Floris has said he may still break a world record.
Dean Stokes, from Brighton in East Sussex, had intended to go on 120 coasters across 32 theme parks, starting at Brighton Palace Pier and ending at Thorpe Park in Surrey.
But the 36-year-old ran into problems less than a third of the way into his challenge, due to strong winds and heavy rain shutting down several parks.
However, Mr Stokes said he had been informed by Guinness World Records that his mission may not have been completely derailed.
“We were scuppered by Storm Floris as most rides were shut down for safety reasons, which is understandable, but still really frustrating,” he said.
“For example, on the day I was in north Devon I had meant to get on eight rollercoasters, but only managed one.”
But a message from Guinness World Records had revived the prospect of setting a new record, he said.
“We’re working out the details, but maybe it could be something like most rollercoasters ridden in a week instead,” he said.
Guinness World Records said: “We would like to wish Dean the best of luck in his exciting rollercoaster record attempt and look forward to receiving his application and evidence.”
There is no current record-holder for the most rollercoasters ridden in a week, and Mr Stokes has been set a target of 30 to claim the inaugural title.
For the purposes of the attempt, a rollercoaster is defined as a ride which features a car or cars which run along a fixed linear track or rails. This includes so-called ‘kiddie coasters’, but excludes theme park trains and wet rides, such as log flumes, Guinness World Records said.
Mr Stokes said that he had been overwhelmed by the support he had been shown, with some people turning up to ride rollercoasters with him.
“I’ve had ride operators recognise me from my videos, while a kid called Jack and his family decided to join me on one rollercoaster,” he said.
He added that he hoped to “build a bit of a crowd” of fellow thrill-seekers for Thorpe Park, the final stop of his trip.
“The big reason that I’m doing this is to prove people should just get out there and do more of what they love.”
