It starts out slow, rocking back and forth like a clock pendulum. Left, right, left, right. With each swing it gets higher and higher until it finally rests upside-down for a second or two before soaring around and around in a gigantic circle.

As the rides went up last week on the midway it was, by far, the most visible ride, standing nearly three stories high. And as the crowds strapped themselves in, it was soon discovered that the Ring of Fire was not only the most visible ride, but also the coolest ride at the 2001 SEMO District Fair.

"It starts you off slow and then shoom!" said 12-year-old fairgoer Jennifer Medley. She said what makes the Ring of Fire cooler than all of the other rides is that it goes upside-down and makes your stomach drop.

But when it comes to the Ring of Fire, no one knows it better than 11-year-old Lydia Menz and her 15-year-old sister, Brittnie. The two said they visited the fair every night and by Tuesday night had already ridden the ride at least 12 times.

Lydia Menz admitted the first time she went on it she was a little nervous because it dangled her upside-down for a second at the top, but after she rode it once she was hooked.

The majority of the kids at the fair said they thought the Ring of Fire was the best ride too, but not all of them had the desire to ride it over and over.

The Himalaya

Steve Thebault, vice president of Astro Amusement, which supplies the rides to the fair, said that the Ring of Fire is always a crowd favorite, at least for those who like to go upside-down.

He said a lot of people also like the Himalaya, a roller coaster of sorts that zips the riders around and around in a big circle at high speeds, but never takes the rider upside-down. And while the Himalaya is the fastest, he doesn't know exactly how fast any of the rides go.

Danielle Cooper, 14, said she liked the Himalaya because of its speed and music. Loud, fast music blared from speakers all around the ride and bright colored lights flashed as young and old riders whizzed around and around on the circular track.

Although the Ring of Fire and the Himalaya were crowd favorites, plenty of other rides provided entertainment for the thousands of fairgoers that passed through the midway each night.

And while most everyone agreed that the Ring of Fire was the coolest, there wasn't one specific ride that ranked lowest on the cool meter.

Nearly everyone gave a different ride as their least favorite.

Bryant Diebold, 13, said in his opinion it didn't get much worse than the swings. "I'd rather go on the kiddy Gator ride," he said. "Heck, I'd prefer the merry-go-round. The swings are just plain boring."

Boring would never be a word used to describe the ride neighboring the swings, but still some fairgoers said it was the worst. Spin Out, covered in and assortment of brightly colored, flashy lights, took riders up, rolled them onto their sides and spun them around upside-down all while their feet dangled in the air.

Shaking from head to toe as she stepped off the ride, 11-year-old Alexis Lorenz said Spin Out was the creepiest ride she had ever been on in her life. "That was bad," she said. "Really bad. I thought I was going to fall out."

Improved safety

Thebault said even though some people might feel like they are going to fall out, the rides are safe. In the almost 30 years that he has been in the ride business, Thebault said he has seen many improvements in the safety of the rides.

"There is a lot more sophisticated equipment on the rides," he said. "And a lot more government mandated safety requirements have to be met."

Although Thebault guaranteed that the rides would keep passengers in their seats, he couldn't guarantee that their funnel cakes would stay in their stomachs.

Since people handle motion in different ways , he said, there's no telling which ride is more prone to making people sick. The Tilt-a-whirl, he suspected, would probably be somewhere near the top of the list.

So far Thebault has had no reports of people getting sick at this year's fair.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611 ext. 128