Miami Man Craves Coaster Record

Records were made to be broken.

Reasonable people can come up with all kinds of reasons for doing things that most of us might think are, well, unreasonable.

Take the American who just keeps piling on the hours in his own record-breaking roller-coaster ride, and his rival across the Atlantic. CBS News Correspondent Vicki Mabrey has the story from London.

The ups and downs should have ended Wednesday night when Richard Rodriguez beat his own roller-coaster riding record: A total of 600 hours, 500 rides a day over four continuous weeks on the Big Dipper in Blackpool, England. The 39-year-old Miami teacher was riding around the clock since June 18.

"Just my way of being an adventurer," says Rodriguez. "Everybody has summer aviators and racecar drivers, but I've always enjoyed roller coasters at the parks. It's my way of doing something different."

He's allowed a five-minute break every hour, but he stores them up - time for breakfast and a shower, and another break in the evenings for dinner. During business hours, he shares his roller coast with others out for a day of fun at the amusement park. At night, he beds down in the little car and tries to get some rest.

Richard Rodriguez at work

He's now broken his own record of 549 hours, set back in 1994. But across the Atlantic, he has a rival, so he refuses to get off. Norman Saint Pierre, riding a roller coaster in Quebec, Canada, started his attempt two days after Rodriguez. He's trying to regain the title he lost to Rodriguez.

"Good luck, have fun. And after you win my record, please call me in Montreal," says Pierre.

Britains have been spending vacation by the sea in Blackpool for generations. But this rivalry - indeed, the whole idea of spending weeks of your life going around in circles - is perplexing those who think once around on a roller coaster is more than enough.

Rodriguez has gone the equivalent of 10,000 miles on his roller coaster odyssey. Most people traveling that far would want to see a little more than the same bone-rattling scenery day after day.

Reported by Vicki Mabrey