white-knuckle ride

noun3

1. •
   An extremely exciting and nerve-racking ride at an amusement park, etc., where one's hands grip on so tightly that the knuckles appear white.

   • A newly-devised ‘white-knuckle’ ride in a funfair was named ‘the Braveheart ride’. — 2003
2. •
   A car ride or bike ride that is similarly nerve-racking, provoking fear of a crash.
3. •
   (figurative) Any extremely exciting or nerve-racking experience.

   • They must be insane to think Judy Finnegan would retire from the daily white-knuckle ride that is live television with Richard Madeley. — 2007