A Bobsled Blackout

As Jeremy mentioned, I had my first experience bobsledding this week – what a rush! At it all began on the drive up to the Olympic Park…

I met up with Jeremy at his office in SLC with a massive grin, impossible to hide. We jumped in his truck, bobsled in back, and made our way to Park City. The ride up, I kept asking questions and Jeremy provided the advice. The night was a little cold, but I was just excited to be on my way.

After getting changed into something a little less wind resistant – spandex – it was time to get ready for the ride of my life. (I'll be honest, spandex is a little uncomfortable to be wearing in public. Good thing everyone else at the track was wearing something similar. "When in Rome…")

After getting some quick last minute pointers and watching some of the "skely's" (skeleton riders) race down the track, it was my turn. The adrenalin was already kicking in, and I was having a difficult time maintaining composure – totally excited.

I started the count off… "Back set!"

"Front set!" Jeremy responded in cadence. "Ready, GO!!!"

I began pushing that sled as hard as I could, and just started running. About five seconds down the track, I jumped in, ducked under and held on… for what was going to be an unforgettable, yet unrememberable, ride of my life.

As the bobsled started to gain speed, I could feel my body being pushed into the back of my seat. With every turn, the pressure seemed to increase. The intensity of the speed and the sharpness of each turn jarred me back and forth in the sled. Two thirds of the way down there is a minor drop in the track that causes momentary weightlessness.

Then, black out.

The next thing I remembered, Jeremy was frantically hitting me to wake me up. I had to pull the brakes. Coming to, I was disoriented and had no idea what was going on. We had passed the point where I'm supposed to brake, and we were quickly nearing the end of the track where a snow bank awaited to stop runaway sleds.

Subconsciously, I grabbed the brakes and pulled as hard as I could. At the same time, Jeremy steered the sled into the wall so as to help slow us down. We stopped just as we entered the snow bank.

Within seconds, Jeremy jumped out of the bobsled and began asking me questions and telling me to get out. I don't recall much, because I was still trying to acclimatize myself to my surroundings. (You can ask Jeremy more about the specifics, because I know I was not being very responsive.)

From there, we got the sled out of the track and I finally regained my composure.

In short, aside from having an absurd rush of adrenalin, pulling a couple G's, blacking out and nearly wrecking Jeremy's bobsled; I had a blast!!

I just hope Jeremy will trust me again sometime to do it again!

"Tighten the nuts and don't black out"

It was an interesting night of training last night to say the least. Don't worry, we all had a blast, but it was definitely a session to remember! Matt was back up there to brake for me and Don experienced his first bobsled run last night! He's going to be posting his own comments about it soon, so be sure to check back!

So, the track was a little frosty so we expected that our times would be a bit slower. Well, Matt and I got the sled up to the starting line and gave it a pretty good shove off the top. As soon as we jumped in I started to notice a faint rattling sound as we went through the first few turns. I immediately had two thoughts: 1. "Oh crap!" and 2. "What the heck is that?!" As we continued on our way I noticed that the sled wasn't reacting the same, but I was too focused to put two and two together.

Let's just say it wasn't a pretty run. I was trying to let the sled get a bit higher in the turns to decrease our time and increase our speed, but once we got into Turn 6 and I noticed that the sled wasn't tracking like it should, I knew we were in trouble. It was a bit of a rough ride down the track and as soon as we came out of Turn 12 and headed into Turn 13 where the majority of the crashes occur on our track, well, I thought our number was up. I haven't crashed to date (knock on wood) but I thought to myself at 80 MPH "This is it!"

You know what the crazy thing is? We flopped down out of 13 and roared through 14 and 15 and then across the finish line and I almost started laughing. Of all the crazy things that could happen in bobsledding, we'd just survived one of the worst! As soon as we got to the finish dock I crawled up in the nose of the sled and immediately found the problem. The master nut and bolt for the center pivot point for the axle was loose. So although I was steering, the control arm was just slidding around that pivot point instead of moving the axle.

Here's the key to remember ladies and gentlemen: when bobsledding, always remember to tighten the nuts.

Thankfully my next two runs weren't as bad, but I definitely need to do some work on the steering system! As for the 'Don't blackout' portion of this entry, well, I'll let Don tell you all about that one!!!

First Runs of the Season

After some prodding from a friend I realized that we haven't updated our blog in about a month! That's kind of sad!

I guess the biggest update would have to be that this past Friday (the 14th) was our first day of training this season! I know, it was a bit delayed but there was good reasoning behind it.

Friday turned out a little crazy since I had to work all day and then as I was driving up to the track I realized that I had forgotten the sled's scabbards in my garage! And then, on top of that, they moved the session from 7:30 to 6:30! Man, I had to hurry. I guess its a good thing I'm used to driving fast....on the ice I mean, Officer!

As soon as I got to Bobstart is was GO GO GO! We got the sled out, put the runners on, got it on the ice, got our gear on, and were off for the first run all in about twenty minutes! It was crazy! The good thing was that I didn't even have time to be nervous. And Matt, the athlete who was pushing for me on Friday, was awesome. The guy is a great pusher, a great teammate, and an all around good guy. Although, I'm still not sure about his helmet stickers!

Despite the rush, it was a good night. The air was crisp and clear and we had a blast. We want to work on our pushes and get our timing down, but we did ok for it being our first time pushing together. Our downtimes, however, were actually not too bad. Our fastest of the night was 51.82 seconds. Olympic Times is about 49 seconds or so, but in reality I'm really happy with our times. And its only going to get faster!

It really was a good experience for me, almost therapeutic after the crazy summer I've had! Again, Matt was so pumped and very positive about the whole thing. He's the kind of athlete that I like to be around. Serious when he needs to be, but still positive and outgoing.

On a side note, this little experience also allowed me to try out my new bobsled shoes ($500, ugh)! I can't say that I noticed a HUGE difference in the push, but they sure do feel great on the feet so I'm definitely glad I got them. However, I have realized that I can never give a girl a hard time for buying expensive shoes again since mine were so up there! I'll try to get a picture of them up.

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and we'll see you on the other side of the holiday break! Slide fast!

Halloween 2007

Now, I know it has nothing to do with the team, but I just had to post some pictures from this past Halloween. Check out those costumes! It really is a good thing I'm used to wearing spandex, but the makeup was something new. A special thanks to Katrina and her husband for help putting this one together. Katrina patiently spent two and a half hours putting my face on and her husband let me borrow his costume. Honestly, I'd have to say it was the best costume I've ever had! I loved it. Let me know what ya'll think! Somone suggested I show up to a race in the whole outfit!

Oh, and PS- I know it says Halloween 2008 at the bottom of that pic. Oops!!!

Sled Preparation: Day 1

The life of a United States bobsledder isn't all glamourous, despite what some of our friends think. Every year, just before the season starts, we have to spend a few days going over the sled to get it ready for use. While definitely not as exciting as hurling yourself down an icy mountainside at 80 MPH, this pre-season preparation is incredibly important. Just as any professional auto racing team does, we meticulously go over every inch of the sled, checking for cracks in the frame, damaged sections of the body, and any imperfections in the runners. We tighten every nut, re-grease every moving connection, and check the steering system for alignment.

As the saying goes, its a dirty job but someone has to do it!

This year Don, our newest teammate, and I spent most of the day today going over the sled and performing the first half of our maintainence routine. We definitely got our hands dirty re-greasing the runner shoes and cleaning them out. We went over the body surface and checked the fluidity of the suspension. Now all that remains is to set the alignment and clean out the inside of the body. So we are looking forward to another Saturday of work before the season begins. We anticipate our first day of slidding to be somewhere around mid-November or so. We'll definitely keep updates on our blog so you can see how we are doing and when we are racing. Also, be sure to check our main website, http://www.teamholmbobsled.com/, for results and bios on our team athletes, etc. We'd also love to hear from you and can be reached at teamholmracing@hotmail.com.

And don't worry, we'll be sure to add more pictures of Sled Preparation Round 2 coming up in a week or so!

Utah Down Syndrome Foundation Charity Event

Team Holm Racing recently had the opportunity to participate in a charity event that was set up to raise money for the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. We've done fundraisers for cancer research and for specific medial patients, but the Saturday we spent with these special kids and their families was an experience never to be forgotten. Their bright faces, their love for life, and their enthusiastic and engaging personalities definitely left an impression on us. We just hope that we were able to help them enjoy a day at the park.

The volunteers who organized the event did an incredible job, despite a bit of nasty weather that rolled in at the end of the afternoon. There were games and activities for all who came, and plenty of smiles all around. We put the sled right in the middle of all the festivities and set the table up with our gear and medals for the visitors to look at. We had a steady stream of the down syndrome foundation kids and their families coming by all afternoon. Guests guests were invited to sit in the driver or brakeman's seat and get their pictures taken. We had a great time answering their questions and signing autographs and even helping to make cotton candy.

We just wanted to thank all the volunteers who put the event together and congratulate them for doing such an incredible job! We'd also like to thank the down syndrome kids and their families for helping us have such a wonderful experience!

We are definitely looking forward to next year's event!

Summer Recruiting

This summer, as I mentioned before in the previous post, has been full of mostly working out and school for me personally! But for the other members of Team Holm Racing, its been work, vacations, parties, and more vacations! Am I the only one getting ready for the upcoming season??

Sometimes as a team captain and a driver you get a little worried over the summer about which athletes are coming back, which ones are working out and preparing, and which ones will actually be there for training and race day. And as much as I joke, I seriously can't express how excited I am for the 2007-2008 year!

Over the summer I have met several new athletes who are going to bring an incredible amount of talent to the team. But I also know that the experienced athletes from seasons past have been working their butts off too! Guys like Lane, Don, Adam, Brandon, Cameron, Nick, and so forth. They push me pretty hard to be better and stronger! You should see how strong some of these guys are, I have a lot of catching up to do! I'm just glad I get to jump into the sled first, that's all I can say.

We will be posting bios for each athlete on our main team website, http://www.teamholmbobsled.com/ under the 'About Us' section. Please be sure to check out our athletes and get to know them a bit! Also, if you would like to email any of them to ask them questions about the sport, please feel free to use our main email on the 'Contact Us' page!

Summer Training

Ok, this being my first official posting, I thought I would let you know what has been going on this summer. A lot of people ask me what do bobsledders do in the summer months to train since there is no ice around. Well, we do a lot of physical work. I usually spend 4-5 days in the gym a week for about 2-3 hours each day. I do a lot of weight lifting, but also a fair amount of plyometrics. Its always fun to take some guys from the gym and have them do some of my work outs. I've found that humility comes in pounds!

But the other athletes have been doing the same as well. We are all heavily involved in college studies or our careers, so its never an all-day, everyday thing. We're all excited for the season to start so we can see how much our efforts have paid off!

The summer has also been speant working on the sled, doing charity events, writing a book of our experiences, and so much more! So what I'm saying is, stay tuned to the blog for upcoming news!

Jer