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!