Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Co-ed bobsled
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about last night is how cold it was! Cold enough that your skin stuck to metal. Cold enough that your lungs would feel the chill when you took a deep breath. And cold enough that the crack in my windshield worried me when I turned on the defrost. Oh sure, it wasn't Calgary or Placid bad, but it was still chilly for us considering we've been sliding in some rather warm weather.
We took some four-man trips down the track last night, the first of which was rather interesting. You see, trying to get four athletes up to train can be a challenge sometimes when everyone is A. working, B. dating someone/married, C. out of town, or D. all the above. So last night, a friend of ours (you rock Abby) who happens to be a skeleton athlete was kind enough to volunteer to go down with us so we could at least get some trips down the mountain. All of my spares and back up athletes were busy or out of town, so we were grateful.
After scratching our first run down the track (meaning we skipped it) we practiced loading into the sled while it was sitting still so Abby could get used to loading in. Our coach just raised his eyebrow as he watched and said, "This I gotta see."
Well, we put the sled up on the line and once the green light turned on and the buzzer went off, we were "Back set, set, set, front set, ready!" and off we went! Now, mind you, we weren't completely cruel, we mentally told ourselves that we were taking it easy for Abby's sake. I even loaded in prematurely so Abby could hop right on. The next thing I knew there was commotion behind me, someone yelled at someone else, I felt a hard hit on the back of my helmet, and all this by the time we reached the first turn.
Now I had no idea what was going on, so I put it out of my mind and drove down the track like nothing was wrong. But once we crossed the finish line and I got out of the sled, I started counting athletes at the bottom. I may not be the smartest guy out there, but I knew that 1+2 did not =4. Don and Brad both looked at my face, read the confusion, and explained that Abby did not end up joining us on the trip. She had taken one step towards loading into the sled, decided she couldn't do it, and simply let go of the sled and we kept going without her. Our coach later told me that he thought I had a killer run down the track, but he was also a bit distracted as he tried to count helmets as we roared past him.
To her credit, Abby got back out there and took another run with us and she loaded in beautifully. She had a huge smile on her face at the bottom as it was her first time down the track in a bobsled. But I guess if Don got the nickname "Blackout" for going unconscious on the way down the track, should we start calling Abby "Fallout"? Hmmm...
We took some four-man trips down the track last night, the first of which was rather interesting. You see, trying to get four athletes up to train can be a challenge sometimes when everyone is A. working, B. dating someone/married, C. out of town, or D. all the above. So last night, a friend of ours (you rock Abby) who happens to be a skeleton athlete was kind enough to volunteer to go down with us so we could at least get some trips down the mountain. All of my spares and back up athletes were busy or out of town, so we were grateful.
After scratching our first run down the track (meaning we skipped it) we practiced loading into the sled while it was sitting still so Abby could get used to loading in. Our coach just raised his eyebrow as he watched and said, "This I gotta see."
Well, we put the sled up on the line and once the green light turned on and the buzzer went off, we were "Back set, set, set, front set, ready!" and off we went! Now, mind you, we weren't completely cruel, we mentally told ourselves that we were taking it easy for Abby's sake. I even loaded in prematurely so Abby could hop right on. The next thing I knew there was commotion behind me, someone yelled at someone else, I felt a hard hit on the back of my helmet, and all this by the time we reached the first turn.
Now I had no idea what was going on, so I put it out of my mind and drove down the track like nothing was wrong. But once we crossed the finish line and I got out of the sled, I started counting athletes at the bottom. I may not be the smartest guy out there, but I knew that 1+2 did not =4. Don and Brad both looked at my face, read the confusion, and explained that Abby did not end up joining us on the trip. She had taken one step towards loading into the sled, decided she couldn't do it, and simply let go of the sled and we kept going without her. Our coach later told me that he thought I had a killer run down the track, but he was also a bit distracted as he tried to count helmets as we roared past him.
To her credit, Abby got back out there and took another run with us and she loaded in beautifully. She had a huge smile on her face at the bottom as it was her first time down the track in a bobsled. But I guess if Don got the nickname "Blackout" for going unconscious on the way down the track, should we start calling Abby "Fallout"? Hmmm...
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Well, let it not be said that winter is still months away. While we have been completely spoiled here in Utah with extremely mild weather (read: eternal Fall), last night in Park City we had a bit of a break from our snow-drought. It wasn't terrible, mind you, but it sure made the drive up to the track interesting and the rides down the mountain a little slower, even in a 800+ pound steel and fiberglass missile.
Even so, we managed to have some fun last night, despite the dreary conditions. After a 20-minute search for a four-man bobsled (which we found out today ended up being hidden in a bin at the finish area), we instead pulled out the two-man and rushed to the start area to put on the runners (sled's blades) and get ready. With three minutes or so to spare, we tightened the last bolt and threw on our bobspikes (special bobsled shoes).
Since I had three brakemen last night I took five runs, and cancelled a sixth due to the deteriorating conditions. When we dropped about 1.5 seconds between our first and last run of the day, I knew that the sixth would be a waste of time and energy. We would have done nothing more but plow the track! But considering most of the other athletes were getting 55-58-second runs, our downtime of 53.92 and 53.52 weren't so bad (although far slower than our normal times). But the snow just kept piling up more and more. On our last run we just plowed the braking stretch and as I got out of the sled and looked back down the run towards the finish line, I could clearly see where our sled had blown through drifts of snow in the uncovered finish area. Ya, it was time to just pack it in at that point.
But it was a fun night after all. Last night was Brad's (brakeman/pusher) birthday so we pitched in and got him a card and a gift card. We also had our good friend Nicole Anderson come up to do some filming of our starts (since her camera couldn't get wet she had to hide under the start area's awning). We also had one of Brad's buddies, Brandon, come up with us and get his first taste of the world of bobsled. Although we only took a few steps and loaded in, Brandon had a blast as we flew (or is it plowed?) down the track. Well, minus the fact that he was sitting on the brake handles thereby putting some bruises on his backside.
And here you all thought our sport was just fun and games. At least we got to wear layers last night and not just spandex. Those poor skeleton athletes...
Next up: four-man bobsled on Friday night with one of our new athletes, Dan. Wish the guy who sits in front of him luck (since Dan will have 600-steel spikes on the bottom of his feet when he jumps in)!
Ciao!
Even so, we managed to have some fun last night, despite the dreary conditions. After a 20-minute search for a four-man bobsled (which we found out today ended up being hidden in a bin at the finish area), we instead pulled out the two-man and rushed to the start area to put on the runners (sled's blades) and get ready. With three minutes or so to spare, we tightened the last bolt and threw on our bobspikes (special bobsled shoes).
Since I had three brakemen last night I took five runs, and cancelled a sixth due to the deteriorating conditions. When we dropped about 1.5 seconds between our first and last run of the day, I knew that the sixth would be a waste of time and energy. We would have done nothing more but plow the track! But considering most of the other athletes were getting 55-58-second runs, our downtime of 53.92 and 53.52 weren't so bad (although far slower than our normal times). But the snow just kept piling up more and more. On our last run we just plowed the braking stretch and as I got out of the sled and looked back down the run towards the finish line, I could clearly see where our sled had blown through drifts of snow in the uncovered finish area. Ya, it was time to just pack it in at that point.
But it was a fun night after all. Last night was Brad's (brakeman/pusher) birthday so we pitched in and got him a card and a gift card. We also had our good friend Nicole Anderson come up to do some filming of our starts (since her camera couldn't get wet she had to hide under the start area's awning). We also had one of Brad's buddies, Brandon, come up with us and get his first taste of the world of bobsled. Although we only took a few steps and loaded in, Brandon had a blast as we flew (or is it plowed?) down the track. Well, minus the fact that he was sitting on the brake handles thereby putting some bruises on his backside.
And here you all thought our sport was just fun and games. At least we got to wear layers last night and not just spandex. Those poor skeleton athletes...
Next up: four-man bobsled on Friday night with one of our new athletes, Dan. Wish the guy who sits in front of him luck (since Dan will have 600-steel spikes on the bottom of his feet when he jumps in)!
Ciao!
Monday, December 1, 2008
'Tis the season...
Ok, I admit it. I've been terrible at updating the blog the past few weeks! The worst part is that we've been training on the ice for three weeks now, and here I've left you poor readers without any news, info, jokes, stories, pictures, or gut-bursting commentary.
My deepest apologies!
So, here we are, December 1st, 2008. Apparently the US has been in a recession since December of 2007. I guess we needed a year to figure that out. But personally, I just checked out my bank account and I've known I've been in a recession the whole time!
Back to bobsledding, though.
We've had a couple of days of two-man training now, and we're hoping to start four-man this week. The great thing about this season is that there is an abundance of sleds to use! So just for kicks and giggles we might borrow some other two-man sleds and try them out. After some full inspections, of course.
But our times have been steadily improving compared to last year. Though not World Cup times, improvement is improvement upon improvement. So we're happy with that! We're also excited to have some new guys joining us out there on the ice as well, so stay tuned for that! We will be posting some video and some new photos from training the other night, so check back later this week!
Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone and Happy Holidays! Keep your eye out for the Team Holm Bobsled Christmas card as well!
My deepest apologies!
So, here we are, December 1st, 2008. Apparently the US has been in a recession since December of 2007. I guess we needed a year to figure that out. But personally, I just checked out my bank account and I've known I've been in a recession the whole time!
Back to bobsledding, though.
We've had a couple of days of two-man training now, and we're hoping to start four-man this week. The great thing about this season is that there is an abundance of sleds to use! So just for kicks and giggles we might borrow some other two-man sleds and try them out. After some full inspections, of course.
But our times have been steadily improving compared to last year. Though not World Cup times, improvement is improvement upon improvement. So we're happy with that! We're also excited to have some new guys joining us out there on the ice as well, so stay tuned for that! We will be posting some video and some new photos from training the other night, so check back later this week!
Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone and Happy Holidays! Keep your eye out for the Team Holm Bobsled Christmas card as well!
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