Bob That Head
I really enjoy Sunday afternoons. I get to go to church, make some lunch, and just chill. It's great! Many a Sunday afternoon, I do some baking (and a cheer goes up from AOS!) The guys at work really like it when I get the urge to bake. I always take most of it to the office because goodness knows Katy and I should not be eating it all (although we really want to). Today is one such "Bake 'n Blog" Sunday afternoon, as I've coined it. This is not to be confused with a "bacon blog," although I'd be really interested to read what they have to say. Bacon is one of those amazing foods that makes all the food it touches taste better. Jim Gaffigan and I are of the same train of thought when it comes to bacon.
I was often like that dog in those Beggin' Strips commercials that runs around and yells, "Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" in the dining center at college. Okay, I never ran around and yelled bacon, but I really wanted to. Between Kris, Kylie, and I (my morning rowing practice carpool), at least one of us would know the days bacon was being served for breakfast. I would get to the top of the stairs and read the little chalkboard that held the blessed word "bacon" written there, and I would get so excited! Although they were definitely into rationing like Jim talked about.
I learned fast how stingy those servers can be. I also learned that you could increase that portion size with the proper wording. When they ask you what you want, my standard response became, "I'd like this and that and as much bacon as you can give me." Sometimes I would get a nice server who would throw 5 or 6 slices of bacon on my plate, and I would reward with a huge grin and a big, "Thank you!" Good times at Kramer, VZ, and the Derb. I really miss those amazing, big breakfasts after a hard practice. Best meal of the day! (Just so you know: If you type in "dancing bacon" for a Google image search, pictures of Kevin Bacon in Footloose come up. That one made me laugh really hard!) I'm sorry the mere mention of bacon got me derailed. Back to the point.
(PS. Get ready for LOTS of video and pictures this week, and there will definitely be some sarcastic comments and moments of excitement from me too. Prepare yourself. They were all so great, I just couldn't stop myself. I took 2 weeks to write this post, so you know it's gonna be a doosy.)
I've been looking forward to it this whole time, and it just happens to be Katy's favorite picture of the bunch. This week is all about...
Since you've now seen the original, I feel I must put my plug in for Cool Runnings. Since I'm going to be referencing it throughout the post, I've decided to include the trailer right here near the beginning. (I know it will seem like you've watched the whole movie by the end of the post, but you really should watch it.) I've never noticed that they put the Hoosiers theme song in the trailer (yet another all-time great sports movie you should watch). It doesn't really fit, but neither do Jamaican bobsledders.
I am feeling very Olympic today! So many good quotes, so little time...
History
The five-man bobsleigh event was held only one time at the 1928 St. Moritz, Switzerland Games. The four-man bobsleigh was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, in Chamonix, France. The two-man bobsleigh event joined the Olympic Games program in 1932 at Lake Placid. (I don't know if anyone ever clicks on these links, but I highly recommend it. I love the pictures of these past Olympics. It's astounding how far sports have come in such a short time. So even if you don't click on them ever again, just click on this link and watch the U.S. men's four-man bobsled team back in the day. It's ridiculous how different the sport is now.) Women began competing in bobsleigh for the first time in 2002, at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. The only Winter Olympic Games that have not included bobsledding were the 1960 games in Squaw Valley, California, when too few teams expressed interest in competing.
This past Olympics marked a milestone for men's bobsledding in the US. The Night Train team made history. We got to climb in a replica at the Olympic museum, which was pretty cool. The guys, their gold medals, and Night Train are to the right. I can't sum it up any better than the Washington post:
WHISTLER, B.C. -- The last bobsled to go down the track at Whistler Sliding Centre on Saturday carried four burly men and 62 years of pent-up emotion ready to be set loose. The vehicle had not even come to a halt when the guy in the back of the bobsled, Curtis Tomasevicz, tackle-embraced the guy in front of him; and then U.S. men's bobsled Coach Brian Shimer leaped virtually into the sled to join in the thunderstorm of hugs.
Cowbells rang, U.S. flags waved, and grown men shouted and cried. And they did a ridiculous dance they call the Holc-y-Pokey.
Rarely has a simple sled ride down a snowy hill carried so much meaning. With the first-place finish of U.S. bobsled pilot Steven Holcomb and his four-man sled, Holcomb won his first Olympic gold medal, and the United States ensured it will clinch the record for Winter Games medals with 37 after Sunday's gold medal game in men's hockey.
"That's a great feeling," Tomasevicz said. "There are not a lot of perks that come with competing last in the Olympics, and I guess that's one of them."
The victory also ended a 62-year gold medal drought for the U.S. men's bobsled team, which last won gold in 1948. No other national Olympic committee has endured such a long wait between golds. "Now we have to start the clock over and do it again in Sochi" at the 2014 Winter Games, Holcomb said. "This is an amazing feeling. I've dreamed about it for years. It's kind of overwhelming."
Holcomb and his sledmates, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Tomasevicz, had plenty more to face than history. They entered the Games as world champions, so the expectations were huge. And they had to meet those expectations on a track considered the fastest and most difficult in the world. "This track is hard," Holcomb said. "And we had a very short amount of time to learn it and figure it out. It came down to who could figure it out the quickest."
After finishing sixth in the four-man event at the 2006 Olympics, Holcomb had almost quit the sport in 2007 after he learned that he had a degenerative eye condition that could lead him to go blind. But he underwent novel surgery to correct the problem and was able to continue.
"Three years ago, he wasn't sure he would be here," Shimer said. "He was concerned he would even be able to compete."
Night Train team (listed from left to right): Steve Mesler, Steve Holcomb, Curt Tomasevicz, and Justin Olsen.
Those guys in the weight room ... Are you kidding me?!? They are ridiculous! Kurt was squatting 500 lbs the day before they were competing in Vancouver. Wow! It was awesome watching these guys win gold in Vancouver. Everybody was celebrating and acting crazy. Loved it! I was cheering really loud at home. The article mentioned the Holc-y-Pokey. I couldn't talk about these guys and leave this video out. Funny! It's good to see them having a good time together when they aren't being so serious. Mad skills!
The U.S. women also made history. The U.S. women have medaled at every Olympics since the inception of the women's event in 2002. This year, driver Erin Pac and brakeman Elana Meyers took the bronze. Elana is the one who really got me interested in the sport. As I've said before, she was a softball player in college and made the transition. I thought, "If a softball player can do it...then I should be able to do it." Thanks for the inspiration Elana! She is now making the transition to become a driver. She first tried driving in March 2008 but made the switch full-time this season.“I wanted to prolong my career,” she explained, “because drivers have a lot longer career than brakemen.”
In other news, Erin Pac has just announced this month that she is going to retire. I was shocked, and so most of the bobsledding community. She is recently engaged is ready to move on with life and become a chef. "My heart was in a different place entering the season,” said Pac. “The drive I had four years ago wasn’t there. I never intended to retire now, but it’s been a really hard month. It’s been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have a future outside of the sport, and I know I’m going to be fine.”
How It Works:
This video is very late 90's dramatic, but it's a great example of all the technical stuff we're going to talk about now.
Step 2 -- Get a good push start. The push start is one of the most crucial stages of the run. Once all of the crew are lined up along the sleigh, they begin sprinting, pushing the bobsleigh as quickly as possible. The sled is pushed as hard as possible over a 50 to 60-meter stretch to provide momentum at the start. In other words, the team has about 50 meters to move the sled from a complete stop to a speed of around 40 kilometers per hour (24.8 mph). The push-off takes about six seconds. A good start is crucial -- a lead of a 1/10 of a second at this point can result in a lead of 3/10 of a second by the end of the race. After pushing off, the bobsledders jump from the track into the bob and crouch in an aerodynamic position.
This straight part of the track at the top is called the push-off stretch. This is a straight stretch that's wide enough to allow the bobsledders to push the bob. The athletes have to run as fast as they can -- this push and gravity are the bob's only sources of speed for the entire race. During the push-off, any ballast that the team has added to bring the bobsled up to the maximum weight is a liability. Even though there is very little friction, a heavier bob is harder to push. Loading is also critical. If everyone doesn't get in the sled, it doesn't matter how fast you can push.
The driver is the first to jump in, in order to get control of the sleigh quickly, and the brakemen jump in next. The process of athletes entering the sled after the push start is called loading. The faster a team can load, the better their time will be. This takes lots of practice to coordinate 4 full grown men all getting into a small space, and basically all at the same time. It's impressive, especially since they're sprinting while they get in.
Step 4 -- Use the brakes as needed. Since bobsleigh is a sport that has speed as its main goal, the brakes need to be used sparingly. So, use of the breaks should not be impromptu but part of a carefully constructed plan of attack for the particular track. Map out your braking zones, and then let the brakeman do the job of controlling the sleigh's speed. Typically though, the brakes are not pulled until after the sled crosses the finish line.
Training
The Federation Internationale de Bobsledding et de Tobogganing (FIBT) was founded in 1923 and sets rules for the composition and dimensions of each of sled component, as well as the total weight of bobsleds. Bobsled manufacturers work closely with bobsled teams and designers to make the best sled design. And I must admit that I giggled just a little over the name "International Federation of Tobogganing."
Each type of bob has a minimum weight when empty and a maximum weight with bobsledders and their equipment. Weight limits for bobsleds are:
The runners themselves are blunt. They're polished until very smooth, minimizing the friction between them and the ice. Since narrow runners further reduce friction and are faster, the FIBT has rules covering runner width. Applying plating, coating or lubricant to the runners is illegal, as is heating them. Race officials electronically measure the temperature of the runners before the race and compare it to a reference runner that has been exposed to air for at least an hour. A temperature difference of more than four degrees between the bob's runner and the reference runner results in disqualification. Everything is so high tech these days. It's a wonder anyone even tries to cheat. If they could figure it out, surely they could just win legally by putting that brain power to good use.
Olympic bobsled races include two runs per day for two days, and the team with the lowest combined time wins. There is a definite advantage to being among the first down the track while the ice is still fresh and not rough and cut up. Starting order in the first heats of Olympic races is determined by World Cup rankings, and every run thereafter by the standings after the previous heat. If two teams complete the competition in a tie, they are awarded the same place. Any team that fails to finish a run is disqualified, as is a team that crosses the finish line without all of its members in the bob. However, crossing the finish line with the sled upside down or on its side doesn't disqualify a team, as long as everyone is still inside. That would be one wild ride!
I had to wrap this up with an slam-bang finish (and yes Bing Crosby taught me that phrase). And what could be more inspirational than a slow clap in a sports movie? Nothing. Aside from chanting "Rudy. Rudy. Rudy." Although I love the ending here, I feel I must share my knowledge of reality. Movies are not real life. I know I often get sucked into the movie world, but carrying a sled on your shoulders across the ice is just not possible. First off, I've pushed a 300+ lb 2-person sled on the ground. That thing was heavy! There is just no possible way that 4 guys, on ice, could pick up that beast and carry it. The EMTs running/sliding towards them is way more realistic. Even with their spikey shoes on, this is so not happening in reality. Now you know the truth.
Heavy sled, fast athletes, amazing drivers, sharp turns, super speeds, and harrowing experiences. That's my description of bobsled. Can't wait to go give it a try!
I was often like that dog in those Beggin' Strips commercials that runs around and yells, "Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!" in the dining center at college. Okay, I never ran around and yelled bacon, but I really wanted to. Between Kris, Kylie, and I (my morning rowing practice carpool), at least one of us would know the days bacon was being served for breakfast. I would get to the top of the stairs and read the little chalkboard that held the blessed word "bacon" written there, and I would get so excited! Although they were definitely into rationing like Jim talked about.
(PS. Get ready for LOTS of video and pictures this week, and there will definitely be some sarcastic comments and moments of excitement from me too. Prepare yourself. They were all so great, I just couldn't stop myself. I took 2 weeks to write this post, so you know it's gonna be a doosy.)
I've been looking forward to it this whole time, and it just happens to be Katy's favorite picture of the bunch. This week is all about...
BOBSLED!
(or Bobsleigh depending on where you're from)
I've always been a little confused by the name interchange of bobsled/bobsleigh. Which is it? Is one the noun and the other a verb? I've asked myself many a time, but now I know the answer. They are interchangeable. Both are technically correct, it just depends on where you're from. The Olympic Federation calls it "bobsleigh." I believe this is the generally accepted international version. "Bobsled" is more of a Canadian/U.S. thing I guess. Kind of like soccer vs. futbol. We just like to do things different around here. And when I was around the coaches and athletes at the various combines, they all refer to it as "men's and women's bob". If you look it up in a dictionary, you are more likely to find the word "bobsleigh."
bobsleigh [ˈbɒbˌsleɪ]:
1. (n) a racing sledge for two or more people, with a steering mechanism enabling the driver to direct it down a steeply banked ice-covered run
2. (esp formerly)
a. a sleigh made of two short sledges joined one behind the other
b. one of these two short sledges
3. (v) (intr) to ride on a bobsleigh; Also called (esp US and Canadian) bobsled [ˈbɒbˌslɛd]
If you're talking about the actual vehicle itself, the wording is again interchangeable. "Sled" is preferred in the U.S. and Canada, but the Olympic Federation lists it as "sleigh." This automatically references Santa and reindeer in my mind, so I'm personally happy to go with the American version on this one. So, in reference to all this name confusion, my suggestion is throw caution to the wind and go with whichever name you're feeling at the time. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. But no matter what you call it, bobsledding is a fast-paced sport that relies on a precise combination of skill and physics. I've finally found something outside of school I'd actually want to use physics for. That's a first!
If you've ever hit a patch of ice while driving your car, you've experienced a very tiny piece of what driving a bobsled is like. On an icy road, there's almost no friction between your tires and the road surface, so you can't steer very well. And any sudden moves, like hitting the brake, can send you spinning out of control. Oh those fun days of driving on the ice. I don't know how I ever made it home in high school on those icy days. Scary! (Not just me, but an entire parking lot of crazy, inexperienced drivers. The fact we're all alive is a miracle!)
So imagine if your car were open at the top and back, like a bobsled, and that the patch of ice lasted for almost a mile. It's not a mile of straight, level road, either -- it's full of dramatic curves and downhill most of the way. That's what being in a bobsled is like. Drivers and crew plummet down a hill on a track, or run, that's full of twists and turns.
A wrong move can cause a dramatic crash. And without a top or back to your crashing vehicle, you can imagine the lovely ice burns that happen to those poor people that get thrown out the back. Check out this British guy's track burns from a hard crash during the Olympics. Ouch! Pat told us that brakeman should never kick out the back if they can help it. Staying in the sled with it's roll bars is much safer, although you'll feel like a rock in a tumbler. Here's a video of the actual Jamaican Bobsled team racing (and unfortunately crashing) in Calgary.
 |
| Scary! That would definitely be a wild ride! |
A wrong move can cause a dramatic crash. And without a top or back to your crashing vehicle, you can imagine the lovely ice burns that happen to those poor people that get thrown out the back. Check out this British guy's track burns from a hard crash during the Olympics. Ouch! Pat told us that brakeman should never kick out the back if they can help it. Staying in the sled with it's roll bars is much safer, although you'll feel like a rock in a tumbler. Here's a video of the actual Jamaican Bobsled team racing (and unfortunately crashing) in Calgary.
Since you've now seen the original, I feel I must put my plug in for Cool Runnings. Since I'm going to be referencing it throughout the post, I've decided to include the trailer right here near the beginning. (I know it will seem like you've watched the whole movie by the end of the post, but you really should watch it.) I've never noticed that they put the Hoosiers theme song in the trailer (yet another all-time great sports movie you should watch). It doesn't really fit, but neither do Jamaican bobsledders.
I am feeling very Olympic today! So many good quotes, so little time...
History
Bobsled is one of the three Olympic sliding sports. We covered luge last week, and skeleton will come up somewhere down the line. All three grew out of the practice of using a sled or toboggan -- a light, narrow wooden platform on runners -- to slide on snow or ice. In winter, using a sled to travel and have fun goes back some 700 years. The idea of racing sleds down a steep and twisting track dates back about 150 years, to the mid-19th century, when British tourists began tobogganing on the snowbound roads of the Alps. That had to be a harrowing experience!
Here's the Olympic Federation's description: Bobsleigh is a winter sport invented by the Swiss in the late 1860s in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled.
In the late 19th century, the sport was born when the Swiss attached two skeleton sleds together and added a steering mechanism to make a toboggan. A chassis was added to give protection to wealthy tourists, and the world's first bobsleigh club was founded in St Moritz, Switzerland in 1897. At that time most of the bobsled runs were only on the roads and proved to be a great winter pass-time of the wealthy. It was as popular as skiing is today. St. Moritz still hosts the World Cup of skeleton/bobsled to this day.
In its original form, the first races used skeleton sleds made of wood. However, they were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleighs because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed at the start. And now we finally know how bobsled got it's name.
By the 1950s, the critical importance of the start had been recognized and athletes with explosive strength from other sports were drawn to bobsledding. In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and rebalanced the sport as an athletic contest. The members were soon made up of slimmer, well conditioned athletes who had the strength and the agility to get the sled to its maximum speed in quick time. The sport now attracts teams from many countries. Even teams from warm climate such as Puerto Rico and Jamaica have entered. Go Jam!
Here's the Olympic Federation's description: Bobsleigh is a winter sport invented by the Swiss in the late 1860s in which teams make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled.
In its original form, the first races used skeleton sleds made of wood. However, they were soon replaced by steel sleds that came to be known as bobsleighs because of the way crews bobbed back and forth to increase their speed at the start. And now we finally know how bobsled got it's name.
By the 1950s, the critical importance of the start had been recognized and athletes with explosive strength from other sports were drawn to bobsledding. In 1952, a critical rule change limiting the total weight of crew and sled ended the era of the super heavyweight bobsledder and rebalanced the sport as an athletic contest. The members were soon made up of slimmer, well conditioned athletes who had the strength and the agility to get the sled to its maximum speed in quick time. The sport now attracts teams from many countries. Even teams from warm climate such as Puerto Rico and Jamaica have entered. Go Jam!
The five-man bobsleigh event was held only one time at the 1928 St. Moritz, Switzerland Games. The four-man bobsleigh was on the program of the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, in Chamonix, France. The two-man bobsleigh event joined the Olympic Games program in 1932 at Lake Placid. (I don't know if anyone ever clicks on these links, but I highly recommend it. I love the pictures of these past Olympics. It's astounding how far sports have come in such a short time. So even if you don't click on them ever again, just click on this link and watch the U.S. men's four-man bobsled team back in the day. It's ridiculous how different the sport is now.) Women began competing in bobsleigh for the first time in 2002, at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. The only Winter Olympic Games that have not included bobsledding were the 1960 games in Squaw Valley, California, when too few teams expressed interest in competing.
This past Olympics marked a milestone for men's bobsledding in the US. The Night Train team made history. We got to climb in a replica at the Olympic museum, which was pretty cool. The guys, their gold medals, and Night Train are to the right. I can't sum it up any better than the Washington post:
Cowbells rang, U.S. flags waved, and grown men shouted and cried. And they did a ridiculous dance they call the Holc-y-Pokey.
"That's a great feeling," Tomasevicz said. "There are not a lot of perks that come with competing last in the Olympics, and I guess that's one of them."
The victory also ended a 62-year gold medal drought for the U.S. men's bobsled team, which last won gold in 1948. No other national Olympic committee has endured such a long wait between golds. "Now we have to start the clock over and do it again in Sochi" at the 2014 Winter Games, Holcomb said. "This is an amazing feeling. I've dreamed about it for years. It's kind of overwhelming."
Holcomb and his sledmates, Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Tomasevicz, had plenty more to face than history. They entered the Games as world champions, so the expectations were huge. And they had to meet those expectations on a track considered the fastest and most difficult in the world. "This track is hard," Holcomb said. "And we had a very short amount of time to learn it and figure it out. It came down to who could figure it out the quickest."
After finishing sixth in the four-man event at the 2006 Olympics, Holcomb had almost quit the sport in 2007 after he learned that he had a degenerative eye condition that could lead him to go blind. But he underwent novel surgery to correct the problem and was able to continue.
"Three years ago, he wasn't sure he would be here," Shimer said. "He was concerned he would even be able to compete."
Night Train team (listed from left to right): Steve Mesler, Steve Holcomb, Curt Tomasevicz, and Justin Olsen.
Those guys in the weight room ... Are you kidding me?!? They are ridiculous! Kurt was squatting 500 lbs the day before they were competing in Vancouver. Wow! It was awesome watching these guys win gold in Vancouver. Everybody was celebrating and acting crazy. Loved it! I was cheering really loud at home. The article mentioned the Holc-y-Pokey. I couldn't talk about these guys and leave this video out. Funny! It's good to see them having a good time together when they aren't being so serious. Mad skills!
The U.S. women also made history. The U.S. women have medaled at every Olympics since the inception of the women's event in 2002. This year, driver Erin Pac and brakeman Elana Meyers took the bronze. Elana is the one who really got me interested in the sport. As I've said before, she was a softball player in college and made the transition. I thought, "If a softball player can do it...then I should be able to do it." Thanks for the inspiration Elana! She is now making the transition to become a driver. She first tried driving in March 2008 but made the switch full-time this season.“I wanted to prolong my career,” she explained, “because drivers have a lot longer career than brakemen.”
In other news, Erin Pac has just announced this month that she is going to retire. I was shocked, and so most of the bobsledding community. She is recently engaged is ready to move on with life and become a chef. "My heart was in a different place entering the season,” said Pac. “The drive I had four years ago wasn’t there. I never intended to retire now, but it’s been a really hard month. It’s been a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have a future outside of the sport, and I know I’m going to be fine.”
How It Works:
This video is very late 90's dramatic, but it's a great example of all the technical stuff we're going to talk about now.
Step 1 -- Line your team up. Bobsleighs are designed to carry teams of either two or four people. Identifying the crew is a critical element.
Different members of a bobsled crew bring different strengths and expertise. The crew’s individual roles are often identified during practice. In the four-man bobsleigh, the two middle athletes, known as pushers, are typically the strongest and most powerful of the crew but after the start, when the crew is loaded, these athletes focus on being motionless. Maintaining a good line, the driver steers the sled. The brakeman is usually the fastest athlete on the sled, and gets in the sled last. He also has the responsibility of braking at the end of the run. (For the women's event, it's just the driver and brakeman.)
To get started, line your team up alongside the bobsled with the driver in front on the left and the other members behind him/her spaced evenly on either side.
Step 2 -- Get a good push start. The push start is one of the most crucial stages of the run. Once all of the crew are lined up along the sleigh, they begin sprinting, pushing the bobsleigh as quickly as possible. The sled is pushed as hard as possible over a 50 to 60-meter stretch to provide momentum at the start. In other words, the team has about 50 meters to move the sled from a complete stop to a speed of around 40 kilometers per hour (24.8 mph). The push-off takes about six seconds. A good start is crucial -- a lead of a 1/10 of a second at this point can result in a lead of 3/10 of a second by the end of the race. After pushing off, the bobsledders jump from the track into the bob and crouch in an aerodynamic position.
This straight part of the track at the top is called the push-off stretch. This is a straight stretch that's wide enough to allow the bobsledders to push the bob. The athletes have to run as fast as they can -- this push and gravity are the bob's only sources of speed for the entire race. During the push-off, any ballast that the team has added to bring the bobsled up to the maximum weight is a liability. Even though there is very little friction, a heavier bob is harder to push. Loading is also critical. If everyone doesn't get in the sled, it doesn't matter how fast you can push.
The driver is the first to jump in, in order to get control of the sleigh quickly, and the brakemen jump in next. The process of athletes entering the sled after the push start is called loading. The faster a team can load, the better their time will be. This takes lots of practice to coordinate 4 full grown men all getting into a small space, and basically all at the same time. It's impressive, especially since they're sprinting while they get in.
Step 3 -- Steer together. At this point, the race is mostly up to the driver and gravity. The driver uses a system of ropes to change the angle of the front runners, which then turn the sleigh. However, the brakemen and other crew need to steer with the driver by leaning into the turns. This help maintain the sleigh's speed while steering the sleigh accurately. The driver's aim is to find the line -- the ideal path down the track. This is the precise path which corresponds to the optimum trajectory of the bobsleigh. The driver can gain valuable time by keeping to the trajectory.
There is a scene in Cool Runnings where the four guys are in a bathtub memorizing the track's turns. The coach would call out a the turn number and all the guys would lean in the proper direction to help the driver maneuver the turns. I couldn't find a clip or picture (there's a little blip in the trailer), but I can give you the next best thing. Katy and I re-enacting it in our tub. This one was hilaroius! Katy had to set the timer and jump in the tub, sort of like a real bobsledding experience.
Step 4 -- Use the brakes as needed. Since bobsleigh is a sport that has speed as its main goal, the brakes need to be used sparingly. So, use of the breaks should not be impromptu but part of a carefully constructed plan of attack for the particular track. Map out your braking zones, and then let the brakeman do the job of controlling the sleigh's speed. Typically though, the brakes are not pulled until after the sled crosses the finish line.
Equipment
Let's start with the sled. Today's bobsleigh is built to be fast and aerodynamic, with a rounded fiberglass nose and four highly polished steel runners. Here is how serious the teams go about an attempt to win. Because a bobsled can cost over $25,000 to build, a company called Sports Biomechanics Lab at the University of California at Davis built a bobsledding simulator. It used physics and complex mathematical equations to recreate the experience of Olympic bobsledding.
A good bobsled has to take advantage of the physical forces that help it accelerate, and it has to minimize the forces that slow it down. Gravity is a constant for all sleds. Drag, friction, and momentum, on the other hand, all vary based on bobsled design and can affect how much the bob actually accelerates. The strongest, fastest, most skilled team in the world cannot compensate for a bob design that ignores these factors. Night Train was built by a Nascar driver who decided to build a sled based on race car principles. Obviously it worked. We're serious about our bobsledding here in America! Here's a closer look at the different parts of the sled:
A good bobsled has to take advantage of the physical forces that help it accelerate, and it has to minimize the forces that slow it down. Gravity is a constant for all sleds. Drag, friction, and momentum, on the other hand, all vary based on bobsled design and can affect how much the bob actually accelerates. The strongest, fastest, most skilled team in the world cannot compensate for a bob design that ignores these factors. Night Train was built by a Nascar driver who decided to build a sled based on race car principles. Obviously it worked. We're serious about our bobsledding here in America! Here's a closer look at the different parts of the sled:
- The athlete have to have something to hold onto when they are pushing the sled at the start. These are the push handles or push bars. The side push handles must be retractable, but the rear push handles are not retractable.
- Until the 1960s, bobsledders used a steering wheel to steer the bob. Now, drivers pull steering rings to change directions. These rings attach to a rope-and-pulley system that connect to the front runners, which can move about 3 inches (7.62 centimeters) to the left or right. The driver pulls the left ring to turn left and the right ring to pull right.
- The sled consists of a main hull, a steel frame, a front and rear axle, and two sets of independent steel runners. The front runners are movable, while the back runners are fixed. The hull, also known as a cowling, is generally constructed of fibreglass and is open to allow team members to board and sit down. According to the rules, bobsleds can have decorations and sponsor logos, much like race cars. The fiberglass hull cannot be transparent or fragile enough to break upon impact with part of the track. (Shouldn't this be an obvious element? I think that's the first thing you'd design for.) Hulls are typically made in two pieces.
- I thought this was a fun fact: The first bobsleds built for women's competitions were a lot like men's bobsleds. But since women are generally smaller and differently proportioned than men, they frequently injured their hips and backs while racing. Newly designed women's bobsleds have additional interior contours to better support women's bodies.
Brakes are applied by lifting a lever that lowers metal teeth into the ice. This is done by the brakeman to slow down the sled at the end of a race. The brakes may also be used in a specific race plan to control the sled's speed.
Now, let's move on to that sweet, sleek, spandex apparell. Most everything worn or used is designed with the assistance of a wind tunnel. Countries get pretty high-tech when winning or losing comes down to thousandths of a second.
- A hightech plastic composite helmet must be worn to prevent head injuries. Many have visors to protect the eyes, or the athlete may choose to wear goggles. These are often racing helmets that drivers wear for Nascar or a motorcycle helmet.
Start shoes are made of synthetic material and have spikes on the soles for traction during the start push. The team members need plenty of traction to be able to push the heavy bobsled. Olympic bobsledding is a demanding sport, and everyone on the team must wear spiked shoes. The spikes are arranged to provide the best traction and they can’t be longer than one millimeter in length. They must be no wider than four millimeters and no further apart than three millimeters. - The bobsledders suits are wild. Fantastic graphics. Colorful and skin tight. The colors and graphics don't do much, but the suits are designed to recude drag resistance from the air. These men must possess a large amount of self-confidence to compete in those uniforms, that's all I have to say.
- Most drivers wear gloves for better grip.
The Track
Bobsledding, skeleton, and luge are often done on the same track, so most of what I talked about last week still applies. (All those terms about omega curves and kreisels definitely still apply since they are run on the same track. Take a look back if you need a refresher.) A bobsled race takes place on a specially built track called a run. The FIBT has standards for all new bobsled runs (which must also be usable for luge and skeleton races). There are 16 bobsled runs in the world, and 14 have FIBT approval. 4 of these are located in North America: Park City, UT; Lake Placid, NY; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. That's 1/4 of the world's FIBT courses. Pretty impressive, and definitely helpful for American and Canadian competitors.
FIBT standards regulate the length, curve construction, vertical drop and centrifugal force the bobsledders experience in curves. Whenever possible, new tracks follow the curves of the terrain to minimize environmental impact. Of all of the bobsled runs in the world, only one, located in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, uses entirely natural snow and ice. One curve in the St. Moritz run has stone reinforcements. The rest of the world's bobsled runs are made from metal and concrete. Before the race, people cover the concrete with snow, then soak the snow with water. The resulting ice forms the surface for the race.
One of the facts of life with bobsledding is that crashes are common. This clip might be my favorite part of the whole movie. Sanka's wailing and protests are just hilarious. I really hope that isn't my reaction in January!
FIBT standards regulate the length, curve construction, vertical drop and centrifugal force the bobsledders experience in curves. Whenever possible, new tracks follow the curves of the terrain to minimize environmental impact. Of all of the bobsled runs in the world, only one, located in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, uses entirely natural snow and ice. One curve in the St. Moritz run has stone reinforcements. The rest of the world's bobsled runs are made from metal and concrete. Before the race, people cover the concrete with snow, then soak the snow with water. The resulting ice forms the surface for the race.
Notable FIBT Track Guidelines
Length: 1,650 meters (5,413 ft or just over 1 mile)
Downhill slope length: 1,200 meters (3,973 ft or 0.75 miles)
Minimum speed at successful finish: 80 kilometers/hour (50 mph)
Maximum centrifugal force: 4 G for 3 seconds, 5 G for 2 seconds, none beyond 5G
Guardrails must return sleds to the track
Length: 1,650 meters (5,413 ft or just over 1 mile)
Downhill slope length: 1,200 meters (3,973 ft or 0.75 miles)
Minimum speed at successful finish: 80 kilometers/hour (50 mph)
Maximum centrifugal force: 4 G for 3 seconds, 5 G for 2 seconds, none beyond 5G
Guardrails must return sleds to the track
One of the facts of life with bobsledding is that crashes are common. This clip might be my favorite part of the whole movie. Sanka's wailing and protests are just hilarious. I really hope that isn't my reaction in January!
Training
Bobsled athletes (bobsledders) slide at least two to three runs on a track nearly every day during the competitive season. They also have intense strength training and sprinting sessions during the off-season in order to build the power required for the push start — the most important part of the run. I don't know if those spring sessions can be any worse than what I'm doing at Zoom. I shudder to think! Scary!
Training sessions are an important time for bobsledders to become comfortable with their equipment, the team and the feel for a track. Athletes must become familiar with their equipment by also participating in mechanical changes when the mechanic is making adjustments to the bobsled. The more runs they practice, the better they’ll know the variables that work best. From there, the athletes can tweak the equipment to what’s optimal for the crew, depending on the track.
During the off-season, bobsledders build up a base of strength and sprinting, perfecting their technique for each. They also use this time to even out muscle imbalances that they may have developed during ice training sessions. In the weight room, the focus is mostly on lower body strengthening which includes many power cleans, squats and hurdle jumps, but also abdominal, core exercises and some upper body strengthening. On dry land, bobsledders are sprinters and they train by running 30- and 60-metre intervals from either a standing or flying start — it’s a base measurement for improvement and a great targeted workout. Whenever possible, bobsleigh crews practice their push start on a short indoor ice track to keep their technique sharp.
Here are a few pictures from the USBSF 2009 National Team Camp. (Mom I hope you're laughing right now! I know I am!) They were doing sprint intervals up the old cog railway route in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Yikes! I remember those windy days on the lake when we would do sprint workouts up those 80+ stairs at Tuttle. I remember being so sore the next day, and the sick and twisted joke was that you had to climb them with a boat on your back while you were really sore after a hard practice. Not cool! I better start preparing myself now I suppose. The USBSF website has tons of pictures of everything the athletes did at team camp. Some of them are pretty commical. They are definitely worth a quick perusal.
Here are a few pictures from the USBSF 2009 National Team Camp. (Mom I hope you're laughing right now! I know I am!) They were doing sprint intervals up the old cog railway route in Manitou Springs, Colorado. Yikes! I remember those windy days on the lake when we would do sprint workouts up those 80+ stairs at Tuttle. I remember being so sore the next day, and the sick and twisted joke was that you had to climb them with a boat on your back while you were really sore after a hard practice. Not cool! I better start preparing myself now I suppose. The USBSF website has tons of pictures of everything the athletes did at team camp. Some of them are pretty commical. They are definitely worth a quick perusal.
Olympic Rules
Each type of bob has a minimum weight when empty and a maximum weight with bobsledders and their equipment. Weight limits for bobsleds are:
- Two-man: minimum 384 pounds (170 kilograms) when empty, maximum 860 pounds (390 kilograms) with crew and equipment.
- Two-woman: minimum 284 pounds (129 kilograms) when empty, maximum 750 pounds (340 kilograms) with crew and equipment
- Four-man: minimum 463 pounds (210 kilograms) when empty, maximum 1,389 pounds (630 kilograms) with crew and equipment
The runners themselves are blunt. They're polished until very smooth, minimizing the friction between them and the ice. Since narrow runners further reduce friction and are faster, the FIBT has rules covering runner width. Applying plating, coating or lubricant to the runners is illegal, as is heating them. Race officials electronically measure the temperature of the runners before the race and compare it to a reference runner that has been exposed to air for at least an hour. A temperature difference of more than four degrees between the bob's runner and the reference runner results in disqualification. Everything is so high tech these days. It's a wonder anyone even tries to cheat. If they could figure it out, surely they could just win legally by putting that brain power to good use.
Olympic bobsled races include two runs per day for two days, and the team with the lowest combined time wins. There is a definite advantage to being among the first down the track while the ice is still fresh and not rough and cut up. Starting order in the first heats of Olympic races is determined by World Cup rankings, and every run thereafter by the standings after the previous heat. If two teams complete the competition in a tie, they are awarded the same place. Any team that fails to finish a run is disqualified, as is a team that crosses the finish line without all of its members in the bob. However, crossing the finish line with the sled upside down or on its side doesn't disqualify a team, as long as everyone is still inside. That would be one wild ride!
I had to wrap this up with an slam-bang finish (and yes Bing Crosby taught me that phrase). And what could be more inspirational than a slow clap in a sports movie? Nothing. Aside from chanting "Rudy. Rudy. Rudy." Although I love the ending here, I feel I must share my knowledge of reality. Movies are not real life. I know I often get sucked into the movie world, but carrying a sled on your shoulders across the ice is just not possible. First off, I've pushed a 300+ lb 2-person sled on the ground. That thing was heavy! There is just no possible way that 4 guys, on ice, could pick up that beast and carry it. The EMTs running/sliding towards them is way more realistic. Even with their spikey shoes on, this is so not happening in reality. Now you know the truth.
Heavy sled, fast athletes, amazing drivers, sharp turns, super speeds, and harrowing experiences. That's my description of bobsled. Can't wait to go give it a try!