Spring Sliding
Sunday I was snuggled up under a blanket looking out the window as the rain kept coming down. The weather has turned chilly here in Texas, and it was much like any rainy day at the bobsled track. Somehow the wind can get that one rain drop down the back of your neck no matter how much you bundle up and as soon as you walk outside that cold, wet wind slaps you in the face. It's just unpleasant, and it's much easier to be thankful for the rain once I'm inside curled up on the sofa.
The rainy weather had me in a reminiscent mood. My third season has officially come to an end, and I can't believe how time has flown by. It is yet again bittersweet to come back to real life. So many of my friends went to driving school in Lake Placid, and I was not there with them. New York is still deeply ensconced in winter. It's much easier for them to maintain the ice late in the season, which is why they keep the track open until the end of March. It was hard to see all the pictures of them sliding and having fun together and come back to reality, but I'm adjusting.
I have been back in Texas for a few weeks, and it's lovely to be home. I visited family in Oklahoma after being home for a week. My cousin asked how long I was home for this time, and I responded, "Oh, I've already been home a whole week..." She laughed at my vagabond lifestyle. Being anywhere for more than a week is a big deal for me. One location for a week means you can half-way unpack your suitcase and possibly do laundry. I'm currently enjoying my bed, not living out of a suitcase, baking whenever I want, going to my church, making money at my job and being back with my friends. It's great to be home. As before, the most difficult transition is going back to a desk job after my life of adventure. I miss the sunlight, being outdoors, working out with teammates, and moving around all day. So my remedy is to walk outside every so often and let the sun shine on my face. That takes care of most of the things I miss, and I have my workouts at Zoom for the last one.
It's been so long since my last post, I had to look back to see what I wrote. It was the week of opening ceremonies for the Olympics, and I said I'd write something everyday. Fail. Sorry about that. I was so busy watching and tweeting and sliding that I didn't take time to write. If I wasn't watching it live, I was either watching events recorded on the DVR or at practice. It was great!
I admit I was a little worried that my perspective of the Olympics would be tarnished now that I've seen behind the curtain, but the truth is, it made the whole viewing experience more impressive. Now I know what all those athletes have been through to earn a spot to represent our country. I better understand the sacrifices, the level of commitment, the monetary investments, the hours of hard work, the blood, sweat and tears that make these athletes great at their sport. Sure, most of them have natural abilities that got them into the sport, but it's their uncompromising passion that got them to the Olympics. You don't just wake up one morning and go the Games. You make a decision to dedicate your life to this one goal of representing your country. That looks different for everyone, but it takes lots of sacrifices, big and small, to make those dreams happen.
On the flip side of that coin, I also know much more about the politics that go on behind the scenes. It's not always pleasant, but it's part of the package deal with sports governed by federations. Despite the craziness that can happen, the good far outweighs the bad. It was amazing to cheer for so many athletes I know personally, from the good ol' US of A and abroad. I look forward to meeting tons more athletes over the next four years so I have even more friends to cheer on in 2018. Hopefully I'll be cheering for them live and in person when I'm not competing myself.
A bunch of skeleton athletes and myself watched opening ceremonies together. Why does Team USA have the craziest outfits for opening ceremonies? Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely wear it with pride if given the chance, but why must these outfits always look so ridiculous? I'd win a prize at every ugly sweater party for the rest of my life, that's for sure. It was fun to see our friends walk out in their hideous USA sweaters and yell out which people we saw.
"Look! There's Chris and Tucker!"
"Is that John?"
"Oh, I see Curt and Steve."
It was like that all night. Every time they panned over the US contingent, we saw someone we knew. We were all excited for our friends and hoping we'll be those people walking into the stadium in four years. But for now, we enjoyed celebrating from Park City, Utah, with friends and good food. What's more American than a homemade apple pie to celebrate the Olympics? Nothing.
If you've been reading this blog for a few years, you might remember how my roommate Katy and I have taken pictures during the past 2 Olympics. If you need a good laugh, check out Tribute to the 2012 Olympic Games. Those pictures are classic. This year was a little different since I was in Utah and she was in Texas. I'm gathering them all together for an Olympic tribute post coming soon. Get excited.
As you know from the last post, our last America's Cup competition was in January. Following that race, I headed out to Utah for about 2 months of practice. There were 2 local bobsled pilots that came out occasionally, but I was the only America's Cup pilot training. Having basically one on one coaching from the most decorated female pilot and Olympic medalist Shauna Rohbuck was amazing. Everyone who works at the track was great to me during my stay. It was a little strange that everyone knew who I was, but being the only female bobsledder and often the only bobsled pilot makes you stand out I guess. I learned so much during my stay, and I look forward to putting those lessons to use next season.
I feel like I should win an award for sliding with the largest variety of people. The end of my last post was a plea for brakeman. "If you know anyone in the Utah area that wants to take a trip in a bobsled, let me know. I'm happy to take whomever wants to go. Literally anyone. No joke. Just let me know." Well, I really wasn't joking. I took tons of random people down the track, whoever would show up and get in the sled. Random people off the street, friends, friends of friends. They all came out for a ride. Let's see if I can remember them all. (Sorry if you rode with me and I forget to mention you, but the sheer quantity of people is ridiculous.)
First there was Trevor. He lived nearby and is trying out for the team next season. He slid with me 2 days a week, and I really enjoyed sliding those days. He regularly pushed me to fast times, and it helped me to work on consistency in race push time conditions. I also slid with Candice, a woman I met at the track spectating back in October during team trials. I have to give a shout out to Greg West, Kyle Brown and Stephen Garbett for their awesome pushes that day. Pretty sure our 4-man/2-man pushes confused many tourists. Check out the video here: 4-man/2-man
Candace told her co-workers about crossing bobsledding off her bucket list, and four of them decided to come out. That was an interesting evening. One girl tripped on her first step and was being drug behind the sled. I saw it happen, but there's not much you can do once the sled is moving and gravity is pulling you downhill. I yelled at her to get in if she could and jumped in the sled. If she made it in, she made it in. If not, I was going down without her. Luckily, she made it in and yelled, "Sorry!" as we went through curve 1. Unbelievable. There was also Joe, Dustin, skeleton slider Andy, Stephen and Kyle's friend Alex, Nick's friend Scott, and Pinky (paralympic brakeman). Kevin's chiropracter, Chris, even came out for a day. He kept saying, "Which curve are we in when I'm getting crunched?" Yeah. That would be curve 6 when we're pulling over 4 G's. I'm sure he was thinking we all need to be clients of his after just a day of sliding. One Saturday I went to skeleton school, just to give it a try. I went to school in the morning and took 3 kids from the school up top for rides afterwards. Definitely some wide eyes as they hopped out of the sled. Much different than skeleton from Curve 6. Check out the video here: Skele/Bob Day
On a side note, I am definitely not switching to skeleton. I went 55 mph just laying on the sled from Curve 6 with a track worker shoving me off. I was the largest person in my class, which means I had momentum helping me along more than my classmates. I ping-ponged through low point (it's supposed to be a straightaway). I crossed the finish line (barely) and saw all the white paint on the shoulders of my black jacket from hitting so many walls. Luckily I'd stuffed my kneepads into my jacket and the revival of the giant 80's shoulder pads saved me much pain. I tried to do the steers the other sliders were doing, but I was accidentally doing them when I would do my bobsled steers (which was WAAAY too early for skeleton). I almost flipped the sled coming out of curve 13 one trip. Lincoln, our coach, met us at the truck and said the track workers watching the live feed had never seen anyone do that particular scorpion near crash move from curve 6 before. Proud to be breaking new ground. I have crazy respect for my skeleton friends. You're all very brave.
Megan, one of the skeleton school girls I took for a ride, brought 2 of her friends one evening. Her friend Bart took this sweet video. This view is looking over Bart's back and out the back of the sled. He was the extreme sports friend that most people have. The regular stuff like motocross and skydiving, and he almost got motion sick. His friends were shocked that he was close to blowing chunks on me when we got to the bottom. I found that was a fairly common problem with all these newbies. When you can't see what's going on because your head is being pushed down between your knees, you can feel a bit queasy.
Carlo slid with me during my last week. He pushed me to my personal best back in November when we were forerunning the AC races, so it was fun to be reunited and get him lots of ice time. He's decided to try out for the team next season, so sliding with me must not have been too horrible.
I have the spiel down pretty solid now. Sign these waivers, pay these fees, wear these clothes, park in this lot, run on the count of 3, get yourself into the sled, hang on here, put your feet there, push your butt back against this, keep your head down, pull the brakes when I start yelling and elbowing you in the head, stop us here and hold the brakes until I hop out of the sled. Any questions?
That's about the extent of what you need to know to make it down. I didn't elaborate on the pressures they would feel or the weightlessness when the pressure ends. Every time we got the bottom I would congratulate them on becoming a bobsledder and ask them what they thought. I saw some amazing facial expressions, heard some blatant lies and almost got thrown up on a few times. A few people seemed to genuinely like the experience. The adrenaline rush and violence aren't for everyone, and I understand that. I felt I needed to triple check with everyone if they actually wanted to take more than one run or if they hated it so much, one run was more than enough. One girl threw her arms around my neck and started thanking me for keeping us alive. She was the dramatic friend of the group. "I thought we were going to die! I thought the sled was breaking! I thought the track was breaking! Thank you for saving my life!" Hahaha! She was hilarious. One boys I met in skeleton school had his parents at the finish line. His mom had to prompt him with, "What do you say?" He timidly made eye contact and said a very hesitant, "Thanks." What his tone really said was, "That was awful! I don't want to thank you for that violent experience. I'm sticking to skeleton."
I also took down a retired fighter pilot one Saturday. Chuck is probably in his late 50's, early 60's, if I had to guess. Kyle and Stephen told me they were bringing a friend, but I was expecting someone much younger. I walked into the start house and was surprised to meet Chuck, but I gave him the spiel and off we went. He was a trooper and took 3 trips with me. Afterward, he took us to lunch, and I met his fiance Anna. They invited us all to a charity concert and schmooze fest with the cast afterwards. It was a very entertaining evening, as my teammates pre-gamed for the event. Lots of hollering for the girls in the show, and Kyle even got pulled on stage to dance an Irish jig. He doesn't really dance. That night, Chuck and Anna asked me to house sit for them for a few days and watch their dogs. I thought, "I just met you this morning and now I'm basically your live in nanny for a few days?! I don't even know your last name. I must have a trustworthy face. Do you just trust me because I didn't kill Chuck this morning?" I just answered with a simple, "Sure," and moved in for a few days. Anyhow, I had a fun time with my new friends Goose and Charlie. We took lots of long walks and met people who didn't speak much English.
The rainy weather had me in a reminiscent mood. My third season has officially come to an end, and I can't believe how time has flown by. It is yet again bittersweet to come back to real life. So many of my friends went to driving school in Lake Placid, and I was not there with them. New York is still deeply ensconced in winter. It's much easier for them to maintain the ice late in the season, which is why they keep the track open until the end of March. It was hard to see all the pictures of them sliding and having fun together and come back to reality, but I'm adjusting.
I have been back in Texas for a few weeks, and it's lovely to be home. I visited family in Oklahoma after being home for a week. My cousin asked how long I was home for this time, and I responded, "Oh, I've already been home a whole week..." She laughed at my vagabond lifestyle. Being anywhere for more than a week is a big deal for me. One location for a week means you can half-way unpack your suitcase and possibly do laundry. I'm currently enjoying my bed, not living out of a suitcase, baking whenever I want, going to my church, making money at my job and being back with my friends. It's great to be home. As before, the most difficult transition is going back to a desk job after my life of adventure. I miss the sunlight, being outdoors, working out with teammates, and moving around all day. So my remedy is to walk outside every so often and let the sun shine on my face. That takes care of most of the things I miss, and I have my workouts at Zoom for the last one.
It's been so long since my last post, I had to look back to see what I wrote. It was the week of opening ceremonies for the Olympics, and I said I'd write something everyday. Fail. Sorry about that. I was so busy watching and tweeting and sliding that I didn't take time to write. If I wasn't watching it live, I was either watching events recorded on the DVR or at practice. It was great!
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| Watching ice skating on my laptop with curling on the TV and baking. Love it! |
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| Sam and Shaw were my Olympic viewing buddies. For those 2 weeks, you could regularly find me lounging on the couch watching something Olympic. |
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| Watching USA-1 bobsled men getting their medals. I know them! |
On the flip side of that coin, I also know much more about the politics that go on behind the scenes. It's not always pleasant, but it's part of the package deal with sports governed by federations. Despite the craziness that can happen, the good far outweighs the bad. It was amazing to cheer for so many athletes I know personally, from the good ol' US of A and abroad. I look forward to meeting tons more athletes over the next four years so I have even more friends to cheer on in 2018. Hopefully I'll be cheering for them live and in person when I'm not competing myself.
A bunch of skeleton athletes and myself watched opening ceremonies together. Why does Team USA have the craziest outfits for opening ceremonies? Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely wear it with pride if given the chance, but why must these outfits always look so ridiculous? I'd win a prize at every ugly sweater party for the rest of my life, that's for sure. It was fun to see our friends walk out in their hideous USA sweaters and yell out which people we saw.
"Look! There's Chris and Tucker!"
"Is that John?"
"Oh, I see Curt and Steve."
It was like that all night. Every time they panned over the US contingent, we saw someone we knew. We were all excited for our friends and hoping we'll be those people walking into the stadium in four years. But for now, we enjoyed celebrating from Park City, Utah, with friends and good food. What's more American than a homemade apple pie to celebrate the Olympics? Nothing.
If you've been reading this blog for a few years, you might remember how my roommate Katy and I have taken pictures during the past 2 Olympics. If you need a good laugh, check out Tribute to the 2012 Olympic Games. Those pictures are classic. This year was a little different since I was in Utah and she was in Texas. I'm gathering them all together for an Olympic tribute post coming soon. Get excited.
As you know from the last post, our last America's Cup competition was in January. Following that race, I headed out to Utah for about 2 months of practice. There were 2 local bobsled pilots that came out occasionally, but I was the only America's Cup pilot training. Having basically one on one coaching from the most decorated female pilot and Olympic medalist Shauna Rohbuck was amazing. Everyone who works at the track was great to me during my stay. It was a little strange that everyone knew who I was, but being the only female bobsledder and often the only bobsled pilot makes you stand out I guess. I learned so much during my stay, and I look forward to putting those lessons to use next season.
I feel like I should win an award for sliding with the largest variety of people. The end of my last post was a plea for brakeman. "If you know anyone in the Utah area that wants to take a trip in a bobsled, let me know. I'm happy to take whomever wants to go. Literally anyone. No joke. Just let me know." Well, I really wasn't joking. I took tons of random people down the track, whoever would show up and get in the sled. Random people off the street, friends, friends of friends. They all came out for a ride. Let's see if I can remember them all. (Sorry if you rode with me and I forget to mention you, but the sheer quantity of people is ridiculous.)
First there was Trevor. He lived nearby and is trying out for the team next season. He slid with me 2 days a week, and I really enjoyed sliding those days. He regularly pushed me to fast times, and it helped me to work on consistency in race push time conditions. I also slid with Candice, a woman I met at the track spectating back in October during team trials. I have to give a shout out to Greg West, Kyle Brown and Stephen Garbett for their awesome pushes that day. Pretty sure our 4-man/2-man pushes confused many tourists. Check out the video here: 4-man/2-man
Candace told her co-workers about crossing bobsledding off her bucket list, and four of them decided to come out. That was an interesting evening. One girl tripped on her first step and was being drug behind the sled. I saw it happen, but there's not much you can do once the sled is moving and gravity is pulling you downhill. I yelled at her to get in if she could and jumped in the sled. If she made it in, she made it in. If not, I was going down without her. Luckily, she made it in and yelled, "Sorry!" as we went through curve 1. Unbelievable. There was also Joe, Dustin, skeleton slider Andy, Stephen and Kyle's friend Alex, Nick's friend Scott, and Pinky (paralympic brakeman). Kevin's chiropracter, Chris, even came out for a day. He kept saying, "Which curve are we in when I'm getting crunched?" Yeah. That would be curve 6 when we're pulling over 4 G's. I'm sure he was thinking we all need to be clients of his after just a day of sliding. One Saturday I went to skeleton school, just to give it a try. I went to school in the morning and took 3 kids from the school up top for rides afterwards. Definitely some wide eyes as they hopped out of the sled. Much different than skeleton from Curve 6. Check out the video here: Skele/Bob Day
On a side note, I am definitely not switching to skeleton. I went 55 mph just laying on the sled from Curve 6 with a track worker shoving me off. I was the largest person in my class, which means I had momentum helping me along more than my classmates. I ping-ponged through low point (it's supposed to be a straightaway). I crossed the finish line (barely) and saw all the white paint on the shoulders of my black jacket from hitting so many walls. Luckily I'd stuffed my kneepads into my jacket and the revival of the giant 80's shoulder pads saved me much pain. I tried to do the steers the other sliders were doing, but I was accidentally doing them when I would do my bobsled steers (which was WAAAY too early for skeleton). I almost flipped the sled coming out of curve 13 one trip. Lincoln, our coach, met us at the truck and said the track workers watching the live feed had never seen anyone do that particular scorpion near crash move from curve 6 before. Proud to be breaking new ground. I have crazy respect for my skeleton friends. You're all very brave.
Megan, one of the skeleton school girls I took for a ride, brought 2 of her friends one evening. Her friend Bart took this sweet video. This view is looking over Bart's back and out the back of the sled. He was the extreme sports friend that most people have. The regular stuff like motocross and skydiving, and he almost got motion sick. His friends were shocked that he was close to blowing chunks on me when we got to the bottom. I found that was a fairly common problem with all these newbies. When you can't see what's going on because your head is being pushed down between your knees, you can feel a bit queasy.
Carlo slid with me during my last week. He pushed me to my personal best back in November when we were forerunning the AC races, so it was fun to be reunited and get him lots of ice time. He's decided to try out for the team next season, so sliding with me must not have been too horrible.
I have the spiel down pretty solid now. Sign these waivers, pay these fees, wear these clothes, park in this lot, run on the count of 3, get yourself into the sled, hang on here, put your feet there, push your butt back against this, keep your head down, pull the brakes when I start yelling and elbowing you in the head, stop us here and hold the brakes until I hop out of the sled. Any questions?
That's about the extent of what you need to know to make it down. I didn't elaborate on the pressures they would feel or the weightlessness when the pressure ends. Every time we got the bottom I would congratulate them on becoming a bobsledder and ask them what they thought. I saw some amazing facial expressions, heard some blatant lies and almost got thrown up on a few times. A few people seemed to genuinely like the experience. The adrenaline rush and violence aren't for everyone, and I understand that. I felt I needed to triple check with everyone if they actually wanted to take more than one run or if they hated it so much, one run was more than enough. One girl threw her arms around my neck and started thanking me for keeping us alive. She was the dramatic friend of the group. "I thought we were going to die! I thought the sled was breaking! I thought the track was breaking! Thank you for saving my life!" Hahaha! She was hilarious. One boys I met in skeleton school had his parents at the finish line. His mom had to prompt him with, "What do you say?" He timidly made eye contact and said a very hesitant, "Thanks." What his tone really said was, "That was awful! I don't want to thank you for that violent experience. I'm sticking to skeleton."
I also took down a retired fighter pilot one Saturday. Chuck is probably in his late 50's, early 60's, if I had to guess. Kyle and Stephen told me they were bringing a friend, but I was expecting someone much younger. I walked into the start house and was surprised to meet Chuck, but I gave him the spiel and off we went. He was a trooper and took 3 trips with me. Afterward, he took us to lunch, and I met his fiance Anna. They invited us all to a charity concert and schmooze fest with the cast afterwards. It was a very entertaining evening, as my teammates pre-gamed for the event. Lots of hollering for the girls in the show, and Kyle even got pulled on stage to dance an Irish jig. He doesn't really dance. That night, Chuck and Anna asked me to house sit for them for a few days and watch their dogs. I thought, "I just met you this morning and now I'm basically your live in nanny for a few days?! I don't even know your last name. I must have a trustworthy face. Do you just trust me because I didn't kill Chuck this morning?" I just answered with a simple, "Sure," and moved in for a few days. Anyhow, I had a fun time with my new friends Goose and Charlie. We took lots of long walks and met people who didn't speak much English.
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| "Look. I found you a deer leg. Aren't you impressed?" That's what Charlie is thinking right now. And, yes, I was quite impressed. |
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| I miss all the furry friends I made on this trip. Bronson, Brody, Sam, Shaw, Sunny, Yoyo, Goose, Charlie & Millie were all such fun. |
Along with all the human and furry friends I made this trip, I was so blessed to live with Greg's family during my stay. Dave and Vicki welcomed me into their home, and I loved every minute of my stay with them. I was genuinely sad to leave. It had become home to me. I fell more in love with the mountains this trip. The view out my window was a gorgeous site to wake up to every morning, and driving through the mountain pass to get to practice was spectacular. I miss the mountains so much.
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| My view from Dave and Vicki's house. |
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| While I was house sitting for Dave & Vicki, I had fun with their toy. Quality time with my new ride Carl clearing the driveway. So much better than shoveling! |
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| Had fun skiing one morning before bobsled practice with skeleton athlete Liz Swaney. She took me on some terrain parks (definitely no jumping for me), and I only fell once. Victory! |
I had so much fun on this trip. It was nice to fall in love with bobsled again. Like I said before, I was the only female pilot, so there was no pressure to jockey for my position everyday. I could just go and focus on sliding. I truly enjoyed sliding, and I loved helping so many people cross bobsledding off their bucket lists. It was a 2-way street for sure. I needed bodies to slide, and they got the experience of a lifetime. All the different body weights and pushes made me adjust every run, made me learn how different people in the back of my sled will affect how I will have to drive. The weather was all over the board, which also made me learn to adjust. We had cold and warm weather, rain and snow, frost and wind, all of which drastically change the ice conditions. One of the qualities of a good pilot is learning to adjust, and I am starting compile all those lessons in my skill set.
Overall, the trip was a smashing success. I had fun, met lots of new friends, learned tons about sliding and fell in love with the sport again. That's probably the most important thing I'll take away from this time. Competition is good. It sharpens your skills and pushes you, but sometimes it's nice to take a step back and just learn from your own trips. Once you are consistent, you can start to experiment. You can try a different steer or different timing. That's when I really had fun, when I reached the point of fine tuning. Hopefully I'll reach that point on other tracks someday. Until then, I'll relish the knowledge that I am improving. Somehow I ended my second season as a bobsled pilot ranked USA-5. (That takes time to process every time I think about it. I'm the fifth ranked bobsled pilot in the whole country. That's just crazy!) I had my first America's Cup podium finish. I went to Olympic Trials and didn't get last place. (One of the girls at Zoom was trying to remember who I was this week. She asked, "Are you the girl who did Olympic Trials for something?" That was the first time I'd ever heard myself described that way and it took me a second to answer. I had totally forgotten that it was true. Every time I see her now, it makes my day.) This was a great season, and I look forward to working hard all summer to improve for next year.