Sled maintenance......

So I worked on my sled yesterday.......I really didn't know much about the inards but I sure do now.
First of all, I went to see my saviour neighbour Marc for some welding. When I was in Park City, I asked to be self tested on a sled check just to make sure when I end up in Europe, I don't get disqualified for any mechanical technicalities.
Well, my rear bumpers needed a beed of weld on them to make them legal cause they were just shy of being 12mm, that's where Marc came in, (thanks buddy)and the concavity of the pan underneath was off near the rear of the sled.
So, I could see and feel that the silicone that was there before holding the pan to the skeleton had totally detached so I opened the sled up and took the pan off. I evened out the concavity of the pan by adding some foam to the center, and of course the rear. At least now the whole underneath looks smooth instead of ripply. I also re-siliconed the cross bars and blocks and re-attached the pan to the sled and re-taped it up. I also loosened up the cross bar bolts to give me a little more flex to the sled. Now my sled feels brand new!! It felt good to work on the sled.....now I feel like we are 'one'.
Tomorrow, I will pack it up and send it off to Germany. I am pretty excited about going cause I will get a true feel for my competition that awaits me in January for the Challenge Cup. I believe everyone will be there.....if I can finish in the middle of all small nations, which I think is about 24 nations, I will be very pleased....that is my goal!!
Of course, I haven't even had a chance to try out my refurbished ride....but someone did.....shoulders down girl....

First goal accomplished!!

I now have 8 races, on 3 different tracks, over 2 seasons,.....first goal accomplished.....I can now focus and concentrate on truly qualifying for the Olympics, and it all starts next week.
Next week I will be training and competing on the track that will host the Challenge Cup, the Olympic qualifier. It's a little, beautiful and pituresque town called Konigssee, near the Austrain border. The track is fast with quick high pressure turns which includes a true 360 degree kreisel that apparently, everybody flips out of......that turn will be the make or break point for anyone....should be interesting!!
The beauty of the sport of skeleton, I have realized, is that we are on top of the world. It is so amazing and peaceful when we are at the top. You look around and you realize that you are away from it all...the traffic, work pressures, nasty people, politics, religion, TV, useless bickering, etc.....you are now in natures' playground.
I find my mind is quite relaxed when I look around myself, my mind just drifts and I think about all the nice stuff, just about life, just about being alive, just about being so fortunate in this life......this experience to date has been remarkable.
Don't get me wrong, these thoughts are all before I get to the starting block. Once there, I am only thinking about the track and what to do to go faster and get down cleaner.
Anyways, it is amazing what you experience when you remove yourself from daily life and put yourself in natures' peacefulness, where you have no control and no social pressures.........people would learn to free their mind, their body, their soul, and their spirit........the world would be a better place.....
Pic is mountain backdrop of track in Konigssee...

Calgary...Day 5...race 2

Never better than the last day to get my game in gear.....it went a lot better today, a lot smoother. It's too bad that this wasn't the first day of training so I can build off of this day but hey....that's the nature of sport.
I finally got a good night of sleep, not waking up every 2 hours, and started feeling like myself today. I also worked on my sled a bit yesterday and made it a bit more flexible (what a difference)...polished the runners, put shoo goo on my shoes and I was a brand new man, and it made out for an okay day.
I am about to pack my sled bag that my buddy Tim gave me and put it on a flight to back home to Ottawa.
Took some pics today...was feeling better.
For those who have posted some anonymous comments....I appreciate your support.
One week home, then off to Germany for a week....I wonder if I still have a job???
My turn next.
Ready for blast off.

Calgary...Day 4...Race 1

Not a good day.....seems to be the theme this week.
Thought I had a good 1st run, couple of bumps and skids, but better than the other days....guess I was wrong. Second run, my lines were better than the first run, but on my side out of 8 again. I ran faster and relaxed more but to no avail. I am just not there!!
I think my sled is coming apart...hope Pascal can take a look at it before Germany.
I am not taking too many pictures this trip cause....let's just say, I am not in the mood!!
My daughter even drew me some small pictures to put in my shoes and she signed her name on them. She stuck a star sticker on my hand also but even that didn't help.
The positive thing today was that I fulfilled the requirement of having raced at least 5 races on 3 different tracks over 2 seasons. Now I am good to qualify for the Olympics....although after a week like this, I may be dreaming in colour!!
Check out the Princess tucked away in all the pillows.....who's really got jet lag here anyway?????

Calgary....Day 3...ohh the pain....

Well the first training run went okay...some pilots errors but not bad although a little slower than yesterday.
The second run, which I almost didn't take because I wanted to stay in one piece for tomorrow's race as this is a qualifier for me....I simply have to finish a race here in Calgary, but noooooooo, I still want to learn soooooo......I learned that coming out of a 270 degree kreisel too high will cause me to hit the left wall at about 90-100kms an hour which could break your elbow and your leg. I thought I felt all the pain I could feel after my skeleton school last January but uh-uh....today takes the cake!! This pain was "I think I'm gonna faint pain"....I didn't, but maybe it would have been better if I did!!
They are not broken but, my left arm from the elbow down to the wrist is pretty numb and I have a hard time making a fist...all the muscles and ligaments are tight. My left outer calf has swollen to the size of two calves and I am hoping I will be able to run tomorrow.
It's a good thing skeleton doesn't require too many body parts to function....even if I limp my sorry butt onto the sled and get down okay, that should be fine enough.
I can't believe that this is the easiest of the tracks I've done so far and it is giving me the hardest time....mind you, my head doesn't seem to be here with me this week......I guess this is what we call a slump in skeleton.......I don't have time for slumps!!!
Anyways, my wife and daughter showed up today......I told them if they want to see action, hang out at the end of the straight-away out of turn 8, that way they'll see 8, they'll see the 270 degree kreisel 9, and they'll see the out of kreisel into turn 10......this is where it all happens!!
I gotta go ice my body a bit........it just hoits so much.......
Video review with my Turkish, and Great Britain friends.
Adjusting rock before the next run.

Calgary....Day 2

I am getting kind of tired looking at the sky at 110kms an hour while sliding....yep, on the first run, turn 8 bit me again and I was on my ass....again. Still held onto the sled though and I am consoled that I am not the only one....apparently, the track workers will be reshaping 8 as it is not just right.
The second run was just awesome....I finally worked out turn 8 and it put me down the straight just right....amazing.
Everyday I learn more stuff about skeleton.....I just wish I knew about these little things before the season started. It is amazing how one small adjustment can elevate your game. I will try to carry this off in tomorow's training runs and see if I can stay consistent.....that's the kicker.
Beautiful day again today... plus 14, tomorrow supposed to be plus 18....shorts and t-shirt weather????.......nah, I'll perfect 8 before I try that...
Well, off to workout....
Me and Chris Hedquist, a US skeleton slider who has helped me out enormously...everytime I pick his brain, he has been bang on....a true world class athlete.
Me and Marci Francis...what a nice couple....oh I'm gonna be in trouble on this one. She is another US slider who is very approachable...she's a great girl.
Me and Deanna, she is a great CDN slider who also makes the skeleton suits...you know, the Peter Pan getaways.....

Calgary.....Day 1

Well, after my 1 day pit stop in Ottawa to visit my goils, I am back on the road in Calgary now.
I had the strangest experience this morning on my first run. This has never happened to me before but I totally blanked out.....after turn 3 my mind decided to reboot and while it was down, the run was happening. I don't mean that I didn't know the track, or know how to steer......I mean I didn't know my left from my right, literally, and I didn't even feel like I was doing skeleton, my mind left the house and when the run was over, I realized that I didn't have clue what just happened even though I was on my ass out of turn 8, but I had some sense to not let go of the sled and somehow climbed back on. A mental blank...totally an uncomfortable sensation.
Needless to say, the next run went a lot better and my mind stayed with me this time. I wonder if it has anything to do with the travelling and the time zone changes. Anyways, the weirdest part was that I was ready for the run, put it through my mind at least 500 hundred times and at the start, was totally ready.
Oh well......total of 45 sliders here...about 20 goils and 25 men.
And the weather, I can get used to this....3 America's Cups in spring weather...it was about 12 degrees today and on race day, it should be 18....can you believe it? Instead of my rubber suit......I may just go commando for a change and maybe gain an extra second....skin to win!!
Alright, pics to follow.
The groove getting prepared for a day of training.

Day 5...Race day 2...Park City

What was I saying the other day?????? What can go wrong will go wrong, that nothing goes according to plan???? Well guess what.....I am the truth of that!!!!
My first run, I just wanted to get out of turn 3 right cause then I know the rest of the track would be fine BUT....3 didn't go well, neither did 6 or 7, and neither did 12. I couldn't believe it, the worst run of the whole week and it happened on race day.
The second heat went well, good out of 3 (finally), and a little late into 6 but the rest, as usual, smooth.....but in this game...too late.
Truly frustrating and hard to take when you know exactly what needs to be done and the worst of it is, I know I can do it!!
Took some good hits on the first run, I felt like I was back at the skeleton school. No real bruises though but did manage to tear my ninja suit on the right shoulder.
Oh well, long travel day tomorrow. Looking forward to Calgary now. Oh yea, one goal was realized today......didn't finish last. Pics, of course, to follow.
Me blasting off..sort of, Team canada coach Terry, and my mohawked friend Ben.

Day 4..Race Day1..Park City...

Beautiful day today again, no wind, sun was shining, a bit cooler and the ice was fast.
I had better runs today, both of them were better times than the other days but everyone was fast today. I finished 22nd out of 24.
Like Murphy's law, what can go wrong, will go wrong, and nothing goes according to plan......turn 3 which was not giving me problems...gave me problems today on both runs and when that happens at the top, you lose a lot of speed. The rest of the track, where others are having some issues, I am smooth flowing as my daughter's hair.
Anyways, tomorrow is the 2nd race and I plan to do better cause it sounds like the conditions will be the same. As long as I see improvement all the time, I am happy.
This track is starting to be very fun, and I am beating it but it still likes to bite back when unexpected....that's cool, it keeps me on my toes....or I should say, on my belly.
Till tomorrow, and of course, pics to follow.

Park City...........Day 3

Beautiful, colder, sunny day in Park City....which can only mean one thing....faster ice. I am finally doing the same speeds as others (75mph) and these two runs were nice and fast......4 secs faster than yesterday and 2 secs faster than the first day.
If this holds out for tomorrow and the day after, it should be fun IF the errors are minimal.
So it looks like 18 women and 25 men for race days.
The thing about skeleton is that you travel so far and it takes so much money just to spend 1 minute X 2 for 2 minutes of your time on the track....wow. Of course there is video to review, runners to polish, sled maintenance, notes, studying, etc, but real activity.....2 minutes!!
Anyways, really pleased with today and hope it translates to tomorrow. As my beautiful daughter Melia would say...."faster Daddy faster"...she's nuts!!
Pics, of course, to follow.
Track workers getting our groove ready, my Armenian friend and Trinidad and Tobago friend.

Park City......Day 2

Rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, wind, wind, and more wind but warm of course. That was the day today. Ice was about 2 secs slower than yesterday which changes the dynamics of the course a bit. Gotta be more patient before doing too much on the sled.
Anyways, couple of more hits today but overall better runs than yesterday. At least I can go to the pool and whirlpool and not look like a leper.
Some more nations at this race, Armenia, Czech is back, Swiss, Trinidad and Tobago (yea, that's what I'm thinking too......I'd rather be sunning at the beach down south). So it is nice to see some new faces along with the same faces.
My buddy Tim is here visiting also and made me a great sled bag with the Greek flag on it so I brought it into the start house today to do some free advertising for him since he is selling them.
Two more practice slides tomorrow and then race days to follow. It is truly amazing....by looking at the split times, from 51.69 secs to 51.21 secs, there are 10 positions in there.....not even half a sec to blink an eye.
Hopefully the ice is nice tomorrow. Of course, pics to follow.
Tim and my new sled bag, my Polish friends, Keith and Steve of Canada and my Czech friend Martin.

Park City.....Day 1

Boy was getting to Park City a long day!! Up at 03:30am and getting to the Captain's meeting like right on time at 7:00pm....made it to bed by 10:30pm Utah time (2 hours back).
I was glad to see my sled again, I missed her. My buddy Steve, with the CDN team helped transport it down for me. The whole CDN team is great, helping me out and watching video....even though it's funny sometimes watching me he he. By the way Marie, I hear you're reading this sometimes....Steve says hi and sends you a hug.
Well visiting my first punishing track was great....my first slide down I was like "Hah you ain't all that Park City!!"...then slide 2 came along and reminded me how mean Park City could be......back to reality!!
Actually, this track is very beatable and I am looking forward to sliding some more here. The thing with this track is if you slide it well, it is zippidy-doo-dah fast but any error, and it makes you pay......dearly.
My slide times were 6 to 8 seconds faster than my school times and that was just in January of this year.
The weather is like Placid....warm, no snow.....I can get used to this, especially when we are wearing those Peter Pan getaway suits.
It was actually snowing this morning but small, wet snowflakes which of course, turned into rain not long after.
I did forget how high above sea level we are here cause just warming up took my breath away, and speaking of taking my breath away, Utah is beautiful!! The mountains are huge and majestic....we are truly so finite and miniscule in this whole world....makes you stop and wonder.....
Well, tomorrow is another day and I gotta get serious busy and have some clean runs......pics to follow of course.
By the way, wife of mine.....you still take my breath away too!!

Park City, here I come....

Well, I must say, I haven't been so relaxed before a competition of anything, like I am now.....I am so relaxed that I hope I don't fall asleep on my sled.
I am ready for Park City Utah!!
This race, and Calgary right after, are two qualifiers for me, meaning, I have to do them and finish them, in otherwords, come out at the end with the sled. Once these two races are done, or really four races cause there are two races per competition, then I have a straight up shot to go to the Challenge Cup in January to qualify for the Big Show.....okay, now I'm nervous.
Park City is one of the fastest tracks around. If the ice is good and fast, there should be some serious times posted. This is a track where you can hit speeds of up to 140kms. I hope there are a lot of small nations there so I can size up my competition.
My buddy Tim will be there too. We did the school together there last January and he was my sliding partner since we shared a sled. He has started into the skeleton world too now and he will be one to watch out for. He says he has a surprise for me........hmmm, wonder what it is...of course I'll let you know.
I will try to post from there and as usual, the pics will follow when I am back.
In these pics, Tim and I last January getting ready to slide and Tim at the entrance of Utah Olympic Park....5 minutes before I met him...that little speck in the background is me walking up the hill.
As my daughter would say....rock n' roll Daddy!!

New vision.....

That's Brian Macdonald, US skeleton slider, brought my sled to me before take off, and that's the blast off, minus the turbo.....
After having a couple of days to absorb everything that happened over the past week, and also everything that happened behind the scenes the past 8 months, I now have a new vision for this dream......relax, get all the experience I can in upcoming races so I can bring it to the table in January in Germany, and most of all, have fun!!
A lot of people have been telling me to have fun....but I wasn't, I was stressed for reasons beyond my control, which is unlike me cause I leave a lot to fate and destiny, I was anxious, I was nervous, I was irritable and this past week, it all came together.....I had fun, a lot of fun, to the point where sliding now is a part of me....before we were 2 separate entities trying to get to know each other and the unexpected. Now, I can honestly say I am comfortable with the position I've put myself in.
This new attitude comes thanks to everyone I talked to in Lake Placid. I learned so much in one week, basic, simple, logical things, and not all technical stuff....just new ways of seeing things and approaching things. I wish I knew this before the season started but I chalk it up to 'gaining experience'....it is all part of the process and progress.
And now that my whole family got a chance to come out and watch me slide and see what the sport really is all about, rounds off my comfort level....I really wanted them to know and see. Having my family there was just amazing....especially my wife and daughter, I really want to share this experience with them. Although my Mother is proud...she is still waiting to see the day I take up knitting or needlepoint, instead of high adrenaline stuff he he.
I am now really looking forward to my next races...especially Park City....that track hurt me some bad so now I am ready to revisit and conquer.
This new vision, is like life, it is all about how you look at things, what is your perspective, and sometimes, it takes someone, or something, to make you look at things just a little differently...and then you ask yourself....why didn't I think of that??!!

Placid Pics.....

My Irish friends David and Patrick, Blast off, the whole Family (minus my Bro, his wife, and two kids, cause they had to go)

Pics...

Amy (CND)getting ready, Mike (CDN) and David (IRL) warming up,Trng Day, Getting sleds ready, Beautiful Placid....

Race day 2...Day 5....much better.....

So, the 2nd race went a lot better.
The first run was really good but of course, there is always room for improvement...I felt I coulda been at least 1 sec faster cause the conditions were good and the ice was nice, minus a coupla pilot errors and I woulda had a smashing time.
The second race, of course, the ice was different and slower, so now I skidded all through turns 1 to 4, then things went better but in this sport....too late. I didn't stick around to see the official results but I know I finished better than the day before.
Thanks to Brady Canfield again.....I asked him for 5 minutes of his time the night before and he gave me at least an hour...straightening out runners, changing runners, lubing bolts, re-balancing myself on the sled cause it wasn't quite right, and along side his wife Felicia, who also slides and is very good, I learned a lot that night and knew my first run was going to be good.
The long and short of it is, all the races I am doing do not account for anything in way of making it to the Big Show, besides fulfilling the requirement of having raced on 3 different tracks and since I did lake Placid last season, this was a practice race for me. Park City, next week, and Calgary the week after, will count as my other different tracks so that requirement will be fulfilled. The placement, times, etc, don't mean anything really....it all comes down to Koenigssee Germany in January, the Challenge Cup...one race, where you make or break it. Nonetheless, I take it to heart and want to do well everywhere.
This week wasn't the best, and was quite frustrating at times, but I learned a lot from a variety of people.
I met so many people and athletes which is truly the spirit of sport. You would be amazed at some stories I hear about self funded athletes....working 6, that's right, 6 jobs, and having no time to train, paying everything on credit cards and then working your butt off in the summer to pay them off....it is truly amazing the drive that these athletes have...from Poland to Turkey to Greece to Czech to Slovakia to Iraq...it would be nice to see everyones dream come true but unfortunately, some of us will be disappointed BUT, no one will ever be able to take away the experience...that's why it's called "LIVING THE DREAM".
Even though the small nations are competing against each other, we got along fine and talked about our runs together....hey, if you're better than me, you're better than me......straight up!!
The Canadians were great to me, they fed me information, the athletes helped me out with some turns, and they helped me with me sled.
The Americans were also very helpful....I pulled Brian Macdonald from the hallway to ask a question and he gave me his time on the spot. Chris Hedquist told me how to steer 14 and he was bang on.
That is truly the comraderie of sport, especially Olympic sport.
Check out some of the pics that will follow. That's Brady getting me ready for my run.

Frustrating ^%#*^%$^)*^...Day 4 - Race day

I sucked today...in serious fashion!!
Well, I felt great this morning and thought things would be just as great since I woke up in the middle of the night to find out that my watch, which is also my alarm, had died on me so I set my cellphone alarm....someone was watching out for me....can you imagine?? missing the race because you slept in?? Yikes!! My whole family is here, my wife and daughter, my Mom and Dad, my in-laws, and my Bro and his wife are coming tonight for tomorrow's race.
I had my best push today in the first heat, a 5.50, which is better than last year where I was in the 5.70's - 5.80's, so the improvement is there but to be averagely competitive, the push has to be around the 5.25. Anyways, good enough for now. The goal today was to be good on the top portion cause that's where you gather speed, and it has been giving me some problems since I put on the new runners, and the rest I have not been having a problem with. So, the top goes fairly well but coming out of turn 14, where there is a nice long straight, I hit 3 times where I usually don't hit, or hit once at the most....well this sent me late into the next turn, which means I could hit the roof (and the saying is, you have to sign your name while you're up there) so I tried to correct but over did it and caused myself to skid enormously which totally blew my speed and I basically trickled out to the finish.
I was some pissed cause I know I could do this. I realize that this race is not important for my qualifications but being an athlete all my life, I just can't accept that kind of excuse so it burns me silly to underperform. The second heat went better, good transition on top, no hit out of 14 and a nice fast straight away, but almost the same time cause now the ice was like 2 secs slower (it's really not cold here, like plus 12 average for the week).
So, I don't finish last, but second to last @%^%#^%$^($#%^*^$*^%#$^#@!!!!!!!
Of course my family is impressed and that is really why I wanted them here, so they can really appreciate what I am doing and see it live. I am still amazed when I see it myself.....human bullets is what we look like.
Anyways, no bruises to report which means I am doing something right. Tomorrow is another day, even though today is hard to forget. I am changing runners for tomorrow, cause these ones today I am not sure of, so who knows what the day will hold.
Here's a newsflash...my wife informed me that she tried the skeleton simulator in which case she lays on a skeleton sled and they outfit her with sort of like virtual reality glasses, and she gets the full effects of wind, speed, ride, and crowd noise and does actual tracks....like she did Lake Placid and the Koenigssee Germany, the one I will be qualifying on....can you believe that????!!!! She did it before me!! Anyways, now she truly appreciates what the sport is all about and I am proud of her for trying cause it is scary stuff.
My highlight of the day is after my 2nd run at the finish, my wife and her parents, the "T's", were there and of course, my daughter.....I am standing there with my sled, higher on the track, helmet half on my head, dressed in my Batman outfit that all the guys at work like, and seeing my daughter's eyes wide open and her jaw hanging not saying anything......I think she realized now that skeleton is not just about pushing the sled around the local ice rink....she was impressed, but quickly decided that she would rather be at the hotel swimming pool.....I had my glory, if only for a few seconds.

Lake Placid....day 3

So I changed my runners, put on the new ones, set the rock (the bow in the runner), and off I go, thinking, this is gonna be a blast but uh uh, I skidded my butt from turn one to 4 and I mean some serious skidding.....back to the drawing board.
My friend, Brady Canfield, US skeleton slider, came to my assistance by correcting the couple of problems I was having....2nd run, much better and faster.
Race day tomorrow...everybody is faster and the ice is faster....hold on to your socks!!
My first of 2 goals has already been fulfilled, to do a second heat in a race. Since only the top 25 men get a 2nd heat, and there are only 24 male competitiors....well I bagged that one pretty easily eh?!
Now I would like to simply place reasonably amongst the small nation competitors.
See you at the finish line.....

Lake Placid....Day 2

Ahhhh, this day was a day to go down in the "forget me books".
First run was just plain insane and I mean that in a way that strange things happened out of the blue that shouldn't have been happening.
Second run was a little redemption run but still not good enough for me. On the flip side....glad I had these runs today so I can get them out of my system.
While looking at the 24 men sliders, most are CDN and US and JPN...there are only 6 small nations here, Greece, Ireland, Czech, New Zealand, Slovakia, and Iraq which consist of 8 sliders. These are the guys I gotta focus on cause I will be seeing a lot of them in the near future since our goals are the same.
I have some pics but since I can't post them just yet, I will do so when I get back.
Tomorrow....we try brand new runners, the ones I will use in the race....