During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, Canada had the motto “own the podium” and the years leading up to the big event, Canada put forth lots of support for its’ athletes and their training in order to achieve that national goal. During the games, USA gave Canada a run for their money and it seemed early on that Canada would fall short of their invested goals. Fortunately for Canada, in the end they had a few clincher performances and indeed owned the podium with USA close behind. Well it’s the season after the Olympics and although it is often said…. It seems Canada and the USA tend to have a North American alliance and support one another, this time Team USA Development Team went to Calgary, Canada to do some business. For most of us on the America’s Cup Circuit from the USA it was the first time on the Calgary track in a few years and last time we were brakeman hanging on for dear life… now we were hanging on to the steering mechanism with bug eyes trying to navigate down from the driver’s seat.
After a 13+ hour drive from Park City, Utah through Idaho, Montana (spent the night in Shelby, Montana) and parts of Alberta to our final destination of Calgary….we finally made it in our 4x4 Silverado AWD Crew cab pickup. We weren’t messing around! Olympic 4man Bobsled Gold Medalist, Steve Mesler (whom formally retired after the 2010 Games) opened his Calgary home to Elana, myself and our brakeman for the week at a very convenient location and price to help defer the cost and discomfort of living in a hotel. Initially the weather in Calgary wasn’t so bad… no snow on the ground, decently clear sky with some sun, and average November temperatures. We arrived midday Sunday with training not beginning until Tuesday so there were a few days to get acclimated from sitting in the car for hours at end, get some good workouts in and unload/prep our sleds.
Heath Spence, an Australian bobsledder and good friend of mine has lived in Calgary for quite a few years and began is driving career on the Calgary track. He was kind enough to take Elana, Jamie and I on our first track walk of the “new” track we were about to learn to navigate. Calgary’s track always has some really great ice; they say it is from the minerals in the water. It is always smooth and firm which allows for easy in transitioning from curves to curves and better feel for the brakeman in the back. Calgary has 14 curves including 1 kriesel (a turn ranging from 280 degrees to a full 360), and lots of straight aways leading into turn combinations and a few double pressure curves. This track takes under a minute each trip and although it is considered fairly easy to navigate it is not so easy to navigate fast as it is a very flat track and not very steep.
Upon walking Tuesday morning, the first day of official training for the race week, there was almost a foot of snow on the ground and the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees. Everything is in the metric system in Canada so for the remainder of the week the high was -17 degrees C which converts to approximately 0 degrees F (and that’s without the wind-chill). To add to this blistering cold weather all of a sudden, our sliding session was held in the evening as well as our race. During training we were padded up to the gills with layers of cold gear spandex, gloves, beanie hats. My brakeman Megan Hill whom I as well raced with even stuffed the hand/foot heat packs in her gloves and spikes during training and the race, haha. On race day I was the third women’s sled off the top of the hill, a good draw number (every race there is a random draw of the competing sleds, after the first run in draw order the second run is in order of last place to first place). Megan and I were ready to go and pumped up despite the extremely cold conditions. We couldn’t complain with the ice sparkling like the Chrysler building and the snow had stopped the day before. We had the support of our teammates and development coaches and after only 6 runs learning the track in 3 days of training I was pretty confident I knew what I needed to do. After my first run I was in the lead until fellow teammates Jamie and Elana finished and Canadian friend Jenny Ciochetti (this is her home track). I was currently in forth position. Teammate Jamie Greubel was in third ahead of me by only .08 seconds. I knew I needed an improved started and better driving on the top portion of the track where speed gains are crucial. After the second run the standings remained with teammates Elana and Jamie in first and third place respectively, Jenny Ciochetti in second and myself in fourth. We were not able to have enough sleds for a full field for full points (eleven sleds from at least 3 nations are required). We had 3 nations but only 9 sleds. We settled for half points and a medal! J Overall I was really happy with Megan and my performance and we have determined across the board of pilots and rookie brakeman that we still have a lot of work to do and the next two weeks we are getting after it! After the race we hurrily packed out crates so they could be loaded on the truck the next morning to be taken to Park City, Utah where we were headed as well to continue training and prep for more racing.
Due to the retirement of 2010 Olympic Bronze Medalist pilot Erin Pac, USA needs to secure points from races on any circuit to keep a third sled in the mix for next season (Right now Germany, Switzerland, Canada and USA are all eligible for 3 sleds on tour compared to other nations only having 2 or even 1). If we do not have a third ranked driver ahead of some other third ranked drivers from other nations we can lose our third sled bid. The USA Bobsled Federation has determined to split the next three World Cup Races amongst the development pilots in order to help secure those points and give World Cup racing experience, especially since the World Cup circuit begins in North America on the tracks we are familiar with. I was given the Park City, UT World Cup race which will be held the week of Dec. 5th. I originally was going to forerun this race with my teammates Elana and Jamie, but due to team changes, Jamie is racing the Calgary World Cup race, I race in Park City and Elana will race in Lake Placid.
This will be my World Cup debut and is a huge honor and opportunity in my piloting career. I am super excited as well as nervous and have begun to put in some serious work over the next two weeks to prepare mentally and physically for this challenge/opportunity. Stay tuned for updates and click the link below for the Calgary America’s Cup race results and article.
Calgary America's Cup Results and Article
After a 13+ hour drive from Park City, Utah through Idaho, Montana (spent the night in Shelby, Montana) and parts of Alberta to our final destination of Calgary….we finally made it in our 4x4 Silverado AWD Crew cab pickup. We weren’t messing around! Olympic 4man Bobsled Gold Medalist, Steve Mesler (whom formally retired after the 2010 Games) opened his Calgary home to Elana, myself and our brakeman for the week at a very convenient location and price to help defer the cost and discomfort of living in a hotel. Initially the weather in Calgary wasn’t so bad… no snow on the ground, decently clear sky with some sun, and average November temperatures. We arrived midday Sunday with training not beginning until Tuesday so there were a few days to get acclimated from sitting in the car for hours at end, get some good workouts in and unload/prep our sleds.
Heath Spence, an Australian bobsledder and good friend of mine has lived in Calgary for quite a few years and began is driving career on the Calgary track. He was kind enough to take Elana, Jamie and I on our first track walk of the “new” track we were about to learn to navigate. Calgary’s track always has some really great ice; they say it is from the minerals in the water. It is always smooth and firm which allows for easy in transitioning from curves to curves and better feel for the brakeman in the back. Calgary has 14 curves including 1 kriesel (a turn ranging from 280 degrees to a full 360), and lots of straight aways leading into turn combinations and a few double pressure curves. This track takes under a minute each trip and although it is considered fairly easy to navigate it is not so easy to navigate fast as it is a very flat track and not very steep.
Upon walking Tuesday morning, the first day of official training for the race week, there was almost a foot of snow on the ground and the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees. Everything is in the metric system in Canada so for the remainder of the week the high was -17 degrees C which converts to approximately 0 degrees F (and that’s without the wind-chill). To add to this blistering cold weather all of a sudden, our sliding session was held in the evening as well as our race. During training we were padded up to the gills with layers of cold gear spandex, gloves, beanie hats. My brakeman Megan Hill whom I as well raced with even stuffed the hand/foot heat packs in her gloves and spikes during training and the race, haha. On race day I was the third women’s sled off the top of the hill, a good draw number (every race there is a random draw of the competing sleds, after the first run in draw order the second run is in order of last place to first place). Megan and I were ready to go and pumped up despite the extremely cold conditions. We couldn’t complain with the ice sparkling like the Chrysler building and the snow had stopped the day before. We had the support of our teammates and development coaches and after only 6 runs learning the track in 3 days of training I was pretty confident I knew what I needed to do. After my first run I was in the lead until fellow teammates Jamie and Elana finished and Canadian friend Jenny Ciochetti (this is her home track). I was currently in forth position. Teammate Jamie Greubel was in third ahead of me by only .08 seconds. I knew I needed an improved started and better driving on the top portion of the track where speed gains are crucial. After the second run the standings remained with teammates Elana and Jamie in first and third place respectively, Jenny Ciochetti in second and myself in fourth. We were not able to have enough sleds for a full field for full points (eleven sleds from at least 3 nations are required). We had 3 nations but only 9 sleds. We settled for half points and a medal! J Overall I was really happy with Megan and my performance and we have determined across the board of pilots and rookie brakeman that we still have a lot of work to do and the next two weeks we are getting after it! After the race we hurrily packed out crates so they could be loaded on the truck the next morning to be taken to Park City, Utah where we were headed as well to continue training and prep for more racing.
Due to the retirement of 2010 Olympic Bronze Medalist pilot Erin Pac, USA needs to secure points from races on any circuit to keep a third sled in the mix for next season (Right now Germany, Switzerland, Canada and USA are all eligible for 3 sleds on tour compared to other nations only having 2 or even 1). If we do not have a third ranked driver ahead of some other third ranked drivers from other nations we can lose our third sled bid. The USA Bobsled Federation has determined to split the next three World Cup Races amongst the development pilots in order to help secure those points and give World Cup racing experience, especially since the World Cup circuit begins in North America on the tracks we are familiar with. I was given the Park City, UT World Cup race which will be held the week of Dec. 5th. I originally was going to forerun this race with my teammates Elana and Jamie, but due to team changes, Jamie is racing the Calgary World Cup race, I race in Park City and Elana will race in Lake Placid.
This will be my World Cup debut and is a huge honor and opportunity in my piloting career. I am super excited as well as nervous and have begun to put in some serious work over the next two weeks to prepare mentally and physically for this challenge/opportunity. Stay tuned for updates and click the link below for the Calgary America’s Cup race results and article.
Calgary America's Cup Results and Article
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