Where were we?? Oh yes. Once I am done putting my spike protectors under my one and only seat. I continue towards the very front of the sled, inside the "nose" if you want to think of it that way. I pull on the steering ropes to make sure they are straight, not snagged or frayed, and definitely not broken (which happened in the 2003 National Team Trials, another story for another time). I also try to inspect the steering components way up front. I look at each and every piece that makes up the unique Bo-Dyn steering. It's not the inspection you would hope for from your car mechanic, but I have less than 60 seconds at this point to look it all over, and then some. So, I know ahead of time what it all looks like. If I see something wrong, I will have to pull the sled off the ice, and concede.

So, once I see that the ropes and steering are ok, and everything else looks good, I move up to the push bar release. It's a small "button" that I press to open a small bolt that will release the push bar (either open or closed). Keep in mind that everything on these sleds are as simple as can be; yet they are so, so complex. Either way, I give it a nice whack, and lift the bar from the outside of the sled and lock it in to place. Everything inside the sled is ready to go.

You may be asking at this point, Ropes? Yes, the sled is driven by ropes; sort of. Every sled has a right and left rope that is connected the steering column, which is unique to every brand of sled, (yes there are brands, not many, but there are. It varies like Farrari to Yugo.) But there is one thing that is consistent with each brand; I would like to go into detail, but it would just confuse you. So basically, there are two ropes connected to the steering mechanism. The steering mechanism is like Power Steering in a car. That steering is connected to the front axle and when you pull the left rope, the front of the sled goes left, and the right goes right. Very simple, or so you think...

Just to make things clear yet even more complicated, the ropes are connected to what we call "D-rings" basically because of their shape. Look  D (we hold the flat part and the steering ropes are connected to the round part). 

Wow. We are taking forever. I think at this point we might be disqualified because the 60 second countdown has passed. Oh well, let's pretend that we are right on track (no pun intended). But now the sled is now ready to go, and most likely there is around 35 seconds left.  I always check the clock when I finish my pre-race sled check.

When everything meets my standard (or not), I stand up and grab my push bar. I need to make sure it's clean from snow or water, and push down on that sucker pretty hard to make sure it's locked in place. It collapsed on me while I was jumping in the sled at the 2007 World Championship in St. Moritz and nearly broke my thumb. (Again, another story for another time. Lots to look forward to)

Ok, NOW, this time for real, the sled is ready to go. I turn and walk back to the wooden block that is at every bobsled start in the world.  It is what we use to push against in order to get the sled moving. When I get there I make sure my guys are ready. Before I do anything else I check that everybody is done with their own pre-race checks; I would hate to leave one of them behind. That's just not nice.

Anyway, the crowd is starting to get louder, and louder. Usually to the point that you can't hear anything. As great as it sounds, it's actually a bad thing. Don't get me wrong we love it, and we want as much support as possible.  Unfortunately, it's very difficult to synchronize ourselves when we can't hear or communicate. Plus, it doesn't help that we are all wearing helmets.

When the guys are ready, and their spikes are cleaned off, I stick my hand out to get a quick run through the cadence so they can hear it again right before we go through it for real.  It's also a way to bring us together as a team right before we are about to lay the smack down.

Once we are done with that, Curt, the brakeman usually moves the sled back and forth to break it free from the ice. Between the warmth of the runners, and the pressure of a 500lb. sled, it melts the ice and it then refreezes so the sled becomes "sticky". Not a good thing when you are trying to push it. Once it's free, the two side pushers, Steve and Justin, grab a hold of their push bar and it's now time to go.  They wait patiently for me to do my last second checks, which can't be easy, they are usually so amped up they can hardly see straight, so to sit and wait for a second or two must be torture.

I usually, double check that my visor is all the way down, and locked into place. It really sucks when you have visor trouble. Once I am ready, I give the left push bar a good thump to show Curt that I'm ready and he can begin the cadence. Within seconds, I hear him yell out , "Back set", I follow with, "Front set, Ready....." There is a silent GO in there. I run to the bar, Steve and Justin put their 450+ pound squats to work and get the sled moving, Curt does the same. This is where it all begins.