SO! The sled is now on its way down the track.  But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. You want to know what it is like to bobsled then bear with me. Pushing is not that easy....I dare you to go out an give your car a good nudge, you don't have to push it, just put your weight into it.........Did you go?..........Seriously...just go give it a good push.........did you do it?.........I didn't think so.....DO IT NOW!!!!!

Ok.....I'm trusting (but not so much) that you pushed your car. How far did it go? Not very, I'm sure. Why??? Because you didn't take the parking break off!!! Ok, sorry. If you did or didn't try, I'll still tell you how it feels to push a bobsled. Theoretically, steel on ice is a near "frictionless" surface. When I say NEAR, I mean, a ski on a downward slope with the wrong wax. It wants to go, but it just can't without help. It won't go slow, but it needs help to get going.  If you don't know much about snow skiing then I apologize, I am not sure how else to explain it.

Ok, back to bobsledding.......the push.......wow, really, I've spent this much time on the start?  What am I going to do when I have to explain an entire mile of track that differs from location to location?  I won't torture you with all 15+ tracks that we may visit. I am guessing on the number of courses because I don't know what the international federation has decided.  Sometimes we go here, sometimes there, and most of the time THERE!! Darn Germans, they always get their way.

Wait, have we even started to go down the track? Seriously, how many millimeters have we travelled?

If you answered, "15,000mm", you are right. I may be an American, and according to many non-American's we are stupid, ignorant, and naïve; but I am right, it doesn't matter.

Back to bobsledding, once we start to move the sled, all of my focus leaves the surrounding situations. I don't care if people think that I look bad in a speed suit, have a funny voice, or hate guys who are going bald. I have a one job, and one job only and that is to get myself to the bottom of the track as fast as possible, without tipping over. Did I mention that there are three guys sitting behind me, having dedicated their lives to make sure I am fast, and are now hoping that I don't make a mistake and tip over? Well, they're there, and if I think otherwise, I will only hurt somebody.

Now, I am about to take over the sled. Drive it, guide it, point it; whatever you want to say. I trust my pushers to do their job almost as much as they trust me to do my job. So it's time to focus.

As the hundredths of a second pass, I can actually feel the guys behind me jump into the sled, even though I can't see them, I know when it goes well, or goes wrong.  They eventually feel their way into the sled. Every once in a while they make mistakes and I know it. Trust me I know. They all think I don't know, but I know.

Ok, we're all in the sled (I hope, or it would make for a short blog). As we all settle in, and adjust our positions we know one thing. After 50 meters, there is no more moving, no more adjusting. If you made a mistake getting in the sled and your foot hurts. Suck it up for a minute.  Trust me I'm trying to make this ride as short as possible. If one of them feels the ABSOLUTE urge to move, I only ask one simple thing: do it while we are under pressure.  What I mean, is that while we are on a straightaway, or between turns, the sled is vulnerable, and very "slippery". Any forces inside the sled have a huge impact. It's very strange to picture, but the sled can move 3 feet to the side and send it into a skid by a single leg movement. I may be in the front of the sled without a single person touching me, but I will know instantly when somebody moves. Where were we? Oh yes, when say "under pressure", I am talking about the sled being in a curve where there are upwards of 5 G's. A 1300lb. sled pulling 5 G's weighs (hold on, let me get my calculator) 6500lbs. That's 3.25 Tons of sled pushing against the ice. No single movement from a pusher could even manipulate the path of the sled. It's just not physically possible.

Ok, so now we are all in the sled. It's time to for me to take over.