Thursday, March 30, 2006

the bobsled run--march 22, 2006

During the PLANET Student Career Days event last week, one of the planned activities was a service project at the Utah Olympic Park. The conference participants (all 800 of them) spent the day doing snow removal and other odd jobs at the park. In return, the park gave us two rides down the bobsled track as prizes to raffle off to the participants. It was someone's bright idea that 800 people would just fight over two spots, so we would just not use the rides. Not use the rides? Are you kidding me? Those rides cost $200 PER PERSON!

Luckily, someone has the ingenious idea that Michelle and I should go up to the park at the end of the day, participate in the bobsled ride, and then never tell a soul. I figure enough time has passed that I can go ahead and tell all the souls I want.

Just in case you were wondering what it feels like to speed down a track that measures just under a mile and drops an equivalent of a 40-story building in less than a minute, traveling at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour, and experiencing 5 G's of force, let me describe it to you (trust me that this is better with the facial expressions.) For the first 10 seconds you think, “Oh. My. Gosh. I’m on a real bobsled, and HERE WE GO, and this is SO cool, and all my friends will be jealous.” About 25 seconds into it you start thinking, “Um, we’re kind of picking up speed here, and my arms are aching from the constant jiggling, and the feet of the guy behind me are actually forming bruises on my butt, but this is still fun, and all my friends will be jealous.” At 40 seconds you start thinking, “I might die. I literally might die if this crazy ride doesn’t stop. When will it stop? Is that another turn? I’m going to cry. My arms ache and my butt aches, and, yes, yes it IS another turn. Wahhhh!” At 50 seconds you are thinking, “Please, Lord, kill me now. I really can’t take another second. This is seriously the least fun, and one of the most painful things I’ve experienced.” And then, at 53.95 seconds, you arrive at the end and think, “Oh! My! Gosh! I just went down the bobsled run! That was so cool! That was the most fun thing I’ve done this year! All my friends will be jealous!”


Me trying on the safety helmet. My cheeks, apparently, barely fit.

My sled, just as the ride begins.


Michelle and I at the bottom of the track.


The fake sled that people can take pictures in. That's right. You, too, can go to the Olympic Park and take a picture in this bobsled and pretend that you had the same experience that I did.

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