Earlier this month I took in a portion of the bobsled training that was going on at Whistler, B.C. all of the world’s best sliders were there, trying to figure out the wicked turns while traveling at speeds that would get you or I about a steep ticket if we were caught driving that fast (85-90 mph) down a perfectly smooth and safe highway.
I’ve talked to Bremerton’s Bree Schaaf several times about the sport, but talking about it and seeing it up-close is another thing. This is not like hopping in the tube at Wild Waves Theme Park. Or riding down a hill in your favorite sled or inner-tube.
So when I read that Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report was taking a ride in a bobsled, I thought, ‘Yeah, right.” Well, he did, taking a ride at Lake Placid with an American team on Sunday. He described it like this: “It felt like I was being hit in the head with ice hammers. It was like losing the worst snowball fight of your life.”
But he survived, and my hat goes off to the comedian who is helping sponsor the U.S. Speedskating team in Vancouver.
