February 26, 2009
What up Everyone!!!!!
Really quick all of our races can be viewed for FREE at www.universalsports.com under the bobsled and luge link!!!! Or if you get the Universal Sports Channel. As usual I have posted pictures on my web-site www.jessebeckom3.com
I appologize for being behind on my updates but it has been a little busy lately which is a very good thing! Well here is the recap of what has been going on....Come...Travel with me back in time to a long....long...time of three weeks and three WORLD CUPS ago in a Bobsled Far....Far....Far.......Far...............Far.............Far..............I can do this all day...........Far.............Away! lol
Still Further................Away!
The race in whistler got off to an ok start my teammates who race ended up taking 11th in the race. My driver drove really well but the start was next to the slowest start of the day, my driver was able to drive up but that is a long way to drive up from. The four man went a little bit better we finished 10th (which is always good especially when the USOC is seeing all there USA sleds finish in the top ten). It was a good runs and we were able to take a way some good things from the race, we had the fastest speed going into turn one which is a direct result of our start and well executed load, and we had the fifth fastest down time of the heat. This was good because it gave our driver John Napier a little more confidence going into Park City. The big thing was that the coaches were happy and so was our CEO, but in all honestly we just considered it to be a good start because we know we can be better!!!
After the race we do what we usually do and begin packing up the sleds to be shipped to Park City. Now packing the sleds is definitely not one of the more fun things we do in the sport of Bobsled but unfortunately its one of those things that has to be done. Why do you ask is this not fun? Well of course I will tell you don't be coy its ok. Directly after racing in about twenty degree weather and after the sun has fully gone making it around 5 degrees or colder we have brake down the sled in a snow covered parking lot. When we break down the sled we flip the sled upside down in order to take the runners off and put the transports on for shipping. Taking the runners off takes about five minutes or so but when you are tired from racing, your fingers are freezing because your adrenalin rush has run out, and you are starving it seems like it takes forever. Once we take the runners off we wipe of any remaining ice that may be left on the runners, then we place the runners in their perspective runner box.
We then flip the sled down pack it full of bags (we pack the majority of our bags in our crates to avoid overweight fees at the airport) or toolbox, stand, and runners. When the sled (2-man or 4-man) is about half way full (we only fill it half way to avoid making the sled to heavy to push into the crate) we push it half way into the crate then fill the sled up all the way and finishing pushing it fully into the crate. Next we pack up the scabboards, workmates, and any other equipment that we use. From there we usually head back to our hotel and prepare to leave in the morning for our next race.
Two ago weeks when we arrived in Park City the weather was really nice, the temperature was somewhere around twenty-five degrees or so. Yes I know to some that is cold but after you have been in twenty or thirty below like we were in Placid twenty-five degrees now feels like summer!!!! Now if you do not mind I will return back to telling my story....and please no more sighs and doubts about what I consider to be warm weather because if it continues this will be a really long e-mail! lol Oh and as it just popped in my mind on of my teammates Jamie Moriarty came up with a great ideal and way to name our sled!! We call her Elenaor! We took an ideal from the old World War II figher pilots who would place a picture of a model on the side of their Jets! So we did the same thing! IT LOOKS GREAT IF I DO SAY SO!!! I put pictures up on my web site.
In Park City, Utah one 2-man race and two 4-man races were scheduled. The extra 4-Man race was a make up race for the 4-man race that was canceled due to excessive amounts of snow in Cesana, Italy earlier this season. On Thursday February 12, my Teammate Corey raced the two-man race with John and and the start times were not where they wanted them to be and my team ended up in 20th place at the end of the race. But our spirits were still high because we know as a team we push better and have better results in 4-man. We were really geeked up (Extremely Exited and Pumped up) for the race and ready to got at the start! Our first push was a top 8 push which was ok but once again at the bottom we were not personally pleased and new that we have more speed in us. We talked about going faster and harder, quicker for the next heat. In hind sight it kind of reminds me of that saying "The best laid plans of mice and men" because our second push was respectively slower than our first push. This happened because at the start right as we were calling our cadence tons of people were still screaming and shouting for us, and we could not hear the final cadence that John was calling. This called the timing to be off between all of us when we went to hit (The initial movement when we all begin to run at the same time) the sled. Now don't get me wrong it is great when people cheer for us, but its kind of like 4th and 1 in a football game when the home team quarter back is trying to call the play. And the crowd is screaming really loud until the quarterback steps up behind center and then crowds knows to quiet down when the play calling starts. In bobsled its the same thing we love for everyone to be screaming at the top of their lungs while we are standing at the start but once we get set and begin our cadence we prefer if the crowd quiets down a little and then begin screaming again once we start running. Well needless to say we were not happy with our final result of 13th especially when we finished three spots higher the previous week.
That night we went over what had occurred and decided if a situation like that goes again that John would either scream louder or we would go off hand gestures to make sure we all hit the sled at the same time. It was not my best night sleep before a race but it did have me more motivated for the next day's race.
During the second 4-man race it was snowing pretty good during the race and before every competitive sled they were sweeping down the start. They do this because the snow accumulates in the start lines which causes for slower push times and could possibly cause the sled to pop out of the groves during the start. When our teammates from USA 1 were on the line the snow was beginning to slow a bit then it picked back up again after they went. Then in a act of Divine Intervention kind of like when God opened up the Red Sea for moses, God pushed away the snow clouds for us right as we got to the line!!! I am serious the snow had stopped and the sun began to shine!! All I was thinking was YES!!!! Thank you God this is what we needed especially all of the sled that usually finish in the top five or so had already gone down the hill, and we would know exactly where we stood when we got to the bottom of the hill! The start was good it was in the top 5 of all the pushes and John drove like a champ!!! and we got to the bottom we saw a 3 pop up on the down clock.....meaning that we were in Bronze Medal position after the first heat WE WENT CRAZY SCREAMING BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE MEDAL HUNT!! The video is pretty funny the Men's Head Coach Brian Shimer was going crazy at the top it was great! This is where we knew we could be at in every race and it was a great spot to be in. Once again at the bottom we all talked about pushing harder and faster just like we do after each first run, and this time we would not fall off like before...WE WERE DETERMINED TO GET THIS RIGHT! It had been too long since I had been in this position and for some of my team mates it was their first time in it. I WAS CHOMPIN AT THE BIT FOR THIS MEDAL!!!
Now, in World Cup Races their is about a thirty minute break between the last sled of the first heat and the first sled in the second heat. The second heat starts in reverse order so the the sled in last place goes first and so on. While we are waiting to take our second run we hurry and put our warm-up clothes on, flip the sled and grab equally distributed pieces of sandpaper from the FIBT (Federatin Internationale Bobsled and Tobogganing) Jury members for our runners. We do this because during the first heat the runners on our bobsled get scratches in them, sometimes they are worse than others but any scratch can cause the second run to be slower which is why we sand in between heats. After we are done sanding we wipe each runner down with acetone wipes to remove any residue that may be on the runner. Once that is complete we begin a second warm up in preparation for final run! This is a great feeling by the way because USA 1 is in 1st position and then, Latvia is in second and we are in third. So it is just our three sleds left alone the top of the hill, we are all sitting in medal position we just have to hold on to our spots. We get to the start and we are really geeked up....we all hit the sled at the same time and we are off!! Once again we have a good push and the ride is going pretty smooth. Then we hit the curve three and the sled just taps the wall! Not good! On this track an early bump will kill your speed at the bottom. So we get down to the bottom and as we are coming up the breaking stretch I am looking for that number 1 to pop up meaning that we are in 1st position until the next two sleds come down, it also means that we hold on to Bronze Medal position........And what do I see...I see the number 2! Yeah not what I wanted to see! We were now 7 hundredths of a second (.07) out of third place and sitting in fifth. It was one of those Bittersweet moments because we were so close to that Bronze but 5th was also the best result for my driver in his life!!! We were happy but still not completely satisfied...I know some of you all are probably thinking that we should be happy....But come on people this is SPORTS if you are not hungry for the number 1 Spot and every essence of your soul does not want it then this is not the place for you. I am greatly humbled for what the Lord allowed us to do in Park City, I also believe God has given us the ability to be number 1 and I personally want to see that come to fruition!
Needless to say we are excited to be going into 4-man at Lake Placid we are looking to put up some good times and we are looking to WIN!
On two other notes I was squatting the other day and it dawned on me that this would be my last back squat for a good 8wks because I will have my surgery on March 2nd so please say a prayer for me that it goes well and I recover quicker than expected. Also my father called me the other day and the police have caught the guy accused of murdering my cousin. Thank you all for your support in all that I have done even when it has not been anything sport related!
God Bless and Thank you all
.
Jesse Beckom III
www.jessebeckom3.com
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