In order to finally catch you all up on recent events this update
will be 3
in one and I will do my best to keep it as brief as possible.
La Plange, France
The next stop on tour and last World Cup Race of the First Half was in La Plange, France. Funny thing about La Plange (Southeastern France) and Winterberg is that they are TEN HOURS away from one another! YAY!!! The plan was for us all to caravan to France, with the coaches driving trucks with the
sleds in them and the athletes would drive the cars. But for some reason we decided to leave before everyone else who had a portable GPS or one built in to their car! However it was a good thing we have our GPS’s right!?....right? Oh yeah I forgot we left them at home, I guess a printout of directions from google.de it is then! Lol
Besides going the wrong way for about thirty minutes then doubling back the ten hour drive went pretty smooth. To pass the time in the car we watched movies on my computer, listened to standup comedy and of course told jokes about one another. Lol Once we were on the right course we actually made pretty good time, arriving at the hotel 9hrs later instead of the expected 10hrs. We got to France around 12:30am, and as we walked into lobby of the hotel we were staying in all we heard from one our team mates who was sitting on a couch was “Man you guys made it here quickly”. We were all like what!? As he looked at us with a confusing look we returned our on puzzling look to him! He then said “Wait! You guys don’t know!?” I replied, Know What!? What are you talking about just spit it out! He said check your pockets! As we were all checking out pockets I said what exactly are we checking our pockets for!? Just as quick as I asked he responded….One of you have the keys to your truck! It’s still in Winterberg, Germany!! The coaches and everyone have trying to get a hold of you! I still thought he was joking until I Saw JQ pull the keys out of his pocket then buried his head into the counter in shame as he apologized! Once I saw the JQ had the keys I kid you not I immediately got dizzy and heard laughing circling my head! It was just like one of those movies where everything is spinning and little kids are laughing at you pointing fingers! It was craziness! The only thing Cory (Driver) said was I’m going to bed you all can figure it out! lol
La Plange, France
The next stop on tour and last World Cup Race of the First Half was in La Plange, France. Funny thing about La Plange (Southeastern France) and Winterberg is that they are TEN HOURS away from one another! YAY!!! The plan was for us all to caravan to France, with the coaches driving trucks with the
sleds in them and the athletes would drive the cars. But for some reason we decided to leave before everyone else who had a portable GPS or one built in to their car! However it was a good thing we have our GPS’s right!?....right? Oh yeah I forgot we left them at home, I guess a printout of directions from google.de it is then! Lol
Besides going the wrong way for about thirty minutes then doubling back the ten hour drive went pretty smooth. To pass the time in the car we watched movies on my computer, listened to standup comedy and of course told jokes about one another. Lol Once we were on the right course we actually made pretty good time, arriving at the hotel 9hrs later instead of the expected 10hrs. We got to France around 12:30am, and as we walked into lobby of the hotel we were staying in all we heard from one our team mates who was sitting on a couch was “Man you guys made it here quickly”. We were all like what!? As he looked at us with a confusing look we returned our on puzzling look to him! He then said “Wait! You guys don’t know!?” I replied, Know What!? What are you talking about just spit it out! He said check your pockets! As we were all checking out pockets I said what exactly are we checking our pockets for!? Just as quick as I asked he responded….One of you have the keys to your truck! It’s still in Winterberg, Germany!! The coaches and everyone have trying to get a hold of you! I still thought he was joking until I Saw JQ pull the keys out of his pocket then buried his head into the counter in shame as he apologized! Once I saw the JQ had the keys I kid you not I immediately got dizzy and heard laughing circling my head! It was just like one of those movies where everything is spinning and little kids are laughing at you pointing fingers! It was craziness! The only thing Cory (Driver) said was I’m going to bed you all can figure it out! lol
JQ spent the next hour running around the hotel talking to
the coaches, trying to figure out how to get the truck over here to France. The
Coaches had called the rental company earlier to see if they could get a set of
keys driven to them while they were at the hotel in Germany but that would have
taken an entire day to make happen. The rental company was not prepared to have
anyone drive the truck up for us either. The biggest problem was that in two
days we would need our 4-man sled for training. The only viable alternative was
for us to drive back to Germany in the morning and get the sled! Initially I
and the other brakemen decided to drive back as a team and get the sled, but
one of us had to stay back and slide 2-man with Cory the next day! I ended up
staying back to slide while JQ and Nic made what was a
total 20hr drive from France to Germany and back again to pick up the sled!!! It
was a lesson that would not soon be forgotten!
Now usually each team has at least four guys helping with
sled work and transportation of the sled but having JQ and Nic being gone for
the next two days made the week seem longer. The other teams did help out of
course but it’s more of an inconvenience for everyone. This situation
also did not help
Cory’s state of mind being that this was another new track for him to learn how
to get down, and get down fast! In training Cory did a pretty good job of making
his way down the track without any major issues a.k.a we did not crash…although
on a turn here and there we were living on the edge! Lol
As we continued to try and improve our results in races the coaches decided to switch out Nic Taylor for Chris Langton. If you are wondering, switching a person on and off of a sled can hurt the timing of the load at times but can also be beneficial as well. Being that Chris was new on the sled, along with the training runs, we got together every night in the garage and practiced dry loading into the sled! We would also just sit in the sled, adjusting our position trying to find the most aerodynamic position possible. You will see pictures of us practicing our dry loads and riding position in the photo gallery on my web page www.jessebeckom3.com . After what had seemed like one of the longest weeks ever Sunday finally rolled around, it was 4-Man race day! We would now see if the changes that were made in the push crew were correct and if our extra time doing dry loads would pay off!
In keeping with the weather conditions the day of the race was pretty cold, somewhere around 0 degrees or lower! Thankfully though it did not snow at all so that was a nice change of pace. After about twenty or so sleds had gone it was our time to go. Being that it was Chris’s first World Cup Race you could tell he was a bit nervous but we did our best to keep him relaxed and as focused as possible. I have to admit he did pretty well for his first time pushing in a 4-man World Cup Race! We stepped on the block and it was one, two, three GO Team! GO! We had a respectable start. We pushed a 4.96 which was .06 off of USA one. (The day before in two man the guys pushed a 5.04 and 5.10.) That push meant we were in the mix at the start, given that some teams with similar starts were in the top ten already! However when we got down to the bottom we were a second off the pace, placing us outside the top twenty sleds and our day was over! It was definitely a really humbling experience; I had not finished outside of the top twenty in back to back races since my first year in the sport! We headed back up to the top of the track, prepared our sled for travel, and then cheered on our team mates. Overall USA 1 finished in 7th, USA 2 in 12th and we finished in 24th. To Cory and Nicks credit they are still new to the World Cup Circuit and are finally racing on tracks that they have never been on; they are both good drivers but competition around the world is pretty stiff!
Christmas Break
After the race in La Plange, France we all returned home to the states for two and a half weeks to enjoy our Christmas/New Year break! I returned to Colorado Springs to continue my training in preparations for the second half of the season and the second round of Push Championships that were to be held in Konigssee, Germany a few days after our arrival. It was good to back around my friends, eating familiar foods, and training in a familiar environment! As usual being back in Colorado Springs allowed me to get in some quality lifting, running, push technique and of course some awesome American cuisine!
Konigssee, Germany Race and Second Half Push Championships (This will be pretty short)
After my Christmas/New Year Break was over it was back on a plane over to Munich, Germany then a two hour drive to Konigssee, Germany. I flew from Colorado Springs to Chicago ORD, then over to Munich; the flight themselves were as about as smooth as possible. In Colorado Springs it was cool to see some of my friends that I worked with at HB&A a summer ago in the airport. They were heading over to the UK via Chicago as well to work on an ADP (Area Development Plan) over there, so we shot the breeze for a bit. Once we hit ORD our gates were at different ends of the airport and were all off to our perspective jobs.
As it so happened my flight was the last one to get in that Sunday January 6 at noon , but my teammates JQ and Adam were waiting at the airport to pick me up and drive to Konigssee. Konigssee, Germany is around the Berchtesgaden area and is one of my favorite stops on tour. When we are there we stay at the Hotel Fischer, which is about a five minute drive from the track. That night after dinner the men’s team had a meeting where the coaches went over the plan for the week and the testing involved. The plan was on Monday the 7th for all of us to go over to the Ice house where the testing would be held so we can all get some practice pushing with the sled. Then, on Wednesday the 8th, the entire team would be doing 2-man combination pushes from your respective side. By the way this was in addition to still having to push in training that week as well. In short the training and technique work I did paid off! Besides the combination of C. Fogt and S. Langton who pushed a 3.73, I and the rest of the guys from USA 1 all pushed 3.78 in our combination! Below are the results. The number next to the athletes name is what number push it was for them (Results Chart Below).
As we continued to try and improve our results in races the coaches decided to switch out Nic Taylor for Chris Langton. If you are wondering, switching a person on and off of a sled can hurt the timing of the load at times but can also be beneficial as well. Being that Chris was new on the sled, along with the training runs, we got together every night in the garage and practiced dry loading into the sled! We would also just sit in the sled, adjusting our position trying to find the most aerodynamic position possible. You will see pictures of us practicing our dry loads and riding position in the photo gallery on my web page www.jessebeckom3.com . After what had seemed like one of the longest weeks ever Sunday finally rolled around, it was 4-Man race day! We would now see if the changes that were made in the push crew were correct and if our extra time doing dry loads would pay off!
In keeping with the weather conditions the day of the race was pretty cold, somewhere around 0 degrees or lower! Thankfully though it did not snow at all so that was a nice change of pace. After about twenty or so sleds had gone it was our time to go. Being that it was Chris’s first World Cup Race you could tell he was a bit nervous but we did our best to keep him relaxed and as focused as possible. I have to admit he did pretty well for his first time pushing in a 4-man World Cup Race! We stepped on the block and it was one, two, three GO Team! GO! We had a respectable start. We pushed a 4.96 which was .06 off of USA one. (The day before in two man the guys pushed a 5.04 and 5.10.) That push meant we were in the mix at the start, given that some teams with similar starts were in the top ten already! However when we got down to the bottom we were a second off the pace, placing us outside the top twenty sleds and our day was over! It was definitely a really humbling experience; I had not finished outside of the top twenty in back to back races since my first year in the sport! We headed back up to the top of the track, prepared our sled for travel, and then cheered on our team mates. Overall USA 1 finished in 7th, USA 2 in 12th and we finished in 24th. To Cory and Nicks credit they are still new to the World Cup Circuit and are finally racing on tracks that they have never been on; they are both good drivers but competition around the world is pretty stiff!
Christmas Break
After the race in La Plange, France we all returned home to the states for two and a half weeks to enjoy our Christmas/New Year break! I returned to Colorado Springs to continue my training in preparations for the second half of the season and the second round of Push Championships that were to be held in Konigssee, Germany a few days after our arrival. It was good to back around my friends, eating familiar foods, and training in a familiar environment! As usual being back in Colorado Springs allowed me to get in some quality lifting, running, push technique and of course some awesome American cuisine!
Konigssee, Germany Race and Second Half Push Championships (This will be pretty short)
After my Christmas/New Year Break was over it was back on a plane over to Munich, Germany then a two hour drive to Konigssee, Germany. I flew from Colorado Springs to Chicago ORD, then over to Munich; the flight themselves were as about as smooth as possible. In Colorado Springs it was cool to see some of my friends that I worked with at HB&A a summer ago in the airport. They were heading over to the UK via Chicago as well to work on an ADP (Area Development Plan) over there, so we shot the breeze for a bit. Once we hit ORD our gates were at different ends of the airport and were all off to our perspective jobs.
As it so happened my flight was the last one to get in that Sunday January 6 at noon , but my teammates JQ and Adam were waiting at the airport to pick me up and drive to Konigssee. Konigssee, Germany is around the Berchtesgaden area and is one of my favorite stops on tour. When we are there we stay at the Hotel Fischer, which is about a five minute drive from the track. That night after dinner the men’s team had a meeting where the coaches went over the plan for the week and the testing involved. The plan was on Monday the 7th for all of us to go over to the Ice house where the testing would be held so we can all get some practice pushing with the sled. Then, on Wednesday the 8th, the entire team would be doing 2-man combination pushes from your respective side. By the way this was in addition to still having to push in training that week as well. In short the training and technique work I did paid off! Besides the combination of C. Fogt and S. Langton who pushed a 3.73, I and the rest of the guys from USA 1 all pushed 3.78 in our combination! Below are the results. The number next to the athletes name is what number push it was for them (Results Chart Below).
| LEFT | BRAKES | RIGHT | Finish |
| Fogt (3) | S. Langton (3) | 3.73 | |
| Tomasevicz (2) | S. Langton (2) | 3.78 | |
| Olsen (2) | Fogt (2) | 3.78 | |
| Tomasevicz (1) | Fogt (1) | 3.78 | |
| Beckom (4) | Robinson (4) | 3.78 | |
| Clark (2) | Robinson (2) | 3.81 | |
| Olsen (1) | S. Langton (1) | 3.83 | |
| Robinson (3) | C. Langton (3) | 3.83 | |
| Beckom (3) | Quinn (2) | 3.84 | |
| Quinn (3) | C. Langton (4) | 3.84 | |
| Olsen (3) | Drbal (3) | 3.85 | |
| Clark (3) | Taylor (2) | 3.85 | |
| Clark (4) | Drbal (4) | 3.86 | |
| Beckom (2) | Drbal (2) | 3.86 | |
| Quinn (1) | C. Langton (1) | 3.87 | |
| Taylor (1) | C. Langton (2) | 3.89 | |
| Clark (1) | Drbal (1) | 3.91 |
After the combination push championships the coaches decided to make a few changes to the sleds, but none of the changes really affected me which is good, and bad because I would have liked a chance to move up of course! Because if I don’t have a hunger to be number one it would be no point of me training so hard or even being here! However I do thank God for giving me the ability and providing me an opportunity to prove that I am a right up there with the other top pushers on Team USA. Going into the race USA 1 for brakemen were Tomasevicz, Langton, and Fogt; USA 2 was Olsen, Robinson, and Drabal; USA 3 was Me, Clark, and Quinn.
Once again we had a new crew with only a few days to prepare for the race, and just as before we spent as much time as possible practicing dry loads and ridding positions. By the day of the race we were ready to roll. In all honesty our start time should have been faster but for whatever reason it was not. It could have been due to the testing that week, but who knows. Regardless our push was the fifteenth fastest and we were fifteen at the bottom. I was just like THANK GOD we get a second heat!!! FINALLY! On the second heat the start was a little faster but a mistake in Krizel (180 degree turn in the track) cost us some time and we dropped back two spots to finish the race in seventeenth. The best thing was that we got the second run, our riding position was the lowest of the American crews and the rest of the field; we were moving in the right direction!! We were finally in a place where we could work from.
Next stop…..Igls, Austria!
Upcoming Race in Igls, Austria
We are currently in Igls, Austria preparing for World Cup Race # 8, the last World Cup Race before we head to St. Moritz, Switzerland for World Championships! Please see the information below for the broadcast schedule.
For those of you watching the World Cup on the YouTube Channel just type
bobskeletv in the YouTube browser and click the first link or go to
http://www.youtube.com/user/bobskeletv
Sunday, Jan. 20
10 a.m. (4 a.m.)- Men’s four-man bobsled race heat #1
11:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m.)-Men’s four-man bobsled race heat #2
Please tune in if you can and thank you for continuing to support me through
this journey!
this journey!
God Bless!!
P.S I’m still working on getting pictures up but the internet connections
over here have been extremely bad this year!
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