Twenty four hours ago I was sitting in the bleachers at the Olympic Luge
competition... trying to get warm in the mid-teen temperatures. I was
properly dressed for it with layers, synthetic fabrics and a long
down/gore-tex coat but I had worked up a sweat just climbing up there.
I have a new respect for the Luge competitors. Going down an iced chute on
your back, steering with your toes and trying to see while peering through
your heels ... kind of like driving one of Jacks 'liners. They reached top
speeds through the time trap of 86.2 mph, mid way down the course. There
are fifteen banked turns and the fast time was 44.2 seconds. Fifty
qualifiers made two runs. They re-surface the run after the first fifty
runs and before the final fifteen. For the second runs they reversed the
order so the fast guys went last. We could watch the whole track on the big
screen and the scoreboard was visible and readable for most people at the
venue.
We left home at 6:00 AM, were in the parking lot at 6:30, made it through
security in five minutes from the time we got in line, rode a free shuttle
bus to the top of the hill ... sort of. We had to walk about half a mile
from there to go to where our seats were. I found out why I don't normally
walk very far in my shoe-pacs. We were in our seats well before 8:00 and
the runs started at 8:56. Now we had been told to allow FIVE hours to be
safe. No need ... my daughters left home at seven fifteen and made it
before the start.
The Olympic planners have done a fantastic job of getting people to the
venues in a quick and effortless way. After the competition we were home
from the top of the venue in just over an hour. Sixteen thousand people
moved out as quickly as they wanted to move. It was great! The school kids
in attendance were wearing matching hats or scarves or whatever to identify
them for the teachers. There were over twelve school busses full of kids
... free tickets built into Olympic planning. Everyone was happy. What a
fun time! My friends had the same kind of experience at a hockey game.
There are some problems when park and ride lots fill up with single occupant
cars but if everyone is considerate the next eleven days will be just as fun
as it was for us.
Wes
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