It's all about the g-force

  • 2007-01-10
  • By Holly Morrison

SCARED YET? Bobsledding isn't for everyone; with speeds reaching up to 100 kilometers an hour, those with a queasy stomach may just want to sit back and watch.

RIGA - With TBT's "Experience the Baltics" winter sports special fast approaching and temperatures above freezing for months, I needed a sport that didn't require, well...winter.

So I pointed my car toward Sigulda (aka the Switzerland of Latvia, located 60 kilometers from Riga) and hit the gas. Among many of Sigulda's tourist attractions is a bobsledding facility; a gift from the Soviet Union in 1986. I'd been fascinated by stories of the Sigulda bobsled and luge track for months. There are only 11 bobsledding runs in the world that allow public use, most charging two to three times as much as this facility and none offering an Olympic team member at the wheel of every sled.

After parking the car and passing through an old Soviet chain fence, I walked about 30 meters before becoming disoriented among the various buildings and pathways. I called Karlis Celms, an American/Latvian tour guide from Insane Tours for further instructions. Then, as per Karlis' precise directions, I continued onward to an area where a bunch of people were "hanging out" on a platform, and made a mental note: encourage readers to use a tour guide to get out here.
Atop the platform, a smiling Karlis was busy straightening helmets and arranging goggles for two Australian clients, Dean and Thora.

There are two types of sleds available. "Soft sleds are slower," Karlis explains moments later. "They peak out at around 65 kilometers per hour, whereas the standard ones reach 100 kilometers per hour." Frankly propelling my body down an icy ramp at any speed, with only a sled and a pair of trousers between me and the ice, sounds insane.
"Can you imagine having a member of an Olympic team take you down a run?" Karlis asks. "How often does anyone get an opportunity like that? And this is how they make the money they need to travel and compete." I feel better considering this as a sort of philanthropic activity run by true professionals.

Several sleds streak down the track in front of me. "They can reach up to four g's," Karlis says excitedly. I cringe. G-force is the measurement of acceleration due to gravity. A rollercoaster ride can pull up to three g's.
Dean and Thora's turn arrives. They slip into their sled and speed off. They seem like a normal couple; excited, but actually quite sane.

Upon their return, I ask them how it was. Thora, smiling the smile of a lottery winner; either that or a woman who's faced death and won, says, "It was bumpier than I thought it would be. My whole body was shaking when it was over." And she's smiling because…? I silently wonder.
"Yeah and it felt like my face was being pulled off!" Dean adds, grinning broadly.
In my opinion I don't believe the g-force pulled, stretched or in any way created the smiles on their faces. Thora and Dean seemed genuinely euphoric.

Bobsledding is an extreme sport and not for everyone. But if you want a story to tell 'smake that an extreme story'sabout how you plummeted down an icy 1,400-meter ramp at 65-100 kilometers an hour, alongside an Olympic team member, this experience is a must.

Insane Tours
bobsledding
www.insanetours.com

Sigulda boblsed Track
www.sigulda.lv