Team Trials Race: Day 1 Lake Placid, NY

US National Team Trials Skeleton Race

For those just checking in, Noelle Pikus-Pace will be competing in the US National Team Trials.  We are in Lake Placid, NY where the race will take place Monday and Tuesday. 

The Race is set for tomorrow morning (Monday Oct. 21) beginning at 6:30 a.m. MST.  Noelle will be 1st off, so don't sleep in!!!.  The race can be viewed here at this link:

http://www.teamusa.org/~/link.aspx?_id=A4C5A275637C4FD3A1BFF642A2F1E6F4&_z=z

The 2nd run should begin about at about 8:00 a.m. MST.

The weather is finally getting a little colder but it does warm up pretty quick.  Hopefully the ice conditions will make for fast ice and fair racing.

Thanks for checking in and we hope you enjoy the race.  Noelle has been sliding well and has been focusing most of her time figuring out the push.  A push time of 5.60 or better for her would be really good the next 2 days in Lake Placid.

Skeleton Olympic Qualification Process

Skeleton Olympic Qualifying Process of Events:

I will quickly describe below how the process goes for naming the Olympic Skeleton Team.  It might get confusing, so click here for a document that shows the number of athletes that qualify for this years World Cup circuit.  (Each number shown is the rank of the athlete from that nation).  This many athletes do not get to compete in the Olympics.

• Compete in US Team Trials
• Compete in a series of World Cup races where points are totaled to qualify for the Olympics.
• The last race, where points are totaled and the Olympic team is named, takes place in Igls, Austria on 1/18/2014.
• Noelles Overall FIBT Rank determines whether or not she makes the team.  If she is the #1 US athlete she automatically qualifies. If she is the #2 US athlete she needs to be ranked higher than the #2 athlete from the 6th nation with a 2nd ranked athlete.
• From the information I have so far these are the athletes that can compete in the Olympics:
• 2 Nations get 3 athletes
• 4 Nations get 2 athletes
• 2-6 Nations get 1 athlete (not sure yet?)

Race Times preview

There is a team meeting tomorrow so I will post race times tomorrow afternoon.

Check back in!

Last Day of Training

It's finally cold! I could Barely see my breath today for the first time!

I'm at the track right now and I'll post a few pictures of Noelle warming up.

Training Days

This week has been focused on testing out runners and sleds.  It has been really warm here and difficult conditions for optimum sliding.  We are excited for the next couple of days of sliding prior to the races on Monday and Tuesday of next week.

I am not sure if this will work but you can try it out the next 2 mornings.  This video is supposed to be live on the track.  You might be able to watch some training runs if your bored from 6:00-8:00 a.m. MST
Training Runs Video????
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/usalugelive

Live Race Feed for Team Trials!!!  This is new this year and should provide some awesome coverage for those not able to attend the races.  Below is the link for the Live Feed to view online.

http://www.teamusa.org/~/link.aspx?_id=A4C5A275637C4FD3A1BFF642A2F1E6F4&_z=z

Lake Placid, NY Races:  Oct. 21 & 22 from 6:00 a.m. to 9 a.m. MST

Park City, UT Races:  Oct. 29 & 30 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Warm Lake Placid

With a high of 65 and a low of about 45 it makes for some rough ice conditions.  Sliding was cancelled today because of that.  The track has been really bumpy due to the warm weather and the rain that puddles up and freezes on the track.  We should be back and going again tomorrow for more training bright and early.

We are still on schedule for the races on Monday and Tuesday.  There will be a way to view them online I will keep you posted as that time nears this weekend.

 This is Noelle at the start before a training run with her new helmet this year.

You can't tell me this isn't an amazing view from the top of the track! 

These are the same trains from last year.  We have some older and wiser conductors this year and they are still having a ball doing there job.  The Peters have been amazing hosts taking care of us and making room for us in there home.   

This view belongs to the Peters.  It is about 100 yards out their back door and is pretty darn amazing.  Cameras never can capture how awesome the colors really are.

Olympic Season: We're on Our Way!!!

Our Olympic journey started off on Wednesday of last week with a direct flight to New York City, for an event with one of our sponsors, Kellogg's.  We saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time (as you will see below).

The following day we had a late start for a scheduled 5 hr drive.  Those plans were foiled by a 1 hr delay with traffic in the city and an accidental detour.  Our navigator fell asleep (don't tell her I said that :)) and we took a freeway that lead us west instead of north.  We ended up in Utica, NY when we should have been only 1/2 hr away from our destination. :( So after a 2 hr drive to nowhere, we discovered our error and made our next 2.5 hr drive safely to our adopted family in Wilmington, NY!

Weather here in Lake Placid, NY has been extremely warm.  Sliding has been cancelled every day so far, with the exception of the bobsled team trials which took place today.

Sliding will resume tomorrow but Noelle will be sliding for the first time this year Monday morning.
Wish her luck and thank you all for your support.

Team trials races will take place next week Monday and Tuesday October 20 and 21.