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The Olympic Luge - Not for the Faint of Heart
"Everything happens so fast...It feels like you're riding on a bar of soap!" Ruben Gonzalez
Luge - The Last bit of Insanity left in the Olympics You’re standing just a couple of feet away from a 20 foot wall of ice. You hear an eerie sound - the rumbling sound of sled against ice that rapidly grows louder and louder as it nears. Suddenly a colorful blur shoots across the ice with a whoosh and disappears down the track. Athletes from all countries streak above you, below you, in front of you. They wear a helmet and a racing suit that is so tight that they look like they’ve been held by the nose and dipped in high-gloss paint. The uniform actually makes them look sinister, like inhuman rockets painting long, glistening streaks in the ice as they flash by. You’re so close you can lean over, look them in the eye, and actually feel the wind they make as they whiz by at speeds approaching 90 miles an hour. As they rocket by you ask yourself – Will he make it? Is this really a race? Maybe they aren’t racing. Maybe they are being sacrificed. You see them for an instant, and their image becomes frozen in your mind’s eye. You watch the racer, murmur something softly to yourself, and swing around to look up the track for the next one. Watching for the next victim. Watching the luge at the track is an unforgettable experience.
Riding the Luge – Not for the Faint of Heart As you’re shooting down the track, the speed and the fear increases dramatically. Before long you’re up to 70-80 MPH. At that speed the world seems to turn into a white blur of ice. It feels like you’re riding on a bar of soap. Everything happens so fast. Sometimes you ride 20 feet high on the curved walls. You pull as many as 6 G’s. It feels like a tape recorder stuck on fast-forward. You zip by trees and crowds and somehow try to stay relaxed. You bump a wall, your teeth chatter and your vision gets blurry. At the end you are exhausted, out of breath, sweating even though it might be 20 below outside.
Ruben at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics
At the Salt Lake City Olympics 84 MPH
Ruben Competing in the Vancouver Winter Olympics
Ruben Competing in the Vancouver Winter Olympics
Adjusting Visor in the Vancouver Winter Olympics Start
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Ruben Gonzalez Salt Lake City Olympics - 84 MPH - click here
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