Home again but only for a day

I had a final Olympic experience yesterday on the flight home. While checking in at Air Canada ( a breeze BTW at that time of morning) I noticed a couple in my age range with one set of flowers awarded to the athletes after they win a medal. I thought how nice for them but didn't think any further of it. Then when we were boarding the aircraft who sits down beside me but the male of the couple. So I asked him about the flowers and he told me his daughter had won a gold medal for Canada. WOW I said and congratulations. Who was it? He said his daughter is Heather Moyes and she won as part of the 2  women's bobsleigh- that event Canada also won a second medal. He was indeed very pleased and proud and he and his wife were hurrying home to PEI so they could be part of the greeting party at the airport. There was a CBC online report this morning about the greeting at Charlottetown last night around midnight.

Now in our little area of the aircraft were 6 other people who were part of the anti-doping team and I told him he was surrounded by anti-dopers. However luckily for him there is no provision yet for testing the parents of medal winners. Maybe one day if genetic testing ever comes in. We talked a fair bit about the life of an Olympic athlete, how Heather got involved , and a million and one other things. I've become a regular "chatty cathy" - a new aspect for me. An interesting way to fly home and definitly a capper on the whole Olympic experience.

Being at the Olympics has certainly been a fantastic and in many respects a life changing experience. I met many marvelous people, saw  amazing athletes and sights in both Whistler and Vancouver. BTW skiers and snowboarders have to go to Whistler- a beautiful place . My anti-doping colleagues became a part of a new and extended family ( I now have a whole collection of many more Facebook friends) ; we worked hard and long hours and really came together as a team. The people from the US,the UK, Norway, Australia, and Taiwan are now among a new group of friends for me. I have a million stories yet and I'll no doubt be boring friends and family with them ; as well I have a lot more pictures that I'll need to go through and somehow get loaded up somewhere in cyberspace, but that won't happen for a few weeks.

When I arrived home last evening I was greeted at the airport by Denise,who had arrived on a different flight a few minutes earlier , and her son Brandon. Then off to dinner with Geof,Casey, and Jessie who both liked the t-shirts I brought back for them. This afternoon I'm going to Perth to see Lisa,Matt, and Sam and Luke.






I've had one request to keep this blog going but beyond this experience my life just isn't interesting enough to keep inflicting my thoughts on others. Early Wednesday morning I'm going to be up early again and flying to Barbados to be re-united with Deen, who I've missed very much in spite of many many phone calls back and forth. I'm sure there will be some tears when we see each other at the airport .She did surprise by redecorating the bedroom- a great paint job and some other changes.

Life in Barbados has a certain routine that will pretty much summarize our next 2+ weeks there. Up in the morning, go for a pre-breakfast run 4 times a week, breakfast,sunscreen, down to beach to hang with friends there, read,lounge,swim,walk the beach, noon time happy hour, lunch, back to beach, more reading, walking,swimming ,maybe napping,maybe some tennis but my usual partners will all be gone, sundowner drinks,dinner out or a beach BBQ,then back to the room .... start over next day. Interspersed in to this are Ottawa Senators hockey games at Bert's Bar (Deen gets hugged by Bert and high fived by the Sens owner Eugene Melnyk) , catamaran trips, trips in to Bridgetown and other places on the island, Friday evenings at the Oistin fishfry.

There might even be some more karaoke madness but popular opinion will no doubt try to limit that. My brother Peter won't be there to encourage that bit of insanity.
















Well dear readers this is it! Signing off for now - hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

                                                            -30-

Vancouver and going home

OK I found a power outlet down in the food court at Vancouver International Airport  where this post and the previous one are being done. Before I describe the wild  day yesterday I'll skip to this morning. BTW this post was just interrupted by my brother Peter calling from Ottawa on skype - I don't have a microphone on this computer so I could hear him but had to type responses back... weird. They are expecting this to be a very crowded day at the airport so we arrived early - up at 3:45amPST so we could get here well in time for Denise's 7am flight . Mine is at 8:50am so lots of time for me. Long lines for Denise to check in but it was a piece of cake for me. Courtney is returning to Australia via Los Angeles so very long travel days for her.

OK so let's back up a bit. Sunday morning I took a bus from Whistler down the Sea to Sky Highway to Vancouver. The highway is along a very pretty route as the name implies but low cloud took away some of the beauty of the pictures. From Whistler you follow the highway down the mountains to Squamish which is at sea level . Then the highway goes along Howe Sound down to Vancouver. The road is carved out of the side of the mountains so lots of up and down overlooking the water. I hope this picture captures the sense of it.

 

Denise came to meet me at the airport in a rental car and we returned to the rented house in Burnaby to watch the Gold medal hockey game. Very exciting and an appropriate result! Canada Gold! Woohoo! Son Geof texted me at the end of regulation and correctly predicted Sidney Crosby as the eventual winning goal scorer. We skyped Deen in Barbados and got her rendition of the wildness at Bert's Bar. 

 

This hockey victory ,as well as Canada's other Gold medal successes set off a nation wide series of celebrations. Even Toronto ,which has not had a Stanley Cup presentation since 1967, had people out in the streets celebration. Downtown Vancouver of course was the epicentre of the wildness. 

After the game Denise and I went on a tour taking the skytrain to the Vancouver Athletes Village. It was very cool although I like the Whistler village better. I had no trouble getting in to the place even with my Whistler credentials. No athletes wandering around as they were  all at the closing ceremonies across from the village. Nonetheless this is a picture of the Canada residence (my apologies to my non- Canadian readers of this blog but I'm taking all opportunities to brag).

 

Denise and I went in to the lobby of the Canada residence and met a guy working there from Ottawa. I didn't know him but we knew people in common and he ,like me , is a 3 morning a week old timer hockey player. This is the lobby.

We went into the Olympic store there and couldn't resist a bargain - a red hat and tshirt for $10 with the purchase of something else (for me a package of gum) . With the red and white Russia hat Denise picked up for me I now have 3 new hats to add to the collection. Which of my existing hats will have to go????

We then headed downtown to see the Olympic flame before it was turned off. This is a picture of some of the crowd and it was crazy with people all hooting and hollering and having a good time but no signs of alcohol problems (at least while we were there).








Finally we got down to the waterfront for a picture of the flame - very majestic and lots of people.

 

In spite of the controversy about the fencing around the flame this is the closest people have been able to get to any Olympic flame and it was magnificent.

Last picture but not least a picture of the Olympic rings in the harbour. All very stirring.

 

All in all a great experience. This afternoon when I arrive back in Ottawa I'm going to see Geof and the girls for dinner (Jane is sea kayaking off the coast of Mexico with a group of 9 other women) and I'll be very happy to see them. Tuesday is unpack,laundry,repack day then I'm going to Perth to see Lisa, Matt and the boys and also dinner. I'll be very happy to see them as well. 

My next post,which will also be the last one in this series , will either be done this evening if I'm not too tired, or more likely Tuesday morning when I'm a bit fresher. I hope then to give an overall sense of the experience.Wednesday morning I'm up at 3am for my flight to Barbados and my darling Deen and all our Bajan family.

my last full day in Whistler

First off an apology to my many readers for not having a post Sunday morning. I know for many of you it's a first thing to check with your morning coffee "just what wonderful and wacky things did Randy do yesterday". Well wait no more faithful readers this is a bonus day : 2 posts for the price of one. When we got back to the hotel Saturday evening after our day at the bobsleigh 4 man final we grabbed a dinner and some drinks but didn't make it back to my hotel room until midnight. It seems there was a party going on on another floor and jello shots were involved. No further explanation should be required.

This last full day for me was at the 4 man bobsleigh final. There had been two qualifying runs the previous day and now two final runs today with all 4 runs counting in the score. The sleds get up to 150 km/hr and do the 1.5 km track in just over 50 seconds. The Canada 1 team lost a silver medal by .01 seconds. Over the 4 runs totaling 6+ kms  it's hard to fathom the actual difference(inches probably)that this would make.

We were to do 16 tests that day : 2 selected at random from each of the top 5 finishers and 2 randoms from each of three other random  sleds. To do this we needed 16 chaperones to assist in the notification of the athletes .The attached picture shows our crew being briefed prior to heading off to the finish area.

 

Because of the distance between the finish area and our station we need to use vehicles to transport the athletes and their representatives to the station. Luckily there is a large fleet of GM Chevie and Buick SUV's available for use in the Games and we used some of them for this purpose as well as official use in the doping control administration. Here are some of them :

 

Up at the finishing line itself there were many good photo opportunities before the final round - I had to be back in the station for the final round. 

 

 

The top picture shows the Swiss team arriving and the second one shows one of the Canada sleds in the finish area just prior to being weighed .Notice the wooden runners under the sled to protect the blades. Each sled has a maximum weight including the drivers who as I mentioned before are all big very strong guys. One pilot showed me scrapes on his side from the guy jumping into the sled right behind as they take off.

When the results were known and athletes getting identified my roomie Chris who served as chaperone coordinator at this venue was as busy as a one legged man at a butt kicking contest. However he and his team succeeded and got the athletes down to us for processing. Here is our hero in all his smurf suit glory ready to work...

Sunday I'll be catching a bus and going to Vancouver . My plan is to watch the Gold medal hockey game with Denise, Courtney, and Gary (a guy from  Ottawa who rented a house during the games and worked as a chaperone volunteer) as did Denise and Courtney. I'm running low on my battery for my laptop and need to find a plug somewhere to do my next post .

at the sliding centre for 4 man bobsleigh

The 4 man bobsleigh qualifying round took place this afternoon at the Whistler Sliding Centre, a beautiful facility on the side of Blackcomb Mountain. A number of competitors were eliminated as a result of crashes , scary to watch even though they aren't injured. Tomorrow is the final two rounds with the last round determining the winner. Hundreths of seconds become the margins of difference so a slightly bad start or a wrong line on a wall can make all the difference between gold and something else.

 

This look at the scoreboard early in the first round shows these differences.

Standing and waiting for the sleds to come down the track you can hear them approaching long before they arrive. In spite of this they pass very quickly and you have to take a lot of pictures to get the money shot. Hopefully I did get one.

 

There is usually a good crowd for these either in the stands or along the track - tickets can be had a t a reasonable price if you're willing to stand.

 

They also have large screens so you can view what's happening along the track including at the start and finish lines.

 

This picture is Canada 1 pilot Lyndon Rush and one of his teammates. We had two of the Canadians in for doping control,chosen at random, one was very pleasant and the other more subdued and unhappy with his result. 

I also took a picture of the section of track where the unfortunate death of the Georgian luger took place. You can see the higher wall installed and some flowers left as a memorial.

It was an easy testing day with only 4 randoms done. The finals tomorrow promise to be very busy with 16 athletes to be tested - 2 selected at random from the top 5 finishers and 2 each from 3 sleds selected at random. Our station will be a very crowded place and it will be a zoo at the finish area where the athletes get notified of their selection for doping control. As there will be medal presentations that evening some of the medallists may be transferred to our doping control station at the medals plaza so that both things can take place , and no we won't be doing the testing while the athlete is on stage for the medal presentation. It will also mark my last full day at the Olympics. A fantastic voyage that is coming to an end.

For those following my bet with my Norwegian ex-roomie Christain Canada has now taken the lead and I expect to leave Sunday with his $2 in my pocket and a lot of bragging rights. Way to pull it out Canada athletes! Deen meanwhile in Barbados went with some friends to watch the Canada Slovakia hockey game at Bert's Bar. This was a sacrifice for her above and beyond the call of duty for someone who normally goes to bed at 9pm. In this case the game started at 10:30pm Bajan time and she was back in the hotel by about 1am. She then called me thanks to the wonders of Skype to share in the victory. Meanwhile son Geof was texting me throughout the evening letting me know about the speed skating results.

Ski jumping is wilder than ziplining

Maybe you thought my zip lining adventure was crazy enough but today I tried a jump off the Long Hill at Whistler Olympic Park. No helmet or fancy suit or training but I survived it. My jump distance was OK for a beginner . You can see from the picture and it was awesome. Luckily I didn't tell Deen about it beforehand or she would have worried endlessly.

  

We were moderately busy there today with a Cross Country women's 4 by 5km relay in the morning. There are teams of 4 skiers and they each do a 5km lap. Two of the skiers can do freestyle while the two others do the classic style. Very intense and I got some good photos. The first one is the finish area and the second one shows skiers coming into the finish area .

 

I also wandered the site a bit and saw this aboriginal display - a guy carving a totem pole.
 

In the morning there was the Long Hill ski jump portion of Nordic Combined followed by the cross country ski race in the afternoon. The jumps are measured for both distance ( a good one is over 125 metres) and style - the two in combination give the athlete a score . This score is then translated into so many seconds lead to start the cross country race. I forget the formula but it's several seconds head start per point from the ski jump. I met the winner from the USA and he started the race something like 26 seconds behind the first place finisher from the ski jump. A very pleasant young man and I certainly congratulated him on his victory.This next picture shows a long hill ski jumper (not me) but you have to look carefully above the Olympic rings to see him.
 

While I am toughing it out in this winter paradise Deen left a snowy Ottawa early this morning for  hot and sunny Barbados and all our friends there. Some delay for her getting out of Ottawa from the snow and again another snow delay out of Toronto. But she was very happily met by our English friends John and Dorothy at the airport in the afternoon. She had previously arranged for a whole group of them to go to Bert's Bar in the eveningto watch the Women's Ice Hockey Final with Canada prevailing 2-0. I haven't received a real report from her yet on the flight or the game at Bert's as she called this afternoon via the magic of Skype while I was busy with an athlete.

Tomorrow and Saturday I'm at the Whistler Sliding Centre for 4 men's bobsled competition. Two qualifying rounds Friday and then the two final runs on Saturday. Should be exciting.My roomie Chris has been working as the chaperone coordinator at the sliding centre and reported to me last night it was chaos with the two Canadian medal teams.

there is no there there

Today was an off day from the Olympic Village. Did some shopping this morning - failed to get by a few minutes some more red Canada mittens but later on got myself a nice light blue sweat shirt on sale. I'll be wearing vanoc2010 stuff for years to come.

This afternoon,rather than watch the USA men's hockey game, I decided to take the bus to Squamish. It's at sea level at the top of Howe Sound . I arrived there at a WalMart and beside a Home Depot. I discovered it's a bit like arriving in Kanata although with mountains- there's no there there. Ottawa and area residents know what I'm talking about. Just a big spread out town . I inquired about buses to downtown and got directed from pillar to post. As patience in waiting for buses is not one of my strengths( I can be patient about other things..) I gave up and went into the WalMart. Bought some small souvenirs then took a bus back to Creekside, a trip of about 45 minutes each way. This picture is taken showing the view behind the Home Depot. Certainly different than the view in Kanata.

Got back in tie for a short nap then went downstairs for the Canada Russia men's hockey game. WOOHOO! Bring on Alfie and the Swedes. I watched the game with my now ex-roomie Christain from Norway and a blood collection officer from Surrey named Annie.Also with us was my new friend from from Wales named Alan , a UK doping control officer.

Lots of people in the bar. I had been teasing Christain that he was the younger triplet of the Swedish Sedin twins sold by the Sedin parents to a Norwegian couple to raise as their own. Christain now uses a picture of the Sedins as his Facebook profile picture.
Spooky or what?

Alan and I enjoying a drink during the hockey game.

Great win by Canada! Christain and I have a bet, as I have mentioned, for a twoonie for total medals Canada Norway. Great evening tonight for Canada picking up 3 more to close the gap. However there are way too many medals for cross country skiing and ski jumping and not enough for real sports like hockey and curling . Maybe in hockey there should be medals like in the skills competitions: fastest skater,hardest shot, most accurate shot, best stick handler, or may be new hockey events such as hockey team pursuit,individual pursuit,relay and all sorts of other ways to pad out the medal totals.

Christain also got to meet the King and Queen of Norway this afternoon but no pictures allowed. I had asked him to get a pair of the Norwegian men's curling pants from the King for me but alas no luck there. I did get this picture of Christain in front of the Norwegian flag in our lobby.

 

For my younger female readers you should note that Christain is engaged and will be getting married in late June with a honeymoon to follow by touring across the US in a car.

Tomorrow I'm up and out the door in the morning for a day at cross country. I believe it's Nordic Combined , which is ski jumping followed by cross country skiing. I hope I'll have some good pix from that.

Athletes treated "worse than pigs"

Well that was the headline in a local newspaper today with a story repeated in other newspapers across the country. A female German biathlete told a German newspaper that the athletes were treated "worse than pigs going to the slaughterhouse in the post-competition drug checkups."You really get shoved around and force is used . It really ruins your mood".

This must be where they all end up- great pulled pork sandwiches at the restaurant next door.  Apparently later on the head of the German team issued an apology. Now the reality of the situation is that right after competition the medallists (and some others) are required to go to doping control. However before that happens there is a so called "wrangler" whose job it is to get the medal athletes through the mixed zone of press , the flower ceremony, and then off to doping control. Usually after the mixed zone the athlete is notified officially of their selection for doping and they have up to 60 minutes to report while being accompanied by one of our volunteer chaperones. Most of the time they want to get it over with so they proceed to doping control as soon as they can. It can be quite a smozzle with this press,flower ceremony etc process and maybe the athletes do feel like they are being pulled in all directions. The vast majority of the athletes are very gracious and friendly throughout the process , even those who didn't meet their performance expectations but still have to go through the process. Our process is all about the athletes and we always try to be very respectful of them.

Right beside our hotel is a fairly busy train track of trains going north from Vancouver. As I right this a noisy one is now going by. Most of them are freight trains but there are passenger trains as well. One was parked outside the hotel late this morning.
  

I may have mentioned the significant police presence throughout for these games. The officers are from across Canada ( 60 from Ottawa alone ) and are friendly. The intersection of the street of this hotel and Highway 99 is fairly busy and I counted 6 officers there today at noon. One on each corner and 2 others helping to direct traffic. I feel like a kid with a school crossing guard.

 

One of the officers said it can be quite hectic with lots of wild foreign drivers. One of them was hit by a bus the other day. 

Today I spent the afternoon and evening in what turned out to be my last shift at the Whistler Olympic Village. Our command centre called me while I was there to tell me I have Wednesday off . We did some blood screens this afternoon and nothing this evening. Happy to have the day off rather than sitting there not doing anything real. I am including again a picture of the dinner menu for Tuesday evenings dinner . My family will appreciate why when they see the dessert listing.
Deen would be more interested in the pasta entry.

Now we'll see what tomorrow brings........