Oberhof Selection 2009/2010
After a summer of training and learning and refining technique, and following initial selections in Bath, it was time to head to Oberhof for final selections. The first surprise on arrival at the airport was that Jo, having learned from her costly overpacking for Cesana and following lessons and guidance from her newly appointed packing coach, turned up with a bag that weighed 15kg, astounding everyone! Everyone in fact passed the packing test even if Nic did have to sneakily shift some items into Jo M’s bag.
The flight was fairly uneventful until landing where we reckon if the pilot was on commission for on time landings, he must have been cutting it fine and decided to get the plane on the ground a.s.a.p., even if it did mean putting in a couple of bounces and a handbrake turn as he almost skidded past the turning to the gate. Jo M was rudely awakened having been asleep while Michelle cowered in the corner until we came to a stop. The effect on Fiona however was slightly different as the unorthodox landing spurred her into action with a massive adrenaline rush – she wanted to get on the push track right away!
Once safely off the plane it was over to Fiona to kickstart the German lessons for the week by teaching us what will surely be an indispensable word on our travels through Germany – Sonnesprosse – or for the uninitiated, freckles. Feeling much more confident in our ability to converse with the locals we headed to the cars to make the journey to Oberhof.
We passed a quiet first half of the journey with most people dropping off to sleep having recovered from the bumpy landing while the drivers battled through the pouring rain but after a food stop one car at least came to life with a few games to pass the time. We started with Animal, Vegetable, Mineral and, after a review of the rules mid-game when it became apparent that certain points had been overlooked, the game progressed smoothly. That is until we were left with the confusion of a mammal that lives in the sea, kind of has legs and doesn’t breathe air – obviously an octopus – thanks Nikki!
Deciding to swiftly move on we progressed to naming as many animals as we could beginning with a set letter of the alphabet. We had gone through G and S with few problems and then we got to L. Having just about exhausted the possibilities, Gill’s long haired guinea pig was disallowed so she substituted a lovebird leaving Kelly to go next. Lapdog did not pass muster for some reason and we moved on through the dog breeds with labrador and lurcher. Having contributed to the explanation of what a lurcher was by saying she knew what they looked like because Dave had one, Jackie seemed to experience sudden memory loss. On her next go – about 20 seconds after her description of a lurcher ended she enquired “Has anyone said lurcher?” There was a stunned silence – before we started laughing. Jackie wasn’t done yet however. When Kelly asked who Dave was who owned he lurcher she replied that it was her coach. “Isn’t he called Dan” asked Kelly. Turns out the coach is called Dan and Dave is the name of he dog!
Given we are in Germany we have been very impressed by the standard of the food. After a season of pork schnitzel day after day it’s a refreshing change to have a choice of food. Schnitzel is still on the menu but now we can choose to eat it or not!
Tuesday was an opportunity for everyone to get used to the ice and pushing on a track we haven’t been to this year, especially for the new girls to familiarise themselves with pushing on ice before heading into selection for real. We woke up to find ourselves enveloped in an eerie mist, so thick that you couldn’t see buildings until you were a few metres away. Given the miserable weather Michelle and Gill had prepared a vegetable soup to warm everyone up when they got back from the track, Jackie having secured a massive pot from the hotel kitchen with the use of some charades. A slight overdose of pasta turned it into more of a vegetable stew but the desired effect was undiminished.
It was potent stuff as Gill demonstrated by providing an unexpected musical interlude in the evening meeting. While some men may have been put off by such an unladylike display, Mark had no such prejudices as he chose Wednesday morning at breakfast to practise one of his two German phrases on Gill. The effect was slightly lost as he had to translate to the English “Do you fancy me?” Gill, in her very best German replied in the negative! For the record Mark’s only other phrase in German is “Is there a wheelchair ramp?”
Breakfast over we headed to the push track for the first day of selection with DJ Manning in charge of the decks in the silver car getting everyone psyched up with her inspirational tunes. Selection was a close affair with only three hundredths of a second separating 2nd place from 4th. Following this first day of selection the GB1 team was announced with Gill and Fiona named as Nic’s brakewomen for the coming season.
Hard work for the day over we relaxed over after dinner with some very childish games – Becky teaching us the clapping game, Double Double This That, with mixed success followed by a game of donkey with a ball from the table decoration and then an improvised game of basketball using the same ball and Jo’s hairband as a basket. We hope we’re still allowed in the hotel next year!
Onto Thursday and Fiona provided some hilarity over breakfast by enhancing her baps with bread baps or rolls or buns depending on your preference – she definitely got to at least a B cup!
Back at the track it was time for a practice at combination pushes giving Nikki and Becky their first experience of pushing with Paula ahead of final selections on Friday. Fiona did some combinations with Nic running a few steps under the watchful eye of Sarah.
After a hot drink to warm up, Fiona took Jo and Gill on a guided tour of the animal heads on the wall of part of the hotel restaurant, from the wild boar to stoat, buzzard, jay and scary looking pole cat that Jo reckons looks like Gill in race mode.
Finally the fog lifted and those who have never been to Oberhof before could see that it is indeed a really pretty place – we weren’t just making things up!
Thursday ended with a ‘friendly’ bowling competition with Team Weasel narrowly defeating Team Speedyballs in a closely fought game. Team Speedyballs were slightly hampered by two team members trying to multi task and missing rounds leaving the other team members to substitute to mixed effect. Sean, missing the first 5 or 6 frames was replaced by Sean 1 a.k.a. Kelly. Sean 2 (or the real Sean) took a few frames to warm up and there were calls for Sean 1 to return. Becky took a shot for the absent Gill but when the ball landed in the next alley she was quickly replaced! Jo M and Fiona were queens of the alley with Jo taking the first game with a score of 133 before Fiona wiped the floor with everybody in the second game with a massive score of 161. Serious bowling aside we then tried our hand at left handed and two handed ‘granny style’ bowling.
After one last session at the push track on Friday morning to finalise selection for the GB2 team it was time to go home and carry on the work and preparation for season 2009 / 2010 – good luck everyone!
The flight was fairly uneventful until landing where we reckon if the pilot was on commission for on time landings, he must have been cutting it fine and decided to get the plane on the ground a.s.a.p., even if it did mean putting in a couple of bounces and a handbrake turn as he almost skidded past the turning to the gate. Jo M was rudely awakened having been asleep while Michelle cowered in the corner until we came to a stop. The effect on Fiona however was slightly different as the unorthodox landing spurred her into action with a massive adrenaline rush – she wanted to get on the push track right away!
Once safely off the plane it was over to Fiona to kickstart the German lessons for the week by teaching us what will surely be an indispensable word on our travels through Germany – Sonnesprosse – or for the uninitiated, freckles. Feeling much more confident in our ability to converse with the locals we headed to the cars to make the journey to Oberhof.
We passed a quiet first half of the journey with most people dropping off to sleep having recovered from the bumpy landing while the drivers battled through the pouring rain but after a food stop one car at least came to life with a few games to pass the time. We started with Animal, Vegetable, Mineral and, after a review of the rules mid-game when it became apparent that certain points had been overlooked, the game progressed smoothly. That is until we were left with the confusion of a mammal that lives in the sea, kind of has legs and doesn’t breathe air – obviously an octopus – thanks Nikki!
Deciding to swiftly move on we progressed to naming as many animals as we could beginning with a set letter of the alphabet. We had gone through G and S with few problems and then we got to L. Having just about exhausted the possibilities, Gill’s long haired guinea pig was disallowed so she substituted a lovebird leaving Kelly to go next. Lapdog did not pass muster for some reason and we moved on through the dog breeds with labrador and lurcher. Having contributed to the explanation of what a lurcher was by saying she knew what they looked like because Dave had one, Jackie seemed to experience sudden memory loss. On her next go – about 20 seconds after her description of a lurcher ended she enquired “Has anyone said lurcher?” There was a stunned silence – before we started laughing. Jackie wasn’t done yet however. When Kelly asked who Dave was who owned he lurcher she replied that it was her coach. “Isn’t he called Dan” asked Kelly. Turns out the coach is called Dan and Dave is the name of he dog!
Given we are in Germany we have been very impressed by the standard of the food. After a season of pork schnitzel day after day it’s a refreshing change to have a choice of food. Schnitzel is still on the menu but now we can choose to eat it or not!
Tuesday was an opportunity for everyone to get used to the ice and pushing on a track we haven’t been to this year, especially for the new girls to familiarise themselves with pushing on ice before heading into selection for real. We woke up to find ourselves enveloped in an eerie mist, so thick that you couldn’t see buildings until you were a few metres away. Given the miserable weather Michelle and Gill had prepared a vegetable soup to warm everyone up when they got back from the track, Jackie having secured a massive pot from the hotel kitchen with the use of some charades. A slight overdose of pasta turned it into more of a vegetable stew but the desired effect was undiminished.
It was potent stuff as Gill demonstrated by providing an unexpected musical interlude in the evening meeting. While some men may have been put off by such an unladylike display, Mark had no such prejudices as he chose Wednesday morning at breakfast to practise one of his two German phrases on Gill. The effect was slightly lost as he had to translate to the English “Do you fancy me?” Gill, in her very best German replied in the negative! For the record Mark’s only other phrase in German is “Is there a wheelchair ramp?”
Breakfast over we headed to the push track for the first day of selection with DJ Manning in charge of the decks in the silver car getting everyone psyched up with her inspirational tunes. Selection was a close affair with only three hundredths of a second separating 2nd place from 4th. Following this first day of selection the GB1 team was announced with Gill and Fiona named as Nic’s brakewomen for the coming season.
Hard work for the day over we relaxed over after dinner with some very childish games – Becky teaching us the clapping game, Double Double This That, with mixed success followed by a game of donkey with a ball from the table decoration and then an improvised game of basketball using the same ball and Jo’s hairband as a basket. We hope we’re still allowed in the hotel next year!
Onto Thursday and Fiona provided some hilarity over breakfast by enhancing her baps with bread baps or rolls or buns depending on your preference – she definitely got to at least a B cup!
Back at the track it was time for a practice at combination pushes giving Nikki and Becky their first experience of pushing with Paula ahead of final selections on Friday. Fiona did some combinations with Nic running a few steps under the watchful eye of Sarah.
After a hot drink to warm up, Fiona took Jo and Gill on a guided tour of the animal heads on the wall of part of the hotel restaurant, from the wild boar to stoat, buzzard, jay and scary looking pole cat that Jo reckons looks like Gill in race mode.
Finally the fog lifted and those who have never been to Oberhof before could see that it is indeed a really pretty place – we weren’t just making things up!
Thursday ended with a ‘friendly’ bowling competition with Team Weasel narrowly defeating Team Speedyballs in a closely fought game. Team Speedyballs were slightly hampered by two team members trying to multi task and missing rounds leaving the other team members to substitute to mixed effect. Sean, missing the first 5 or 6 frames was replaced by Sean 1 a.k.a. Kelly. Sean 2 (or the real Sean) took a few frames to warm up and there were calls for Sean 1 to return. Becky took a shot for the absent Gill but when the ball landed in the next alley she was quickly replaced! Jo M and Fiona were queens of the alley with Jo taking the first game with a score of 133 before Fiona wiped the floor with everybody in the second game with a massive score of 161. Serious bowling aside we then tried our hand at left handed and two handed ‘granny style’ bowling.
After one last session at the push track on Friday morning to finalise selection for the GB2 team it was time to go home and carry on the work and preparation for season 2009 / 2010 – good luck everyone!
