Lake Placid, New York - December 17, 2008
Lake Placid, N.Y., has played host to two winter Olympic games, attracting winter sports enthusiasts from around the world. It's also a place where Olympic-sized dreams come true each and every day, because you don't have to be a professional athlete to take a once in a lifetime ride.
"I've always wanted to go fast on ice," said Craig Douglass, visiting from California.
For $75 visitors to Lake Placid can take a bobsled ride of their own on one of only two Olympic bobsled tracks in the country. Athletes say the Lake Placid track is one of the most difficult in the world.
"This isn't something you can go in the backyard and do on a weekend," said professional bobsled rider Jason Halliburton. "A lot of teams fear coming to this track for the technicality of it."
It's a ride scary enough to make just about anyone second guess their decision. The sled leaves the chute and quickly gains momentum, topping speeds of 50 mph.
And if you think that's fast -- imagine racing. Professional riders like these top speeds of 90 mph in the sled.
"Just about everything starts going through your head at first. You're like, oh my God, I'm going to pass out, but once you get out it's like, it's not that bad," describes Halliburton.
"And then my head started knocking. I thought, I'm so glad I have my helmet on. And then it really got going," described Wendy Wong, visiting from California.
Only professional athletes can ride the full one mile long track. Everyone else starts halfway down. It's a minute of your life you won't regret or soon forget.
"I wasn't going to do this. I said, no, but then I thought, you're only going to be here once and just go for it," said Wong.
For many, it's an Olympic dream come true -- in Lake Placid.
Click here for more information on Olympic bobsledding and on visiting the Lake Placid area. Keagan Harsha - WCAX News
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