So here we are.

The place I have been dreading since the day I started skeleton. Altenberg. Also known as Altencrash ... Altenhurt ... Altensmash ... you get the picture. This track was ordered by the East German government to be built in secret in the 1980s. Apparently they had to rip apart corner 11 and 12 and rebuild them because they were so hard no could get down the track safely.

So last night we attended the customary "After Party" after the Winterberg race, at a high quality establishment called The Alpenrausch. As we have quickly learned, ze Germanz, zey don't ... uhhh ... mess around ... and the adage held true here. When we walked into the club, we were given tab cards, and every time you bought a drink your card was punched. At the end of the evening, when you left the bar, you presented your card, and payed your tab and cover charge before you were allowed to leave. If you lost your card, you had to pay 48 euros on exiting. It was all very ... efficient.

My first race on the Europa Cup circuit, and I managed to squeeze onto the podium ... and get myself a fancy trophy.

Skeleton has got to be the only sport in the world that gives awards all the way through sixth place. Some may think that this practice simply encourages mediocrity. I say make room in the trophy case!

When you try out the fancy bidet in the marbled bathroom of your upscale, track-side German hotel, maybe don't make the water so hot.

I never imagined that I would stay at a hotel that overlooks the track I am racing at. But here we are ... Winterberg, Germany. And here is the view from my hotel room, where in the fog and snow and clouds you can make out a bob track in the background.

Winterberg was aptly named. Pretty much the minute we arrived it started snowing. Day 02 of official training we couldn't even get our van up to the top of the track without pulling out the chains.