With the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 coming up fast - here is a sort of relevant post about the venue.

The Winter Olympics is not exactly a Gold Medal feast for Australia.  A hot sun and not much snow means we’re only just ahead of the Jamaicans in terms of Winter Olympics reputation.

We scored our first ever medal, a bronze, in 1994.

Our very first Gold Medal came from the short track speed skating in 2002.  And that’s only because everyone else in the race fell over on the last corner, and the winner, Steve Bradbury, was the last man standing and claimed the finish line first.

Check out the footage of this classic moment, and the disbelief on Steve’s face when he’s realised he’s won:

Anyway, my parents visited Vancouver last year, right in the middle of the Winter Olympics 2010 construction zone.  Basically, the entire Winter Olympics 2010 site was full of bulldozers and other construction equipment to make sure the venues were upgraded/constructed in time.

As part of their trip, my parents ventured to the Bobsleigh/Luge track.

You know, this is where people/teams hurtle themselves down an ice track at hundreds of miles per hour.

See below:

But my parents spotted this warning sign at the Bobsleigh/Luge track.

I thought it was fairly obvious not to ride a bike down the ice track, but I have a feeling this sign was put up because of someone’s (bad) previous experience.

Anyway, when you do watch the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010, think of the sign and the silly sod who thought it might have been a good idea to ride down the Bobsleigh/Luge track on a bike!

You can also check out The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics: Vancouver 2010 Edition (Complete Book of the Olympics) if you like snow and sport.