Vancouver 2010 - 500m Speed Skating

We are looking forward to speed skating today, but the highlight of the event is the signature building of the games, the Richmond Olympic Oval. This is one of the few entirely new venues for the Olympics and it is by far the most architecturally significant. The Oval sits on the banks of the Fraser River in Richmond, a Southern suburb of Vancouver and home to Vancouver International Airport, YVR. The low-slung building features one of the longest clear spans in North America, the "Wood Wave" roof constructed of one million board feet of native wood from trees downed by pine beetles.

This is the Men's 500m Long Track Speed Skating Finals. It is a short distance race on a long distance track, 1.25 laps on an oval measuring 400m. Competitors skate in pairs from two lanes, and cross-over mid-race. The distance skating from the inner and outer lane is the same, but the advantage is not. This is a sprint with speed building through the race. The skater in the inside lane for the final turn has the advantage. To correct for this, each competitor skates twice, once from each lane. The times from each race are combined to determine the final standings. 39 skaters will race twice in pairs, so we will see 40 races, with a pause after each ten races to resurface the ice. This is an exciting sport. It lacks the crowded ice and spectacular crashes of short track speed skating, but long track skaters reach speeds of 60km per hour. It is the fastest human-powered sport.

We lined up on the dyke overlooking the river as we waited for the doors to open two hours ahead of race time. This building has been designed as a multi-purpose community venue post-games, and much of the infrastructure for the Olympics is temporary. We entered through tents and walked under scaffolding on the way to lunch at the concession stands. Decent standard hot dog, bun steamed soft, and pretty good chili, more Stagg than Nalley. The house was full, the crowds favoring Canada, Finland, and the Netherlands. We had great seats in Row 17 above turn four and the staring line. The starter sounded like a drunken Quebeccer with a speech impediment, like former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien after a moderate stroke. As each race was about to begin, he would call the athletes to the starting line, "Go to the start." The skaters glided forward, the tip of the front skate just on the line, the back skate biting into the ice for maximum leverage. The starter called, "Ready..." and the skaters lowered into a crouch. As the starting gun popped, the racers exploded from the line, accelerating down the straightaway with powerful alternating thrusts. Just incredible!!!

The first ten races went off without a hitch, but at the first intermission, the ice resurfacers failed for the second day in a row. We were delayed for more than an hour as they tried to address the problem. Zamboni is the eponymous brand in ice resurfacing, but this Olympic ice was trusted to Olympia resurfacers. Not good, but we were not without entertainment.

Brass band Kleintje Pils tours with the racers on the World Cup entertaining speed skating crowds all over Europe. They made the trip to the Olympics and kept us warm singing along to the classics. When the ice settled and the racing concluded, just 22 hundredths of a second separated gold medal winner Mo Tae-Bum of Korea from the Japanese skaters that took silver and bronze. The winning time was a combined 69.82 seconds over two 500m races.

After our speed skating marathon, we stopped at Rob Feenie's Cactus Club Cafe for dinner. Rob Feenie WAS the celebrity chef extraordinaire of Vancouver. Lumiere was among the very best fine dining destinations in Canada. The casual Feenies next door delivered the same quality food in less-fussy preparations, featuring an outstanding smoked cheese dog, Feenies Weanie, and a killer duck shepherd's pie. The chef was the Emeril of the Canadian Food Network. Then he lost it all. Investors forced him out of his restaurants and brought in international uber-chef and restaurateur, Daniel Boulud. More about that in a later post. Adrift, a chef without a kitchen, Rob Feenie landed at Cactus Club Cafe, a Canadian chain of mid-range steak and cosmo houses with an ethnic twist, as executive chef. I love Rob Feenie's food and this was my first experience with his new gig. This location in suburban Vancouver near the border is very slick with dark wood, slate, and glass. It is the answer to the question, "Where do you go when you're too old to hang out at the frat house anymore?" The menu is fine, but not particularly inspired. The chef's specialties are noted with an "RF." There is a tuna tataki and a beef carpaccio. We started with a very pedestrian smoked cheddar chicken and spinach dip followed by very good short rib sandwiches, luscious shards of fatty juicy short rib and caramelized onions on sourdough toasted with emmental cheese, beef jus on the side for dipping. Dinner was satisfying, but oh how the mighty have fallen.

When we are not at the games, we are watching them live on Canadian television. CTV is available at Semiahmoo and it's a welcome change from the tape delays and rampant American nationalism of NBC's much-maligned coverage.

Next Event: Men's Super-Combined Downhill

TG