Shooting - Pistol, Rifle, Air Pistol, Air Rifle

In addition to Trap and Skeet, there are four other shooting Olympic events for women: Sport Pistol, Rifle Three Positions, Air Pistol, and Air Rifle.  We met at Winchester Gallery to work our way through these.

Sport pistol, officially known as 25 meter pistol, is an event done one a 25 meter course with a .22 caliber pistol.  All firing must be done with one hand, unsupported.  We didn't have a .22 pistol, so we used a 9 mm, and needed to use both hands to support the recoil.  We also didn't have our target 25 meters away, as this was the first time that some of us had ever fired a pistol.  We all did really well though, hitting our targets most of the time.

In rifle three positions, shots are taken from prone, standing, and kneeling positions.  A .22 caliber rifle is used, over a 50 meter course.  We did have a .22 rifle, but we set our target at 25 meters.  It was a little awkward to get into some of the positions in the range, but we did it.

After using the 9 mm and the .22 rifle, the air pistol and air rifle felt very light.  Both of these events are done on a 10 meter course.  I actually found it harder to aim the air pistol, maybe because I was used to the heavier, more substantial feel of the 9 mm.  Unfortunately, our air rifle wouldn't work, but we got the idea of it.

BMX

There are two types of BMX - racing and freestyle.  BMX racing is a sprint race on a single lap track; BMX freestyle involves jumps and tricks.  In 2008 BMX racing was added to the Olympics for men and women.  We met at Cowtown BMX to give this new sport a try.  No one did any front flips or tail whips or 360s, but we weren't supposed to.  We did ride as fast as we could around the track.

BMX courses typically have a steeply sloped starting gate, and a serpentine dirt track with hills, rollers, and banked turns.  BMX bikes are typically low, with no gears, and you don't sit on the seat while racing.  Cowtown BMX allowed us to use our mountain bikes, but some of the other racers there let us try out their real BMX bikes.  It took us between one and two minutes to complete the lap, and was a great workout.

The ramp was intimidating at first, but we soon became comfortable with it.

M and R going up a hill.

L going into a turn.

L's turn on the rollers.

M got some air with her front wheel.

L has a large lead on J

Big smiles from J

BMX is tons of fun.  Some of us admitted to having missed out all these years, and some of us are definitely planning on going back for more.

Handball

Handball is probably the most obscure sport we will play.  The US has not qualified for Olympic handball since 1996, and only about 300-500 people in the country take handball seriously.  We purchased an official handball from Amazon, and looked up the rules on Wikipedia.  The ball can be passed or run, and while running you must dribble once every 3 steps.  Goals are set up at the end of the field, and you must throw the ball into the goal, and past the goalie.  We basically played basketball, then threw the ball at the goal rather than in a basket.  Its a fun, fast paced sport, and really got our heart rates up.

Archery

Archery has been contested in 14 Olympiads.  Cinnamon Creek Ranch rents bows and has introductory lessons, so we showed up one morning to learn.  The instructors were great, and we were all hitting bullseye's by the end of the lesson.

After the class, the instructors showed us some bows with a quick release, like those used in the Olympics.  We all had a great time, and will definitely be doing archery some more.

Equestrain

There are three equestrian events in the Summer Olympics: dressage, show jumping, and eventing.  We had very little to no horseback riding experience, so completing the equestrian events was a little daunting.  However, the Curragh Equestrian Center developed a class for us that would let us complete the events to the best of our abilities.

First up was dressage, which is sometimes called horse ballet.  The horse performs a set of movements around the arena - going diagonal, in circles, transitioning from a walk to a trot, etc.  The horse does all of this with minimal input from the rider.

The trot was a little faster than J, on Razz,  liked to go.

K, on Teddy, was comfortable with the trot.

Our next event was show jumping, where horses jump a series of rails in an arena.  For our level, the rails were all placed on the ground, where the horses stepped rather than jumped over them.  We did however stand up in the saddle into jumping position as we went over each jump in the course.

L, on April, going over a jump

Eventing is an equestrian triathlon consisting of dressage, show jumping, and a cross country race.  After completing the dressage and show jumping, we went to the cross country course.  This course consisted of hills, ditches, and natural jumps like logs.

J was not any more comfortable on the jumps.  Razz sensed weakness.

M and Lonestar crossing a ditch.

Golf

Golf is back on the Olympic program for 2016, after being absent for over a century.  M's husband B is an avid golfer, so he met us at a driving range to let us use his clubs and teach us some basics.  Its actually pretty hard to hit the little ball, much less hit it acurately.

After hitting some balls on the driving range, we moved to the putting green.  This was a bit easier, especially for those of us with putt-putt experience.

Thanks, B!

Indoor Volleyball

Like basketball, indoor volleyball was invented to be an indoor sport during long New England winters.  Women's volleyball was added to the Olympic venue in 1964.  There are six people per team, and six of us, so we were excited to be able to play as a team for once.  We reserved a gym, and asked some friends who play in a beach volleyball league to compete against us.

Some of us hadn't played volleyball since high school gym class (except for the Beach Volleyball we played earlier).  However we got into the feel of it, and were able to get a few good volleys going.  Unfortunately, this sport yielded our first injury.  L strained her calf muscle.  But she will be back soon!