Word: biathlons
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...Biathlon also tapped into a lurking element of my Scandinavian pride (I am of Swedish heritage). I remember reading about vastly outnumbered ski-borne Finnish troops' earning the nickname "white death" for repeatedly confounding and outmaneuvering the Russian army during the Second World War. I also remember an account from 1943 of a group of Norwegian commandos who successfully skied overland all the way to Sweden (over 250 miles) after blowing up a Nazi heavy water facility that was a key component in Hitler's attempt to manufacture an atomic bomb. More than a few sports have some type...
...facility at Mt. Van Hoevenburg. The instructor was very patient and professional during the hour that I displayed no detectable ability on skis. Whatever experience I had from my first largely imaginary foray into the sport in the '80s was worse than useless. The specific technique used in biathlon, called "skating," proved immeasurably elusive for me, despite the fact that I was in the hands of a veteran coach in a one-on-one lesson. By the end of the day I had showed only a few fleeting glimpses of competence at this technique, in contrast to my instinctive affinity...
...sleeping bags and fishing poles. It was just no big deal. In Jersey City, where I live now, however, guns are associated exclusively with crime, criminals and mayhem, and the laws of the land reflect that attitude. Last spring I was poised to purchase a newly minted Russian biathlon rifle called the Izhmash Biathlon 7-4. I contacted Caso's Gun-a-Rama in Jersey City and they said it was readily available, and everything was in place to make the order when the proprietor asked "Can I have your permit number, please?" I indicated that I didn't know...
...love the engraving on the receiver stating that it is an IZMASH BIATHLON 7-4 with the "N" and the "S" in the Cyrillic backward-letter style (the funny letters add to the no-nonsense Iron Curtain credibility of the thing and it just makes me crazy). I love the little "accuracy stamp" on the barrel from the Russian Bureau of Weights and Measures, certifying that the barrel has met strict tolerances for accuracy and precision. I love the little paper test target it came with where the (Russian) factory technician shot five shots at 20 degrees centigrade and five...
...here I am, on a real biathlon course, on the right skis, shooting with the right kind of rifle at the right distance. It is a strange sensation to have something imagined for a long time take shape in reality. All the time spent out in the backyard aiming at a target only a few feet away, and all the time "skiing" on pavement without a trace of snow in sight, is now being translated into the real thing...