I’m not usually a contest-entering kind of guy. I hardly ever buy a lottery ticket, and I’ve never called in to a radio station to be the “eighth caller,” but in late 2010 I read about a contest in Forbes Magazine that I couldn’t help but enter. British Airways announced a contest to all American business owners called “Face to Face.” The premise was if you could go anywhere in the world and have a face to face meeting to help your business where would you go? All you had to do is write a short essay stating where you’d go and how it would help your business. Earlier that year my book, “Roastbeef’s Promise” had won seven book awards, so I entered the contest stating that I would like to go to Switzerland to meet foreign publishers and do some research for my book’s sequel called “Roastbeef Sprinkles.” Hey, if O.J. can look for his wife’s killer on golf courses, I can look for book publishers on the Swiss bobsled runs!

Not long afterward, I was notified that I was one of the lucky winners! In February 2011, British Airways flew me for free to London’s Heathrow Airport, put me up for free at the Stofitel Hotel which adjoins the airport. I spent the day in Central London visiting the Tate Modern Art Gallery and tilting a few pints with crooked-teethed locals. That night British Airways hosted a champagne reception for all the Face to Face winners in a hotel lounge where I met small business owners from all over America. The next morning they had a speakers breakfast featuring the CEO of British Airways, a rosy- cheeked British government official, and England’s rugby coach who had won the 2000 World Cup. After the meeting, all the contest winners scattered across the globe for their Face to Face encounters.

I flew to Zurich, Switzerland and then trained to St. Moritz, the wintertime playground of the European upper crust. St. Moritz had hosted two winter Olympics (1928 & 1948), and I was there to ride their four-man bobsled, because when was I ever going to get the opportunity to ride an Olympic bobsled again? I paid about $250 to ride in between an experienced bobsled driver and brakeman. They gave me a jumpsuit and helmet to wear, and showed me how to duck down and hold on. It didn’t take me long to figure out that this was going to be faster and scarier than I thought. The scariest part of the ride was the horseshoe turn, where thanks to centrifugal force, we were completely propelled sideways and whipped out the other side even faster. The ride was about 45 seconds and we were traveling at speeds of about 135-140 kilometers per hour (which I’ve heard is about 80 mph, but since I didn’t pay attention in elementary school when they were teaching the metric system I’m not exactly sure). Upon completion, they give you a glass of champagne and a certificate. I would have liked the champagne before the ride!