It’s easy to pick out American skeleton athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace. She races in a hot pink suit.

“I have always loved pink,” she explained at the finish, while also wearing a pink knit hat from her company SnowFire Hats.

“Everyone is always wearing black or blue or purple [suits],” she added. “I think it’s just to match the bruises.”

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In his debut World Cup race last week in Park City, American John Daly finished 14^th. At his second World Cup race in Lake Placid, he took 11^th — 1/100^th behind teammate Zach Lund.

“I guess I should have leaned a little more at the line to pass up Zach,” joked the former NCAA Division III decathlete, who clocked the second and third fastest start times at Lake Placid.

Asked if he found the World Cup tour intimidating, he said yes. “Some of these guys have been on the tour half of my lifetime. You make one mistake, and they’ll eat you up!”

They haven’t taken too many bites yet from the 24-year-old. Along with teammates Eric Bernotas and Lund, Daly’s solid results have helped keep the U.S. in contention to send three skeleton athletes to Vancouver.

But have his results met his expectations?

“I didn’t even think I’d be on the World Cup!” he said laughing. “I don’t have expectations yet, but I‘ll figure it out as the season goes on.”

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With a 2-year-old daughter at home, Pikus-Pace says this winter is her last season competing in skeleton. When asked if her role as Mom has changed her outlook on her sport, she said yes.

“I’m enjoying the moment more instead of being so caught up in my rank and how I’m doing,” she said. “I finished 13^th last week, and it wasn’t the end of the world. I have this little daughter to go home to, and she puts this smile on my face even if I take dead last. It’s not as serious as I thought it was.”

But has motherhood made her think differently about the possible consequences of flying down an icy chute face first at 75 mph? Is she more cautious now?

“I have had those thoughts cross my mind,” she admitted. “I do whatever I can to get them out of my mind because I feel like when I have those doubts and those fears, it actually makes it a lot more dangerous down the track. It’s easier if I have confidence to make it a safe run.”

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After an unseasonably warm week in the Northeast, it rained in Lake Placid yesterday. So how did they run a World Cup skeleton race?

First off, the track at the Lake Placid Olympic Sports Complex is refrigerated and opened in late September. Curtains and a roof over parts of the track protect the ice from direct sun and rain.

“As long as it’s dry, it can be 50 to 60 degrees and ORDA can keep an amazing track, even in those conditions,” said U.S. Skeleton Team Athlete Rebecca Sorensen.

Training times proved this true. On Thursday, a sunny day where temperatures were in the 50s, Germany’s Marion Trott had the fastest time at 55.58. On race day, winner Mellisa Hollingsworth’s best time, 57.31, was almost two seconds slower.

German Frank Rommel, who won both the Thursday training runs and the race, ran a full second slower.

“Humidity affects [the track] more than temperature,” explained Sorensen.

The moisture in the air causes frost to form on the track’s ice surface. And the frost slows down the sleds. To prevent frost build-up, ORDA’s track workers had to spritz the ice with water every five starters.

Some were happier with the conditions than others.

“It was a bit of a shock, you have to change your steering,” said Britain’s Amy Williams, who finished fourth, when asked how much track conditions had changed overnight.

“But I don’t mind it, however it comes!” she added with British cheer.

American Katie Uhlaender, who finished 12^th , was less pleased, calling the race unfair. “All I can do is put it behind me,” she said. “I was hungry in Park City. I’m really hungry now.”

To put Uhlaender’s mood in perspective, read her blog. Between racing in Park City and Lake Placid, she said her final good-byes to her father, former major league outfielder Ted Uhlaender, who passed away February 12, 2009.