The Why Not? Blog

At the tender age of 25 Dave started skateboarding. 14 months later he became the first person to skate the length of Britain. Another 8 months on he had crossed Australia on his board, breaking a world record & raising over £20,000 for three charities. Now, at 27, he's writing his first book, is a motivational speaker and a businessman, and he's only just gotten started on a lifetime of challenges which from the outside look just darn crazy. So, why? You know the answer, don't you. Why not?

Friday, March 17, 2006

London, Swansea, BoardFree and Calf Strain

Weather: Dry, cold, no wind. Lovely.
Miles intending to skate today: 24
Miles skated in the last week: 68
Pasta meals eaten: 0
Bowls of cereal: 2
Bananas: 2

An eventful week in the world of BoardFree is coming to an end. I haven't written for a week for various reasons, and as such haven't had time to talk about Rae and Phil's departure from the support team. Their wedding preparations for the July D Day were gently nudging against the impending reality that 'Bloody hell we have to go to Australia. Will we have time to organise a wedding AND pack?!' In all seriousness I'm gutted that these guys have left. It's for the best, but I'm gutted. Luckily they'll still be rooting for BoardFree from the windy comforts of Swansea and will be the UK based point of contact for the project when the rest of us are away, but they'll be missed. Especially during those inevitable moments when Rae would have been c**pping herself as a suspicious cow in the outback approached the van.

With six days of training under my belt and six weeks left before BFUK begins I must admit I'm feeling some tension. Why? Because time is running out, we haven't sold any t-shirts or bands for a fortnight and I have an ingrowing toenail. The harsh light of day was revealed on Wednesday when British Airways declared that they weren't willing to help with BoardFree, not even with alleviating the costs of excess baggage, of which there will be a fair bit when four eager souls strut into Heathrow mid August laden with carbon fibre longboards and bags of leaflets. I moped for about an hour after the BA email and then wrote to Air France, Singapore Airways and Qantas. Fingers and toes crossed, except the ingrowing one.

On the doormat yesterday a package appeared. It contained a CD which contained a film which contained much joy. Finally, after 4 weeks which seemed like four years, Si had sent through his version of BoardFree's mid Feb trip to London. I tell you what, this video is a cracker. If you have just happened upon this blog and don't have a clue what I'm nattering on about, visit the gallery @ www.boardfree.co.uk and watch the video. I challenge you no to be inspired. Skippy skating amongst the Trafalgar pigeons deserves a good chuckle - just watch the complete disinterest of the bird in the foreground as all shades of havoc erupts. One cool pigeon.

And speaking of pigeons, I've done a week of 12 milers and now it's time to up the daily trek to 24. I sit in a North London flat preparing for a visit to Hyde Park. The Friday pigeons will have something to look at after all. Come on Elsa, let's go....

1 Comments:

  • At 2:45 pm, Blogger Simon Thorpe said…

    I know it took a long time dude but I was distracted by the prospect of Alicia Douvall paying me a visit.

     

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