Day 7: That was William Shatner! Now, where is William Shatner from?
Bizarre morning. It was like being in Phoenix Nights. Dim and Holly drove out of town to fill up with petrol while I did some web stuff. I was sat in the Holiday Village lounge, and right in front of me was this girl talking into a microphone rallying up a group of kids to do some dancing or something. The music was 80’s throwback, and boy was the dancing bad.
On the road by eleven. The cooked breakfast isn’t sitting well and the first hour is uphill. Then half an hour of heavy carving downhill. Exhausting but exhilarating. We stop for an early afternoon drink in a pub in Weem, south west of Pitlochry. Some people having dinner on the next table recognise me from the paper and we get chatting. As we leave they hand us some donations and take some photos, one of them is a caricaturist and is going to email me a cartoon of Holly, Dim and myself. Brilliant. Start the 2nd half of the day in good spirits. A car overtakes us and the occupants wave. Five minutes later they drive back in the other direction with ten pounds hanging out of the window. “Have a good journey” they say smiling. Shake hands, and drive away.
In the middle of the Scottish countryside we’re taking a break in a lay-by when 7 Lotus cars drive by. “That’s William Shatner!” screams Holly, red faced and pointing wildly at the final car. We spend the next five minutes wondering why William Shatner would be driving a Lotus in Scotland. “Where is William Shatner from?” I ask, and then we practice different accents, saying “Hi, my name is William Shatner.” He’s definitely not Indian.
Later, with 8 miles to go until the night’s destination, Crieff, I speed around a tight bend and head down a long straight, hills to the right, river to the left. In a lay-by 300 metres down the road a family is peering at me from the side of a motorhome. Scrape to a stop next to them and they thrust tea and sandwiches and cakes and a bottle of wine our way. They heard about BFUK on the radio show yesterday morning. Amazing people, massive boost for the final stretch of the day.
The last 8 miles were AWESOME! Flat, no wind, then a downhill stretch into Crieff. Flying! We roll into town, four kids approach the van. “What’s going on here then?” they ask, and we chat for a few minutes. Down the road we park up, ask for directions. A couple tell us where to find a B&B, then disappear. Then the woman appears again, almost too fast for her high heels, and gives Dimitri ten pounds…”Good luck!”
Another man appears, “are you that dude?!”
“I guess I am! Where did you hear about BoardFree?”
“On the radio yesterday, good luck mate!”
So we drive around, knocking on B&B doors, and at the top of the hill I see some kids waving. They have skateboards. “Get your cameras guys!” I shout to Holly and Dimitri. The kids skate down. They’ve been on the website already, heard about us on the radio. Two of the lads, Ryan and William, look stoked. They show us the way to a cracking place to stay, and we arrange to meet up the next morning. There’s going to be a load of local skaters leaving town tomorrow, and I’m going to get onto the media about the fact that Crieff doesn’t have a skate park. These lads are superb and deserve a place to skate.
Later, Holly tells me that one of the lads said BoardFree coming into town was the best thing that ever happened to Crieff. Its been a good day, thank you Scotland.
PS. If anyone knows where William Shatner is from, please write in.
PPS. We’re staying in the Tower Hotel in Crieff. Gilbert, the owner, has given us a discount and just donated £20. Legend. www.towerhotelcrieff.com/
On the road by eleven. The cooked breakfast isn’t sitting well and the first hour is uphill. Then half an hour of heavy carving downhill. Exhausting but exhilarating. We stop for an early afternoon drink in a pub in Weem, south west of Pitlochry. Some people having dinner on the next table recognise me from the paper and we get chatting. As we leave they hand us some donations and take some photos, one of them is a caricaturist and is going to email me a cartoon of Holly, Dim and myself. Brilliant. Start the 2nd half of the day in good spirits. A car overtakes us and the occupants wave. Five minutes later they drive back in the other direction with ten pounds hanging out of the window. “Have a good journey” they say smiling. Shake hands, and drive away.
In the middle of the Scottish countryside we’re taking a break in a lay-by when 7 Lotus cars drive by. “That’s William Shatner!” screams Holly, red faced and pointing wildly at the final car. We spend the next five minutes wondering why William Shatner would be driving a Lotus in Scotland. “Where is William Shatner from?” I ask, and then we practice different accents, saying “Hi, my name is William Shatner.” He’s definitely not Indian.
Later, with 8 miles to go until the night’s destination, Crieff, I speed around a tight bend and head down a long straight, hills to the right, river to the left. In a lay-by 300 metres down the road a family is peering at me from the side of a motorhome. Scrape to a stop next to them and they thrust tea and sandwiches and cakes and a bottle of wine our way. They heard about BFUK on the radio show yesterday morning. Amazing people, massive boost for the final stretch of the day.
The last 8 miles were AWESOME! Flat, no wind, then a downhill stretch into Crieff. Flying! We roll into town, four kids approach the van. “What’s going on here then?” they ask, and we chat for a few minutes. Down the road we park up, ask for directions. A couple tell us where to find a B&B, then disappear. Then the woman appears again, almost too fast for her high heels, and gives Dimitri ten pounds…”Good luck!”
Another man appears, “are you that dude?!”
“I guess I am! Where did you hear about BoardFree?”
“On the radio yesterday, good luck mate!”
So we drive around, knocking on B&B doors, and at the top of the hill I see some kids waving. They have skateboards. “Get your cameras guys!” I shout to Holly and Dimitri. The kids skate down. They’ve been on the website already, heard about us on the radio. Two of the lads, Ryan and William, look stoked. They show us the way to a cracking place to stay, and we arrange to meet up the next morning. There’s going to be a load of local skaters leaving town tomorrow, and I’m going to get onto the media about the fact that Crieff doesn’t have a skate park. These lads are superb and deserve a place to skate.
Later, Holly tells me that one of the lads said BoardFree coming into town was the best thing that ever happened to Crieff. Its been a good day, thank you Scotland.
PS. If anyone knows where William Shatner is from, please write in.
PPS. We’re staying in the Tower Hotel in Crieff. Gilbert, the owner, has given us a discount and just donated £20. Legend. www.towerhotelcrieff.com/
posted by boardfreedave @ 6:35 am
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