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?

Monday, April 30, 2007

One year on...

Exactly one year ago a small group of people stood on their own in John O'Groats, northern Scotland, watching on as I pushed off on my longboard Elsa to begin the first of two long distance skate journeys. 34 days later I rolled into Land's End with a right foot that looked a little bit like a bowl of chicken and mushroom soup, but BoardFree UK (BFUK) had been completed. A couple of months later I flew to Perth with a slightly larger team, and together we travelled across Australia, concluding a record-breaking 5823km journey in Brisbane on January 22nd this year.

Several months later, I've just returned from Scotland having taken part in a challenge of a different nature. The Drambuie Pursuit began on the Isle of Skye and ended in Inverness, my destination on day 3 of BFUK. Inverness and fatigue always mix well. 15 teams of 4 battled it out for the top prize of a trip to New York, and although myself and my three Welsh teammates didn't make top spot we had a good crack, there's a rather funny video on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9AAEmy-Rt8, and there's more on the Drambuie Pursuit on http://www.drambuiepursuit.com/.

So, exactly twelve months on from the beginning of a series of life-changing journeys, I'm stood at a crossroads of sorts. 4516 miles on a longboard takes some beating, and tapping out a book and preparing to launch rollsrolls longboards headfirst into the UK market doesn't quite seem enough on its own. A successful Aquaskipping session (http://www.bouncefree.org.uk/) in Malta last week has spawned ideas for a new, long-distance challenge (or several of them), but this doesn't mean the longboard will permantently hang on the wall. Logistical prep. for a 24 hour non-stop skate later this year has begun, with the east coast of Australia a likely destination. I'm hoping to be able to pursuade a bunch of Aussie skaters to relay alongside me, in a kind of 5 verses 1 scenario. Nothing like making life easy, eh. The 24 hour skate will be another fundraiser for the BoardFree charities, Sailability, Link Community Development and the Lowe Syndrome Trust, as will a June 2nd 15 mile skateathon from Bath to Bristol, organised with Lush Longboards. We're hoping to get 240 skaters to join up, meaning the accumulative distance travelled will equal the distance I skated between Perth to Brisbane, if you're interested in taken part visit http://www.lushlongboards.com/06-content.php?page=SKATEATHON, and if you can't make it there's an opportunity to donate to the BoardFree charities on http://www.justgiving.com/lushboardfreeskateathon.

This post is sponsored by Underworld-Shop.com, Canada's top Streetwear & Skate Shoes Shop also offering Longboard accessories

3 Comments:

  • At 8:18 am, Blogger boardfreebecki said…

    Cant believe it was a year ago! So much has happened since then, so much money raised, so many miles travelled, it brings back happy memories. Happy 1 year!
    Becki
    x

     
  • At 6:23 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    One whole year - great googly moogly! Happy Anniversary, Boardfree. My life is changed. We made a difference. To the Tenacious Ten, keep on rollin', baby. Laura x

     
  • At 1:58 pm, Blogger BoardFree Bev said…

    It wasn't just the other day I was wondering to my self it must be close to the time you started BFUK. Why couldn't all of this lush weather have been on your side then?

    What a year that's all I can say!

     

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