The Day Before The Big One:

Team Ripper has their big exam tomorrow. Wish them luck. In the meantime, here is a little something from the Conchords to lighten up your afternoon!

A Little Saturday Afternoon Light Entertainment:

For your perusal - the Boardfree documentary promo. I'm not in it, but that's okay, I'm a twist in the plot. I think. Either that or I'm not it it. Meh. Good work Dimitri!

Elle Gets Her Oar In!

Click the picture above to read my guest review of the Rolls Rolls Sportster on Skate Further.

Play Leet!

I believe Team Ripper might well be branching out... :)

Best New Site Ever!

Dedicated to the world of long distance skateboarding, Skate Further is a new site which is going to make it so much easier for me to find information on journeys, gear, spots to skate...ooooh, it looks smashing!!! Go for it, lads! :) x

Biting It.

Biting it would really suck wouldn't it? Today I cheated the end in a most wonderful way. Now you COULD say what happened to me was God talking or fate keeping me in the game just that little bit longer for some purpose I know not which, but I firmly believe that it happened like this, chronologically speaking:

Plymouth was built, probably a while ago.

People moved in and decided they needed to build a road to get them and their stuff places.

At first it was a grassy lane, then it was a cobbled street, and then when horses gave way to trams and cars, someone put tarmac down and made it even wider.

Once the trams were consigned to the history pile, cars and buses whizzed past at a great rate of knots.

Round about the 1980's, someone at the council decided to put a solitary metal post in the mile long pavement, perhaps for a parking sign, perhaps for a bus stop. Heck, it's near the shops, someone might want to stand there to get a bus to haul their shopping home. Just one though, in all that tarmac.

Today, I approached that lamppost on Kimba, and spying a pram and parents ahead, I slowed. Initally this was going to plan, then it became clear my momentum was just too strong. The lucky board went towards the wall, the rider went towards that nice main road, that which had held horses, then trams, then cars and buses.

Heading to the road, I grabbed out. In a spectacular, second-long motion, I swang round the only lamp post for a mile with the left hand grabbing on, whilst the right shoulder was grazed by a lorry travelling at 40mph. Swinging back in, I received only a light brushing of dust for my trouble.

History saved me today.

Some New Little Chums.

Well, Buddy (my Skaterbuilt slalom board) and Kimba (if you follow this blog you'll know ALL about her) were getting a little lonely. Sure, Kimba could go on all day about her travels of many hundreds of miles (it has to be by now!), and the big hills her owner was getting down with these days, and Buddy could ramble on about how he really got his owner (that would be me both times) to move her hips, but it does get boring listening to bits of wood speaking (or should that be creaking) about me and how great they are.

It's time to shake things up a little. So we have two new as yet unnamed friends coming to the family this month. In the blue corner, we have a Longboard Larry Old Skool Dancer bamboo custom deck for evocative dancin' type moves, and in the green corner, we have a Powell Peralta reissue Mike Vallely elephant deck for sliding and pools!

Both are currently in the air right now, so wish them luck!

This Just Blows The Whole Thing Wide Open.

Distance Longboarding with a Trailer from Rob Thomson

Thank you Rob Thomson and Longboard Larry for exploding the world of what is possible with long distance skating. It's funny that I'm so happy about this development, considering it renders an on-road support team (google 'Boardfree') sort of pointless, but I think I could write forever on what this means in terms of opening up the longboard as a viable transportation solution over many miles. I think I will just let the video do the talking.

My Favourite Picture Of The Now:

For The Fun Of It:

An amazing video!

The end of this video exemplifies the kind of endurance skating I aspire to do one day when I'm done with this piratin' lark. Pure, lonely, joyful, soul exploding inner success. Boom. Rob Thomson, keep on rollin'.