Thursday, 15 July 2010
Hi Guys,
Unfortunately on tuesday afternoon after making my way out of melton mowbray and within spitting distance of Market Harborough I was maliciously brought down by a twig which got lodged under my wheel like a wedge under a door and threw me 6 feet forwards onto solid tarmac. The weight of my bag combined with the momentum i had ensured my face was the first thing to hit the floor. The impact was softened by my helmet but my eyebrow managed to take a firm hit. Head injuries bleed alot and my first aid kit was unable to cope with so much blood so i had no choice but to phone an ambulance.
4 stitches and a good amount of glue at kettering hospital stopped the bleed but the cut was deep an painful and accompanied by a swollen eye. I made a very hard decision to call off the rest of the trip to risk further injury. In my mind this was the right choice as my helmet is scarred and weakened and will not fit comfortably over the stitches. Safety first is a top priority on events such as this.
DIARY:
In all i completed over 125miles in 3 days travelling from Hull to Market Harborough. I was ahead of schedule and making good time.
Day 1:
My first day was the toughest with the road surfaces being broken chip and seal rather than tarmac. Humber bridge stayed within sight for most of the first few hours which drilled in just how far i needed to travel. I skated for 7hrs and only made it to kirton in lindsey, The heat of the day meant my water supplies dramatically ran out, with no sign of a town and the dinner time approaching i decided it was time to get off the road and set up camp. Here i spent the first night in my tent in the corner of a field. Pasta was boiled in chopped tomatoes to save water and a bag of haribo was consumed for dessert. It was tough to get to sleep as many thoughts were playing on my mind, and my legs and shoulders were on fire. I'm glad i packed a book about adventure to ease my mind and i eventually fell asleep.
Day 2:
Upon wakening at first light i decided to get out of the field before a farmer showed up. 5:30am start and better road surfaces saw day 2 get off to a good start. Newark upon Trent was reached by lunchtime. Continuous increasing drizzle from 8am soaked me throughout and created a muddy puddle on my board and by 2pm just outside of Bingham i was beat. I looked about for local B&Bs and discovered a jewel hidden around the corner. The Paddock at Peacock Farm B&B is self catered accomodation in Redmile. Nicky Wainright, the proprieter was an absolute hero providing me with food and drink and conversation. Anyone visiting the area would do well to stay here.
Day 3:
After a much needed sleep and shower day 3 started with a good breakfast and some sandwhiches for the road (I wasn't to know that these sandwhiches were never going to be eaten)my bearings had taken a beating from the rain the day before so 3 replacements were needed. Melton mowbray was a great little market town and it happened to be cattle market day. An hour was spent wandering around the market and a rather tasty freshly made pork pie was purchased and consumed before heading out of town.
The route was not as easy going as day 2 with uphills being in their plentiful. Tilton on the Hill is an aptly named town and to reach the top was an enormous accomplishment and I was over the moon with myself for making it. Where there is up there is also a down and some great downhill runs were around every other corner. some much needed mileage was covered.
Then the accident happened. It all happened so quickly and unexpectedly it is hard to piece together. one second i was casually rolling into Market Harborough elated at the prospect of food and with a firm sense of achievement on my mind and the next second i was watching blood stream out of my head and reaching for the first aid kit strategically placed at the top of my bag. When I managed to press some gauze to the gash on my eyebrow I was able to take a moment to figure out what happened. My board was 6-7 feet back from me and in-front of which was a tell-tell mark on the ground leading to a stick (much like the mark chalk leaves on a blackboard). This was all the evidence I needed to work out that a twig no bigger than a pencil had just got the better of me. By now people had started to stop and if they are reading this I'd like to thank the ex-para who stayed with me till the ambulance arrived who had turned around up the road to come to my aid and also the RAC van driver who made sure the ambulance knew exactly where i was. Also a big thanks to the ambulance drivers and my Brother Jason who was in the area on business who picked me up from the hospital. And finally to the Kirkbrides who had one extra visitor for the night.
I am deeply dissapointed in not finishing my challenge as this was as much for me as it was for the charity. For all those who gave support and donations I hope you feel that 125miles+ in 3 days is enough to warrant the money donated or merchandise sent.
This may be the end of 300miles-nocar-noproblem. But I hope to take the nocar-noproblem name on to other ventures. My sense of adventure and my want for a challenge has not been defeated......So watch this space.
Until the next time
Sam
Unfortunately on tuesday afternoon after making my way out of melton mowbray and within spitting distance of Market Harborough I was maliciously brought down by a twig which got lodged under my wheel like a wedge under a door and threw me 6 feet forwards onto solid tarmac. The weight of my bag combined with the momentum i had ensured my face was the first thing to hit the floor. The impact was softened by my helmet but my eyebrow managed to take a firm hit. Head injuries bleed alot and my first aid kit was unable to cope with so much blood so i had no choice but to phone an ambulance.
4 stitches and a good amount of glue at kettering hospital stopped the bleed but the cut was deep an painful and accompanied by a swollen eye. I made a very hard decision to call off the rest of the trip to risk further injury. In my mind this was the right choice as my helmet is scarred and weakened and will not fit comfortably over the stitches. Safety first is a top priority on events such as this.
DIARY:
In all i completed over 125miles in 3 days travelling from Hull to Market Harborough. I was ahead of schedule and making good time.
Day 1:
My first day was the toughest with the road surfaces being broken chip and seal rather than tarmac. Humber bridge stayed within sight for most of the first few hours which drilled in just how far i needed to travel. I skated for 7hrs and only made it to kirton in lindsey, The heat of the day meant my water supplies dramatically ran out, with no sign of a town and the dinner time approaching i decided it was time to get off the road and set up camp. Here i spent the first night in my tent in the corner of a field. Pasta was boiled in chopped tomatoes to save water and a bag of haribo was consumed for dessert. It was tough to get to sleep as many thoughts were playing on my mind, and my legs and shoulders were on fire. I'm glad i packed a book about adventure to ease my mind and i eventually fell asleep.
Day 2:
Upon wakening at first light i decided to get out of the field before a farmer showed up. 5:30am start and better road surfaces saw day 2 get off to a good start. Newark upon Trent was reached by lunchtime. Continuous increasing drizzle from 8am soaked me throughout and created a muddy puddle on my board and by 2pm just outside of Bingham i was beat. I looked about for local B&Bs and discovered a jewel hidden around the corner. The Paddock at Peacock Farm B&B is self catered accomodation in Redmile. Nicky Wainright, the proprieter was an absolute hero providing me with food and drink and conversation. Anyone visiting the area would do well to stay here.
Day 3:
After a much needed sleep and shower day 3 started with a good breakfast and some sandwhiches for the road (I wasn't to know that these sandwhiches were never going to be eaten)my bearings had taken a beating from the rain the day before so 3 replacements were needed. Melton mowbray was a great little market town and it happened to be cattle market day. An hour was spent wandering around the market and a rather tasty freshly made pork pie was purchased and consumed before heading out of town.
The route was not as easy going as day 2 with uphills being in their plentiful. Tilton on the Hill is an aptly named town and to reach the top was an enormous accomplishment and I was over the moon with myself for making it. Where there is up there is also a down and some great downhill runs were around every other corner. some much needed mileage was covered.
Then the accident happened. It all happened so quickly and unexpectedly it is hard to piece together. one second i was casually rolling into Market Harborough elated at the prospect of food and with a firm sense of achievement on my mind and the next second i was watching blood stream out of my head and reaching for the first aid kit strategically placed at the top of my bag. When I managed to press some gauze to the gash on my eyebrow I was able to take a moment to figure out what happened. My board was 6-7 feet back from me and in-front of which was a tell-tell mark on the ground leading to a stick (much like the mark chalk leaves on a blackboard). This was all the evidence I needed to work out that a twig no bigger than a pencil had just got the better of me. By now people had started to stop and if they are reading this I'd like to thank the ex-para who stayed with me till the ambulance arrived who had turned around up the road to come to my aid and also the RAC van driver who made sure the ambulance knew exactly where i was. Also a big thanks to the ambulance drivers and my Brother Jason who was in the area on business who picked me up from the hospital. And finally to the Kirkbrides who had one extra visitor for the night.
I am deeply dissapointed in not finishing my challenge as this was as much for me as it was for the charity. For all those who gave support and donations I hope you feel that 125miles+ in 3 days is enough to warrant the money donated or merchandise sent.
This may be the end of 300miles-nocar-noproblem. But I hope to take the nocar-noproblem name on to other ventures. My sense of adventure and my want for a challenge has not been defeated......So watch this space.
Until the next time
Sam
Saturday, 3 July 2010
View hull to bournemouth in a larger map
Hi Guys.
Above is a route map of my skate trek to Bournemouth. I have this printed out (thank you print screen+MS paint) and in conjunction with my snazzy Android phone (of which i have downloaded this map to), a portable battery charger and the phones GPS i SHOULD stay on course. Depending on what times i hit some roads i may make on the spot alterations but i should be relatively ok for the most part.
If you can see any roads i need to stay well clear off let me know. Or if you are going to be close by and want to come have a chat let me know as well i would love to talk to any one of you.
Kind Regards
Sam (A little bit excited now)
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Hi Guys
Today has been quite exciting. I have arranged for the Lord Mayor of Hull to be on the starting line for my Skate trek. This is great news as the city of Hull has been my home for the past 4 years and I've grown somewhat attached to it. With the Lord Mayor on the start line bidding me farewell and all the best the press should hopefully follow. I will be contacting local press over the coming days.
An event page has been set up here: Facebook link
I am also waiting for confirmation of the Mayor of Bournemouth being on the finishing line and welcoming me to Bournemouth. He's a busy man that week so I've had to give a finishing date and time, this was not easy as it means I am now bound to a deadline of which I had to be realistic about. This has been set as the 21st of July at 6pm, by this time I need to be crossing the finish line which is the pier approach on Bournemouth seafront.
With the inclusion of a deadline I now have to skate 300 miles in 10 days, keeping up an average of 30 miles a day. To those in the know this is not impossible and somewhat achievable. On the flat sections I need to be pushing extra miles in order to compensate slower progress over the rough and uphill sections.
In Short......The mayor cannot be kept waiting, so GAME ON!
Regards
Sam
Today has been quite exciting. I have arranged for the Lord Mayor of Hull to be on the starting line for my Skate trek. This is great news as the city of Hull has been my home for the past 4 years and I've grown somewhat attached to it. With the Lord Mayor on the start line bidding me farewell and all the best the press should hopefully follow. I will be contacting local press over the coming days.
An event page has been set up here: Facebook link
I am also waiting for confirmation of the Mayor of Bournemouth being on the finishing line and welcoming me to Bournemouth. He's a busy man that week so I've had to give a finishing date and time, this was not easy as it means I am now bound to a deadline of which I had to be realistic about. This has been set as the 21st of July at 6pm, by this time I need to be crossing the finish line which is the pier approach on Bournemouth seafront.
With the inclusion of a deadline I now have to skate 300 miles in 10 days, keeping up an average of 30 miles a day. To those in the know this is not impossible and somewhat achievable. On the flat sections I need to be pushing extra miles in order to compensate slower progress over the rough and uphill sections.
In Short......The mayor cannot be kept waiting, so GAME ON!
Regards
Sam
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Hi Guys,
So today has seen a major step forward in terms of sponsorship. Buffera has offered up some products for my skate trek. Their multifunction headwear will now grace my head and neck to keep the July sun from turning me into a lobster on 4 wheels for the entire 300miles.
All I need to do is sign my sponsorship agreement and get it back to the lovely Sarah at Buffera. But suffice to say I'm pretty excited.
Be on the lookout over the next couple of days for the Buff logo and link at the top of this page. But in the meantime be sure to checkout their range of multifunction headwear to see what you're missing out on this summer.
Regards
Sam
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Hey Guys
I have been following other distance skateboarders doing various long-haul treks around the world. These distance journeys are far greater than mine and are my inspiration to achieve my 300 mile goal.
One particular trip going on is the longtreks trip.
find out more at www.longtreksonskatedecks.com
Sam
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Hi Guys
For my forthcoming skate I plan to try a bit of free camping, which is basically setting up camp wherever feels appropriate e.g. under a bridge, in a field, between the trees etc etc. This is to save a few pennies on accomodation costs and also because I love camping.
With this in mind i set out to acquire a suitable, lightweight tent or bivvy bag. I also had a look at hammocks but ruled them out for several reasons including kit security and weatherproofing, but although I dismissed the idea I did find some extraordinary cool hammocks which almost took my fancy.
With hammocks out of the idea I set my sights on to bivvybags, which although lightweight and adequate for what I wanted the lack of a room feeling to them and being able to keep my bag and board dry on wet nights/days forced them out of my mind and in with the hammocks. But while looking I discovered some great bivvybags with rollhoops over your head so you can zip up to keep the bugs out and relieve some otherwise claustrophobic nights in non rollhopp bivvy bags.
This left me looking for tents and due to weight and space limitations i quickly realised I would need to go down the hiking tents. these are minimal weight 1 or 2 man tents with either a singular or double pole construction and a typical wedge design (although some of the more expensive tents are structurally different to better battle the elements). I quickly decided to keep my options cheap and cheerful and was struggling to find the need to spend anymore than £50.
After maybe 2 hours of twoing and frowing across the internet i narrowed my options down to 3 tents all of which were 2man tents (I am 6'3" and fancied some added luxury of headroom).
- coleman bedrock
- coleman rigel
- gelert mongoose
All 3 were similar in weight with the coleman rigel being the lightest by a whole kg which almost swayed it for me if it were not for the +£50 price tag (I hovered my finger over the buy button for quite some while though. The tent is very nicely designed and came recommended) but my want to keep it cheap forced me to keep looking. It came down to the coleman bedrock and the gelert mongoose and with both good and bad reviews on each I came to a decision on the bedrock 2 man tent by coleman which although was not the lightest or the most highly praised out of the 3 it did have the cheapest price tag and got it ordered and delivered for £36...BARGAIN.
Once it arrived the very next day I quickly realised the pack length was a bit longer than anticipated but was nowhere near as heavy as I was expecting. I am still yet to find a suitable time to set it up due to a lack of garden but photos will be on the way when I am not so busy.
links
-coleman bedrock was ordered from www.simplyhike.co.uk
-tent reviews came from a fantastic site www.livefortheoutdoors.com and I would highly reccomend checking it out before buying any camping gear.
Regards
Sam
For my forthcoming skate I plan to try a bit of free camping, which is basically setting up camp wherever feels appropriate e.g. under a bridge, in a field, between the trees etc etc. This is to save a few pennies on accomodation costs and also because I love camping.
With this in mind i set out to acquire a suitable, lightweight tent or bivvy bag. I also had a look at hammocks but ruled them out for several reasons including kit security and weatherproofing, but although I dismissed the idea I did find some extraordinary cool hammocks which almost took my fancy.
With hammocks out of the idea I set my sights on to bivvybags, which although lightweight and adequate for what I wanted the lack of a room feeling to them and being able to keep my bag and board dry on wet nights/days forced them out of my mind and in with the hammocks. But while looking I discovered some great bivvybags with rollhoops over your head so you can zip up to keep the bugs out and relieve some otherwise claustrophobic nights in non rollhopp bivvy bags.
This left me looking for tents and due to weight and space limitations i quickly realised I would need to go down the hiking tents. these are minimal weight 1 or 2 man tents with either a singular or double pole construction and a typical wedge design (although some of the more expensive tents are structurally different to better battle the elements). I quickly decided to keep my options cheap and cheerful and was struggling to find the need to spend anymore than £50.
After maybe 2 hours of twoing and frowing across the internet i narrowed my options down to 3 tents all of which were 2man tents (I am 6'3" and fancied some added luxury of headroom).
- coleman bedrock
- coleman rigel
- gelert mongoose
All 3 were similar in weight with the coleman rigel being the lightest by a whole kg which almost swayed it for me if it were not for the +£50 price tag (I hovered my finger over the buy button for quite some while though. The tent is very nicely designed and came recommended) but my want to keep it cheap forced me to keep looking. It came down to the coleman bedrock and the gelert mongoose and with both good and bad reviews on each I came to a decision on the bedrock 2 man tent by coleman which although was not the lightest or the most highly praised out of the 3 it did have the cheapest price tag and got it ordered and delivered for £36...BARGAIN.Once it arrived the very next day I quickly realised the pack length was a bit longer than anticipated but was nowhere near as heavy as I was expecting. I am still yet to find a suitable time to set it up due to a lack of garden but photos will be on the way when I am not so busy.
links
-coleman bedrock was ordered from www.simplyhike.co.uk
-tent reviews came from a fantastic site www.livefortheoutdoors.com and I would highly reccomend checking it out before buying any camping gear.
Regards
Sam
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
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