Guinness World Record Journey by Skateboard

From June 24th till the 28th of September, 2008, I skateboarded a Guinness World Record breaking 12,159km across part of Europe, right across the United States, and from west to east across China.

Below are blog entries for every day I was on the road, starting from Day 1 of the skateboard journey (actually Day 323 since I left Japan on my bicycle).

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I apologise for the lack of posts these past few weeks. Work is on the go, and the last thing I have wanted to do is to type at a computer. My mind has also been occupied with other things…namely the following development in the 14degrees journey: My bicycle has […]

Day 323 – SWITZERLAND: A New Challenge

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Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: N/A Average speed / 平均速度: N/A Time on skateboard / 走行時間: N/A Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: N/A Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: N/A Descent / 下り: N/A So today is the big day. Leaving Leysin with a […]

Day 325 – SWITZERLAND: Beginning of the Skateboard Journey

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Well that was some good fun! I had only got about 15 minutes out of Leysin before I got bored with walking. I got the thin nylon hammock I had bought in anticipation of making some sort of parachute with, attached it to the ski poles I had scrounged off […]

Day 325 – SWITZERLAND: Departure day continued

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It was a fitful sleep last night. The construction site echoed, bits of plastic flapping and sounding like footsteps in the dark. I woke at one point and saw the silloutte of a small dog sniffing cautiously about an arm’s lenth away. At first light, about 5:50am I made my […]

Day 326 – SWITZERLAND: From Montreux to Lausanne

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I was a guest speaker at the International School of Lausanne today. Heidi arranged for me to come in at lunch time to speak to students interested in my journey. The small room was packed with about 50 students, many of whom had come to know of me from the […]

Day 327 – SWITZERLAND: Lausanne

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Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 55.52km Average speed / 平均速度: 12.26km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 4h 32m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 55km Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: +825m Descent / 下り: -865m (data above is data from reset approx. 30km into […]

Day 329 – SWITZERLAND: Lausanne to Fribourg

I spent the majority of today sleeping on the grass in parks around Fribourg. It was a good opportunity for a rest, as I was waiting for my wonderful CouchSurfing.org host, Mirjam, to arrive back from work at 6:30pm. After yesterday’s big effort I was suitibly knackered. My muscles weren’t […]

Day 330 – SWITZERLAND: Resting in Fribourg

This weekend involved more cycling than it did skateboarding. On Sunday I had the pleasure of joining the Fribourg ProVelo group for a cycling tour around the area, checking out some of the ancient Roman remains near Lake Murten. A friend of Mirjam kindly lent me a bike for the […]

Days 331 and 332 – SWITZERLAND: Galavanting in Fribourg

Right, so physically, this skateboarding thing seems to be working out pretty good. Logistically, however, things are a little more tricky. I got away from Fribourg bright and early, only to be stalled for 30 minutes under a bridge waiting for the rain to stop. I read some more of […]

Day 333 – SWITZERLAND: From Fribourg to Bern

Ah, rain rain go away. It has been raining non-stop today here in Bern, so my grand plans to get out into the city were thwarted. Instead, I played around with Patricia’s Mac computer and made a wee video clip… Here’s to hoping the weather sorts itself out for departure […]

Day 334 – SWITZERLAND: Sheltering in Bern

Rain, rain, go away. Generally shoddy weather, but nothing too tough to dampen the spirits too much. When it wasn’t raining, I was skating… (click on image for a video clip – will open in new window) It was a day of small quiet back roads, following cycling route 34 […]

Day 335 – SWITZERLAND: From Bern to near Oltu

After saying my thanks and goodbyes to Urs and Elizabeth, I headed up the hill towards Basel. Urs was keen to see how much my pack weighed before I left; 15kg. That was at least 3kg worth of food that Elizabeth insisted I take with me. They loaded me up […]

Day 336 – SWITZERLAND: From near Olten to Basel

Adventure logistics was the name of the game today, and what a successful day it was. I had fun with Randall’s computer, putting together a couple of video clips of the last few days. After lunch I headed out into town to find some grease to overhaul my bearings with, […]

Day 337 – SWITZERLAND: Hanging out in Basel

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 74.6km Average speed / 平均速度: 14.2km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 5h 14m A big thank you to Randall for putting me up for the last two nights in Basel. Thanks to his great help with finding outdoor shops and cycling shops in town, it was […]

Day 338 – SWITZERLAND and GERMANY: From Basel to Fribourg

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 72.5km Average speed / 平均速度: 13.8km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 5h 15m Max speed: 35.5km/h I was hoping to get in contact with some Couchsurfing people in Fribourg last night, but unfortunately I only emailed some people yesterday morning. It was far too last minute, […]

Day 339 – GERMANY: Fribourg to Offenburg

I was rather comfy under the bridge just outsde of Offenburg, but I knew that by 7am I needed to get going. People were starting to move about. I cooked up some porridge, and headed to the local internet cafe to see if I could get a hold of Markus. […]

Day 340 – GERMANY: In Gengenbach with Markus

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 53.1km Average speed / 平均速度: 14.1km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 3h 46m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 53.1km (plus 400km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: +330m Descent / 下り: -330m  Big thanks to Markus and his parents for […]

Day 342 – GERMANY: Gengenbach to Winden

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 39.7km Average speed / 平均速度: 15.0km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 2h 39m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 93.52km (plus 400km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: +130m Descent / 下り: -130m Thank you to the Wallers once again […]

Day 343 – GERMANY: From Winden to Karlsruhe

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 72km Average speed / 平均速度: 15.3km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 4h 42m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 165.54km (plus 400km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: +125m Descent / 下り: -115m A big thanks to Dennis from CouchSurfing […]

Day 344 – GERMANY: From Karlsruhe to Mannheim

Well, it has been a while since I stayed out all night until the sun came up in the morning. I went with Mili and her friends to a Latin music concert last night. Those South Americans know how to party. Not something that I like to do too often, […]

Day 345 – GERMANY: In Mannheim, sleeping…

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 77.6km Average speed / 平均速度: 14.1km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 5h 31m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 243.16km (plus 400km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: +420m Descent / 下り: -355m Remembering the heat of midday two days […]

Day 346 – GERMANY: From Mannheim to Mainz

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 55.8km Average speed / 平均速度: 14.0km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 3h 59m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 299.00km (plus 400km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Ascent / 上り: +95m Descent / 下り: -120m The roads were tough going on the […]

Day 347 – GERMANY: From Mainz to near Lorch

No data for today – dead batteries on GPS Sleep was not good last night. I had chosen a spot next to the railway that runs along the side of the Rhine River – not a good idea. Trains come in about half hour intervals. Heavy, noisy trains that shake […]

Day 348 – GERMANY: From Lorch to Koplenz

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 50.3km (plus 28.5km not on GPS) Average speed / 平均速度: 13.7km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 3h 40m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 379.87km (plus 428.5km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km Last night I slept in a disused industrial estate just […]

Day 349 – GERMANY: From Koblenz to Godorf

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 11.8km Average speed / 平均速度: 12.5km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 56m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 392.29km (plus 428.5km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km The small blister that had appeared on my left heel over the last few days was […]

Days 350 and 351 – GERMANY: From Godorf to Koln, ...

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 74.7km Average speed / 平均速度: 13.4km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 5h 34m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 466.96km (plus 428.5km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km I jumped on the train back to Koln and was out of the city by […]

Day 352 – GERMANY: From Koln to near Viersen

Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 80.4km Average speed / 平均速度: 12.4km/h Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 6h 28m Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 547.35km (plus 428.5km) Total cycling distance to date / 今まで自転車で走った距離: 11,800km It was a great sleep last night. Sleeping on hay is just as comfy as […]

Day 353 – GERMANY and THE NETHERLANDS: From Viersen to ...