March 11th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Post-2008,vids
From the first ever ‘micro-adventure’ that Alastair Humphreys posted online – a lap around the M25 motorway near London*Â - I knew that he was onto something. Putting a name to something so simple and yet so rewarding*. The Howies-Alastair micro adventure competition*Â was a great way to bring the concept to a broader audience. Here is the fourth winner of the competition. A film by Luke Clark of an overnight adventure on a tandem bicycle from London back to London.
Howies Microadventure: London to Lewes from Luke Clark on Vimeo.
March 9th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Post-2008,vids
Howies* and Alastair Humphreys* did really well to promote the concept of micro-adventure*, when they joined forces* and opened a ‘Micro-Adventure Competition’. One of the winners of the competition was duo Emma and Ariel in Norther Ireland. On bikes, they hoofed it off from home to coast and back again, as an overnight trip, with plenty of adventure thrown in. Fun.
March 7th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,Post-2008,vids
Continuing this series of posts on micro-adventure*, here is another winner of the Howies Micro Adventure Competition. From what I can gather, Simon Edwards is a bloke from West Sussex in the UK, a “devon boy in exile in the south east of england, making the journey from wide eye art student to battle hardened freelancer, doer and would-be media mogul*“. From home, away, and back again, this is his wee adventure.
A Micro Adventure (#1) Southdowns/West Sussex from Simon Edwards on Vimeo.
March 5th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,China,Post-2008,vids
Mike Chernishov is a friend from New Zealand. Mike Chernishov’s dad is ethnically Russian. But Mike’s dad was born in China. In a small, closed-to-foreigners town called Narat, across the Tian Shan mountain range from Urumqi. When I started cycling in Urumqi, instead of taking the shortest route from Urumqi to the Kazakhstan border, I missioned it over the 4,200m high pass connecting Urumqi to the road leading to Yining. Which is a convoluted way to say that I wanted to check out Mike’s dad’s birthplace, and take some photos and footage for him.
One arrest, and a lot of shaky footage later (which never made it to the light of day), I made it to the Kazakh border. That was around September 2006. Now, almost 6 years on, Mike has worked some magic with the footage and photos, and created the video below. Originally intended for his dad and relatives, I post it here for posterity’s sake. The footage is still as shaky as ever, and at 33 minutes long it is a bit of a marathon, and my lack of rapport towards the camera is cringe-worthy, but here goes.
March 5th, 2012 | categorizilation: all categories,China,Post-2008
At some point towards the beginning of my skate across China in 2008, I wrote the following piece for the www.skatefurther.com forum. I happened to come across it again after all these years, so I thought I would share it here. Somehow I managed to capture well the trials and tribulations of those first few weeks there in China – a distance skater’s paradise.
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Greetings from the Gobi desert in northwestern China,
I arrived in China on the 14th of April 2008 in the sprawling city of Shanghai. I flew in from Los Angeles, where I had just completed an unassisted solo distance skate across the US. The plan upon arrival in Shanghai was to complete a distance longboarding journey across the breadth of China, from the Kazakhstan border in the northwestern most corner of China back to Shanghai. Like the trans-US trip, this would be unassisted and solo. The difference between the trans-US trip and this one would be that I would be pulling all my travel gear (tent, clothes, food, water etc) on a trailer attached to my longboard, rather than carrying it all on my back.
From the orderly streets of Los Angeles and the land of regulations that is the US, I arrived to complete chaos in Shanghai. I unpacked my boxed up Longboard Larry longboard and trailer (made from an old Rollsrolls deck) in the People’s Park Subway station in central Shanghai. Super efficient subway cleaners swarmed around me to remove the packing material and boxes for me.
Unpacking in the subway in Shanghai, China
Soon enough, I had my rig ready to roll. I dragged it up the steps and into the chaos that is Shanghai. I was in my element, the longboard and trailer rig slithering past slow-moving cyclists, dodging pedestrians, eating up the buttery smooth pavement as I cruised with the mass of electric mopeds. Cyclists, car drivers, people on the street, they all pointed and smiled at this tall white guy on a longboard. Stopping at traffic lights, people would give me the thumbs up.
In Shanghai I took part in a podcast with another humanpowered traveler. In the podcast I am asked why I chose to come to China to continue my longboard journey. The answer was easy. Smooth roads!
Fast forward to northwestern China. I took the 36 hour train ride from Shanghai to Urumqi, the biggest city in Xinjiang Autonomous Region in the northwest. From there, I took an overnight bus to Khorgos, the border town situated at the border with Kazakhstan. What took me three days by public transport would now take me three months to retrace by longboard – a total of 4,500km following China National Highway 312.
At the China leg beginning at the China/Kazakhstan border at Korgos, Xinjiang Province, China
The first day of skating was more walking than skating. Around 75km of highway was ripped up in a massive reconstruction effort that made skating impossible in parts.
National Highway 312 under construction near Korgos, Xinjiang Province, China
In these cases I would detatch the trailer and pull it and the longboard behind me.
National Highway 312 under construction near Korgos, Xinjiang Province, China
It was hard work, but eventually the road construction gave way to smoother pavement. It was a hardcore start to a journey – road construction, and a 2300m high pass (starting at 600m) all in the first two days.
Grunty climb to the top of the 2200m pass near Santai, Xinjiang Province, China
I am now in week three of the journey, and it has been difficult so far to find a rythym. Local interest in the mode of transport never ceases…
Interested highway construction workers on National Highway 312 near Liangtai, Xinjiang Province, China
There have been amazing downhill stretches on silky smooth, brand new expressways with the occassional slow-moving truck ever 10 minutes…
35km downhill from Santai, Xinjiang Province, China
I have been invited in by locals to stay and share culture with…
Enthusiastic Kazakh family in Gotsugu, Xinjiang Province, China
The adjustment to the new country, new language, new food, and new topography has been slow and tough. I am much more tired here in China than I was in the US. The Chinese people are an interesting bunch. At times I have been frustrated with their intrusively curious behaviour, their staring at me, and just the overbearing presence they convey. At other times I will meet others who will invite me in for a meal, or be genuinely caring. This is a land of contrasts, of no regularity.
The haze of the Gobi desert near Turpan, Xinjiang Province, China
The northwest region of Xinjiang in China is also a challenging place. It is a desert region, and the wind always blows, hard. From all directions. The roads are long, straight, and flat.
Pushing through endless desert near Turpan, Xinjiang Province, China
In one moment, you feel overwhelmed with awe at the incomprehensibility of the the hugeness of your surroundings. In the next moment, you must try to switch off your mind and find a zone where you ignore the miles and miles of featureless terrain ahead of you. Ignore the incessant headwind. Ignore the insidiously shallow grade uphill that cheats you into thinking that the road is flat, and you are going slow just because you are weak…
A gorge of contrasts on highway G312 on my way to Shanshan, Xinjiang Province, China
And then the open land gives way to a narrow gorge. Highway G312 snakes up through a valley of contrasts. Your mind is awake and refreshed again. Your legs strain at the effort of the uphill, but your mind is awake to the physical challenge. Give me a stiff uphill anyday over a mindless flat stretch of road. With an uphill, there is promise of reward.
A gorge of contrasts on highway G312 on my way to Shanshan, Xinjiang Province, China
Skating in China reminds me anew that solo distance longboarding is not a holiday. It is a physical and mental challenge that takes everything out of you. I skate for up to five days and then rest for two. For the first two days of the five, I am feeling good. The following three days are a matter of perserverance. I skate for five to six hours a day. The first three hours of the day are great. The following two or three hours are tough. I love it and I hate it.
Beginnings of a fierce (way fun) sandstorm on my way to Shanshan, Xinjiang Province, China
At present I am still making my way across the Gobi desert. I have at least another 1,000km of desert to cross before hitting more arable, populated areas in Gansu Province. The daily temperatures continue to rise, and even now I am having to start skating before day break. I skate from when the horizon just starts to glow, for about 6 hours (that’s about 4 hours actual on-the-board time). Around midday, when the temperature hits 40 degrees celgius, I shelter under the road in culverts, or under trees for up to 6 hours, until the day cools off enough to begin skating again.
Sleeping spot 45km from Jinghe, Xinjiang, China
Access to skating equipment is very limited here in Xinjiang Province at least. In bigger cities, you can find shops selling scooter and cheap skateboards for kids, so if worst comes to worst, you can always find at least crappy bearings to keep you rolling if you run out of your spare quality bearings. I now use industrial grease in my bearings, which makes them run a little slower, but saves the hassle of having to clean them out every time they get just a little wet. On one occassion I realised that my bearings were runnind dry, so I stopped in a one of the many road-side truck maintenance shops, and to the workers’ great interest and joy, began dismantling my bearings. I washed them out in petrol, used their compressed air to blow them out, and used some grease they gave me to get them running smoothly again. Great fun for all involved.
Relubing Rig’s bearings in Kuitun, Xinjiang, China
In Shanghai, there is an extreme sports goods distributor that also sells high end skate hardware, including wide longboard trucks (Independent). Funboxx (http://www.funboxx.com) is their name, and they have helped me out a lot with logistical assistance and some gear that I needed.
As to whether or not the trailer is an asset or a liability, the jury is still out on this. Certainly I enjoy the freedom of being able to move about on the board more, without the weight of a pack on my back. I do notice however that it is more strain on my calves. I am essentially pushing a 20kg skateboard. It is a very simple setup however, and so far I think it is worth it – especially in the desert where I am carrying up to 6 litres of water. To have to carry that on my back would be a mission. Furthermore, coming up in about 600km time is a 150km stretch of desert without services. I will need to carry all my water and food, enough for two days. To have to do this with a pack would be tough going.
The rig on a plateau near Santai, Xinjiang Province, China
