COMPLETED: First Ever Across China Longboard Mission

[AFTT]

Would you do it again?

[Rob Thomson]

Would you do it again?

I would do parts of China and parts of the US and parts of Europe again. But I wouldn't do the whole lot again.

China: Qinghai Province, parts of Henan Province

US: Florida, California

Europe: Germany, Holland

That is, the parts with smooth, deserted, and beautiful roads.

[Tagsrover]

Amazing and Inspiring!!!

[Delmonte]

[a_d_smooth]

You have already done it once. So it would make a great proposal/Pilot to send out to TV Channels. Make a proposition, and get paid to do it again, and make the documentary with a proper crew. Of course it's easier said than done, but you already have the experience backing your situation. Good Luck and thanks again for sharing with us.. very inspiring! -AD

[Rob Thomson]

Many shows edit in footage from less than ideal formats to tell the story, why not write down a heap of questions (or print out this thread) and record yourself with a suitable (rented) camera being interveiwed, edit it with your sk8 footage, shoot some extra footage with the decent camera of your board, equipment etc.....The story's good enough that people will forgive you if it's not oscar grade material

Hmmm...sound advice there. Thanks.

[Chopko]

Amazing man, congrats!! Really inspiring.

[a_d_smooth]

This should be a sticky, I think more people should see this thread before it gets lost.

[robotopdx]

[geolemon]

If I have inspired you to do a couple of states, then don't wait until you get someone to come with you. If you really want to do something like this, then decide to do it alone if neccessary. Travelling alone is a scary concept at first, but after a while you will realise that being away from other like-minded people not only is fun, but also challenges you to expand your mind.

Honestly I'm quite blown away.

And I would think the alone time - particularly in peaceful, beautiful surroundings (even if on a highway ) would be quite meditative... good inward contemplation that I think most of us are deprived of, being surrounded by friends, family, and co-workers pretty much 24/7!

Did you encounter any rain or other bad weather? How did you contend - I would think rain would leave you potentially stranded for days on end. Of course, I don't even leave my boards in the garage for fear of damage from humidity... much less water damage... so maybe I'm being too rain-averse.

[Rob Thomson]

Honestly I'm quite blown away.

And I would think the alone time - particularly in peaceful, beautiful surroundings (even if on a highway ) would be quite meditative... good inward contemplation that I think most of us are deprived of, being surrounded by friends, family, and co-workers pretty much 24/7!

Did you encounter any rain or other bad weather? How did you contend - I would think rain would leave you potentially stranded for days on end. Of course, I don't even leave my boards in the garage for fear of damage from humidity... much less water damage... so maybe I'm being too rain-averse.

I didn't encounter too much rain, and when I did, it was rarely much more than rain showers. I could shelter under trees and what-not and wait for the showers to pass. Remember, I was skating across deserts much of the time (central south US, western and central China). It was rare that I would go out and start a day skating if it was raining. Those days I tended to either take off completely, or wait till the rain stopped before setting out.

Either way, you are guaranteed to get rained on at some stage. But it's not as bad as it sounds. Take a candle with you and rub the edges of your deck with it to keep the end-grain of the plys sealed against water.

The biggest pain in regards to rain is bearings! You can more or less safely spend a day in the rain without changing the bearings, but it is a hassle at the end of the day cleaning them out and drying them. Even still, over the 7,500 miles that I skated, I am still rotating the original three sets of bearings that I started with. If you take good care of them, they last a very very long time.

The only other 'bad' weather I encountered was the scorching heat in the desert in western China. 45 degrees Celcius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) during midday meant that I was having to get up a couple of hours before sunrise, skating till 9am, sleeping/reading a book under a bridge till 5 or 6pm, and skating another few hours into the night, just to avoid heat stroke and using up too much water (I had to carry two days supply with me at one stage).

[jetkin]

geole--- i think you do this before the job, the kids, and the mortgages!! i figured this out 12 years and 9 months too late

which is why these videos are awesome, we can experience this all vicariously. i'm still blown away by how much Rob was able to shoot, edit, and post video all the way through.

no! not vicarious thrills - - inspiration for how to spend retirement!

[jetkin]

Rob -

Words fail. Simply incredible.

One question that hasn't been asked yet: Did you ever come down a hill that was such a good ride, such a perfect setting, etc., that you parked the trailer at the bottom, and headed back to the top just for the fun of taking a good, unencumbered run?

If so, where?

[geolemon]

Actually that's another good question...
Where did you get water?
I've heard that travelling in foreign countries that drinking the water is dangerous!

[Rob Thomson]

Rob -

Words fail. Simply incredible.

One question that hasn't been asked yet: Did you ever come down a hill that was such a good ride, such a perfect setting, etc., that you parked the trailer at the bottom, and headed back to the top just for the fun of taking a good, unencumbered run?

If so, where?

Thanks for all the questions! This is good stuff...keep them coming!

I never had the energy to even consider going back for a downhill. Especially since the only protection I was wearing was my helmet. Much of the time I was foot breaking to keep my speed down. Traffic was the main concern with carving.

Also, after skating a few weeks with a trailer, skating without one is like learning to skate all over again. A trailer acts as a kind of a flywheel; the momentum and weight keeps the speed and direction of the board fairly constant. The last few days of skating without the trailer here in Shanghai (I have a few days before my flight leaves) have been scary; the board feels like it always wants to get away on me!

However, there was one downhill that will forever stick in my mind as being the most perfect, mindblowing downhill that I have ever experienced. It was about 200km (125 miles) east of the Kazahstan border in the northwestern province of Xinjiang in China. The day before I had skated up a pass from altitude 700m to 2,200m (2,300ft to 7,200ft), and the next I had to come down it. From 2,200m to 300m (7,200ft to 1,200ft) on a 20 mile awe inspiring downhill run.

35km downhill from Santai, Xinjiang Province, China

The road was three lanes of brand new expressway. I was travelling on the east-bound side, and the west-bound side was nowhere to be seen; it was following another route up the pass in the other direction.

Flanked by massive wide valleys and a semi-frozen lake, I was able to hoarde the whole road to myself. Every 15 minutes or so I would catch up with a slow-moving delapidated truck crawling down the slope, engine roaring in first gear to save its brakes.

Absolutely incredible. I want to go back there. Needless to say, I was not keen on pushing back up the pass for another run!

The video below shows footage from that downhill (and a bit of the climb). The downhill bit starts at around 2:30.

YouTube - Part Five - Guinness World Record...

Actually that's another good question...
Where did you get water?
I've heard that travelling in foreign countries that drinking the water is dangerous!

Geolemon, I assume that you are in the US? New Zealand (my home) therefore is a foreign country. And we can drink the water. So....I will make the assumption that you mean 'developing countries'...

In China I never drank water straight from the tap. Neither do the locals. All drinking water is boiled, or bottled. Out in the desert, there would be truck stops that had large flasks of boiled water (still boiling hot!) that you could help yourself to for free. It was a hard ask having to drink boiling water when it's already so hot outside.

Once I got further into eastern China I was drinking bottled water.

[Kyte747]

Legendary bro just legendary!

[geolemon]

Yep, I'm in the US...
I don't know if I'd consider Mexico to be a "developing country", I have been told the same about Mexico, most of South America, I assume most of Africa, India I've heard is awful, I'd assume China... It's enough to make me suspect of ANYWHERE I suppose!
Although I've also heard of these purification pills... wonder if those would work in all cases...

[Rob Thomson]

Yep, I'm in the US...
I don't know if I'd consider Mexico to be a "developing country", I have been told the same about Mexico, most of South America, I assume most of Africa, India I've heard is awful, I'd assume China... It's enough to make me suspect of ANYWHERE I suppose!
Although I've also heard of these purification pills... wonder if those would work in all cases...

Yeah, purification tablets are very good, although they can take up to four hours to kill everything bad in the water. The more expensive ones don't leave an after-taste either.

A good quality water filter is the best option when you want good tasting water though. One with two filters; ceramic and activated carbon.

[wafflesole]

Rob, you already know this. but you have the utmost respect from everybody on skatefurther. You sir, are a legend in our eyes and have inspired us all to 'skatefurther'.

nat

[lfatboy]

wow....

question: how many sets of wheels and bearings did you go through?