On Saturday 6th June an intrepid band of skaters assembled in the car park at the Bath railway station to skate all the way to Bristol. The third annual Lush charity B2B skate had been threatened by weather forecasts warning of torrential rainstorms lasting all day. Questions of whether it would be postponed were a daily occurrence... and the answer... No. As a result of the forecasts the number of skaters was only about half that of the previous year; but the rain stayed away, the path was skated, the stoke was shared and the money was raised.
About 100 of us completed the 15 mile route to Bristol on a trail damp and slippery from the overnight rain. The weather caused delays to trains bringing skaters to the start of the ride and there was over an hour between the first and last skaters to leave Bath station following a send-off from Rich of Lush and Alice from our chosen charity, The National Autistic Society. There was a rendezvous at the Railway Café which luckily had a beer festival going on, this was perfect since it distracted some of the leading riders for long enough to be caught by the tail-enders. Puddles were avoided (or surfed through in style) and as the day wore on the path dried enough to allow for a little pumping. The temptation to pump earlier on had resulted in a few spills, but no serious injury (thanks in one case at least to the wearing of a helmet!).
The B2B band included experienced skaters and some absolute beginners, but everyone looked to be having a good time. Well done to the younger riders, and to those who came in family groups. Well done to the more senior riders too! Well done to those who travelled a long way to ride with us, from Oooop North and even from across the water. Well done to those skaters who managed to skate to Bristol despite major car problems on the way to event.
There was a great variety of boards being ridden, as ever, from the fanciest of distance pushers to the humblest of home-made mini boards. Some of the riders wore fancy dress, to help raise even more sponsorship money, or maybe just because they liked to. There were rumours that a skateboarding nun would be making an appearance and although I kept an eye open all day, I didn’t see her anywhere. It was a lovely surprise to be greeted at the finish by the UK’s No 1 distance skater, Dave Cornthwaite, the founder of the event.
The real result for the day was not that we didn’t get drenched but that we raised so much money for the National Autistic Society. The target was £2000, based on last year’s total, and because this year the stoke was high, that total was easily SMASHED. The current total raised by the skaters now stands at an absolutely brilliant £4484.52. And money is still coming in! A HUGE thank you goes to Lush for their blemish deck sale which has raised over £200 for NAS, so to all those people who bought one... you did a good thing.
A prize draw will take place on Sunday 5th July with the winner receiving a beautiful Lush Kisiwa deck. All skaters who raised £50 or more get their name into the prize draw and if you want to know who the lucky winner is you need to keep an eye on the forum.
Thank you to everyone who faced down the forecasters and braved the threatening weather, and joined us on what is the number one mass participation skateboard event in the UK.
See you all next year!
