Gemma had a leaving do before she left on her 'round the world' trip and Kim and I were invited. When we heard it was a Karaoke night, we thought it would be a bit of fun with some friends, laughing at some bad singing.
Then we found out that she had hired a room exclusively for her friends.
Then we found out that only about a dozen people were going.
Then I found out that there were only 2 guys.

So Kim and I got drunk. :)

Over the summer I met up with a group of guys who are into slalom skateboarding, well, they're into going to Hyde Park a couple of times a week and having a drink under the pretense of slalom skating ;)

It's a lot of fun and far harder than it looks, well that's my excuse, but a nicer bunch of guys you couldn't hope to meet. Everyone's really friendly and helpful, and it helps that we're in one of the nicest parts of London!

Anyway, here's a video to give you an idea. Mike and Paul are pro slalom skaters, Sam and Louis are top ten amateur contenders. Rob is an ex longtime skateboarder.
Then there's me......





Me, Scott, Sam, Ed, Random Brazil Bloke, Bruno, Mike, Louis

I was inspired to try some long distance longboarding, brought about by hearing stories of crossing New Zealand, Australia and even China by longboarding.
Luckily a London Rollerblade club was putting on a Skate Marathon and had invited Longboarders to come along, so in the knowledge that it was months away I signed up.
Of course, the date came quickly and, before you know it, I was driving to Goodwood Race Track to take part in a big charity event. I'd signed up for a killer 26 miles, or a grueling 11 laps of the course. Some nutters had signed up for the Mega, a 22 lap double marathon of pain.

Well, luckily Kim drove me there and back as I would never have been able to drive back otherwise. The 26 miles was a killer and we had a 20 knot headwind on the first long straight. (Which also reminded me that most of my friends would be on the beaches have a great time)

Anyway, after weaving past some bodies on my last lap, I finally made it and collapsed on rubbery legs, a big smile on my face and a wish for some chocolate and ice cream. The ice cream came my way pretty quickly, curtesy of Kim, and then I headed home for a welcome bath and sit down.

Race Result : 2hours, 24 minutes. 108th out of 220 racers in the marathon (60 people didn't finish the course!)

Click here to see a hilarious video of the finish
Goodwood Roller Marathon Finish





And they're off!



Down the home straight, just another 10 laps to go

My Birthday weekend! Yay!

I decided that I wanted to go to a Roller Disco for my 33rd and we found a perfect place in Vauxhall. Beer, skates and wooden floors, what could go wrong?

Well, we had a great time. :)



Warming up



Party on!











Whoops!

I'd been Slalom Skateboarding for about a month when the first local competition came up, knowing full well that I wouldn't stand a chance of making the course, never mind qualifying, I was convinced to take part regardless.
It was in the East of London, set at Hog Hill, a brand new cycling center with amazingly smooth tarmac and a pretty steep hill. Compared to the flat land I'd been practicing on in Hyde Park, this was a bit of a challenge for me. Then Mike brought out the starting ramps. Jesus.

Thanking the gods for my helmet and pads, I had a few practices runs which never ended up in a pretty way, generally the surrounding hills were filled with my girlish screams whilst I raced down the hill wishing that I knew how to stop.
When it finally came down to race time, I forwent the ramp and still managed to miss 50% of the cones. Despite this, I was pretty pleased with myself!

The racing was fast and frantic, truly amazing to watch really. Everyone wanted to see Martin, the local pro, against the up and coming Louis who is thought by everyone to be the next "big thing".
Sadly Martin beat Louis in the second round, so the final was between Martin and Sam, an old, fast hand at slalom.

In the driving rain, Martin picked up a win and became the first champion of Hog Hill



Ramps. Great. (That's Louis on the near side)



Yes! I made a cone!



Sam in full flight





Kim in "Top Gun" moment

James, Holly, Kim and I decided to go to Portland for a weekend. The wind forecast looked good and we had a local kiter, Lucie, as a good point of contact to show us the local scene.

We stayed at a nice little caravan park and promptly set about trying to burn down our caravan with an out of control BBQ (in the rain of course). The next day was quite windless, but Sunday was just awesome. We met up with Lucie who introduced us to the locals, then set about teaching them about how good London kiters really are. Sadly, the locals were much better of course but it was all good.

Kim and Holly meanwhile took a drive to Hugh Fernley Whittingstall's (of River Cottage fame) Canteen in Axminister to sample some yummy organic food and produce. They came back with some Nettle beer which was, um, interesting.

Portland Harbour, meanwhile, is one of the best kite sports I've ever been to for flat water. The wind is dead offshore, blowing over a narrow strip of land, leading to the flattest water I've ever known. Perfect for learning new tricks.

Ed, Kim, Hannah and myself booked ourselves on the boat at Princes club again, it was Hannah's first attempt at wakeboarding although she's a ski instructor which we assumed would help in some form or another.
True to form, she was a natural and had no issues with getting up on the board with a little instruction. Ed, as always, is just progressing really well every time we go out which I have to admit to being a little bit jealous of!

Good times

We took two of Kims friends on the wakeboard boat at Princes, they both did really well by getting up and riding along. (As well as braving the chilly conditions)

Not a lot else to say really, so here's the video  :o)

The boys in South Wales held a downwinder event at Newgale on the West Welsh coast, but anyone was welcome to come over for a weekend of fun and drinking  :o)
I was a bit apprehensive about camping in November, Kim said there was no way she would come with me, but it actually turned out to be quite nice. Mind you, I did use two sleeping bags  :oP

James was kind enough to give me a lift in his van, which is a fully tricked out kitesurfing van with fridge, cooker, bed and all the trimmings inside. I'm not jealous at all!

Once there we met plenty of the local crew who turned out to be a really nice bunch. The local spot was awesome with some nice sized waves and flat sections on the downwinder. Very nice.
The two local kite schools also helped out with their zapcats running as support boats.

All in all, a damn good weekend

Newgale



Matt and his Ford Bronco



Kitted out for the 'mild' conditions



Out at sea



Zapcat plows through the waves.

I found this video from  a few weekends ago, I thought it was a good demo of how bad am I.

Note that it's important to adjust your helmet and shorts before attempting any tricks  :oP