Vancouver Island skateboarder Bradley Smith is setting off on an amazing adventure this summer.
The North Saanich resident plans to ride a portion of the Trans Canada Trail on his electric mountain board, in a bid to set three Guinness World Records.
His 3, 500 kilometer journey will take him from the rolling prairie grasslands of Saskatoon, to the lush coastal forest of Victoria. He’ll pass through the Rockies en-route, a path that will take him through Cranbrook, Fernie, Kimberley and Nelson in mid-June.
He hopes to achieve his longtime goal along the way, of setting three Guinness World Records for the longest electric skateboard journey, longest electric skateboard journey in a 24-hour period and longest electric skateboard journey in a single country.
“Someone’s gone ahead and put this wicked trail that you can follow all the way across, so I’m going to hopefully be able to do that with this board. It’s 100 per cent adventure. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Smith has been skateboarding for the past eight years, having initially found the sport through other outdoor activities like snowboarding, splitboarding and mountain biking. He moved around a lot in his youth, and spent time living in Golden and Cranbrook, which cemented his love of the outdoors.
His skateboard is different from other electric models in the sense that it’s made for trail riding in the bush, with large off-road wheels that can gather speed over 35 kilometers per hour.
He’s completed some core strength training in preparation for the trip and has been practicing his distance riding by skating to and from work each day — a combined distance of approximately 50 kilometers. He anticipates that the 24-hour record will be particularly challenging to set.
“I’ll just keep going and hopefully not completely pass out from exhaustion,” he remarked.
Smith said he’s been following other Guinness World Record skateboarders on social media as inspiration. Petrica-Georgica Duta of Romania is the current record-holder for longest electric skateboard journey by a male, with a distance of 1,440.53 kilometers, and Stefano Rotella of Italy currently has the longest distance on an electric skateboard in one country at 1,260 kilometers.
Applying for a Guinness World Record is a long process that requires stringent documentation. Smith said he’s using a few different types of tracking software to chart his trip, including a Garmin watch, a go-pro, and apps like Strava and Gaia GPS. He will be required to take pictures at road signs and unique landmarks, and have witnesses sign verification forms to prove he was at certain locations.
Ultimately, this is one step of many along a world-wide journey. He already has two other long-distance trips mapped out, including Ring Road in Iceland and the Mediterranean Trail, which stretches from Spain to Turkey.
To follow along with his journey, visit his Instagram @roam_wolf.