No Limits!

This is pretty cool and in my opinion it's difficult to do anything truly original these days. However, Sam Benson in the UK is going to being the coolest original I've heard of in a long time. He is planning to skateboard across five European countries in 10 weeks.

Starting in July, 2007 Sam Benson will begin the journey in Barnstaple and travel along the South coast of England to Folkestone than using the Channel Tunnel to get to Calais, before skating to Paris where he will be joined by Adam Colten; a Professional Longboarder from Los Angeles, CA.

From Paris they will skate to Geneva, Switzerland, before making the journey across the Alps to reach Turin, Italy, and then back over the Alps to Marseille, France. From Marseille, they will skate across the Pyrenees into Barcelona, Spain, before they travel through Valencia and Madrid, where they will make the final leg of their journey to Santander, on the 15th of September.

The ride is to raise money and awareness for three select children’s charities. Link Community Development, which establishes nationwide education in Africa. The Lowe Syndrome Trust, which is a family run organization working to help children worldwide suffering from the incurable Lowe Syndrome; and Sailability Australia, who teach disabled children worldwide how to sail off the coast of Australia.

Sam Benson’s team includes his friends Tom Fletcher, Chris Morris and Tom Walker, whose tasks will include driving the support car, filming the event and mapping the route. Several companies worldwide are sponsoring him with equipment for the trip, ranging from Longboards and shoes, to headwear and sunglasses which allows him to concentrate on the physical training, where he has been sponsored by GB’s Gymnasium.

So that the ride can continue to raise money and awareness after the end the journey has been completed, BeatsWalkinEurope will create DVD of the journey. In addition, the DVD will have a ghost writer, Owen Platt, who is preparing to write and publish the travel adventures of the BWE team as a book. The profits from both these ventures will be donated in full to the said charities.

BeatsWalkinEurope is an affiliate of Boardfree, a program that promotes skateboarding to youngsters of all ages and encourages a ‘no-limits’ attitude to the lives of people everywhere. Founder Dave Cornthwaite inspired Sam by skating across Australia in 2006 for the same charities as Sam is skating for.

Read more and follow the trip at BeatsWalkinEurope, and how you can help. Also, you can help with donations by visiting Just Giving / BeatsWalkin