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About four hours into the first day I came off my board while speeding down a big hill near the Mountain Lake Golf Club. I sprained the ligament in my right knee, took a nice hunk of skin off my back, bumped my head and temporarily lost my fingerprints. Later that day a trip to A&E confirmed that I wasn't going to be able to skate across Wales for some time. We were both gutted: after the first day the whole thing looked like it was going to fall through. However after three weeks my knee was had almost healed and the weather was looking good. Jack got the train to Cardiff and we set off on our second attempt, this time a little more cautiously! The first day of the second attempt was much more successful and having skated about 20 miles we both felt quite positive. The second day we loaded up our packs with the tent, pot noodle and water and we were off. Because we had no idea where we were going to sleep each night we ended up camping in some strange places: farmland, football clubs and back gardens to mention a few. Camping wasn't ideal though. In an attempt to carry less weight we substituted an inner-tent for survival bags (basically big bin bags). This unfortunately meant that most mornings we'd wake up at about 5am cold and wet! When we were about 80 miles into the trip Jack started having some problems with his foot. We arrived in Pontardulais and set up camp. The next morning was a bit of a nightmare; Jack couldn't put any weight on his foot without getting shooting pains. With a little help he hobbled down to the centre of town only to find that there was no A&E in the local area. After a long chat Jack decided that he wasn't going to be able to continue. He left at lunchtime on the train and was later given a pair of crutches and told to rest up. Once again we were both disappointed but this time the journey had to go on. I left Pontardulais and in a few days I arrived in a place called Nolton. For the first time since the start of the trip I slept in a campsite rather than a field and enjoyed a much needed shower! This left me with the last leg of the journey which was absolutely stunning. I followed the coastline past Solva and Newgale until I eventually passed a sign that announced I'd made it to my destination, St David's. After a look round the city I skated down to the beach, found a campsite and cracked open a bottle of wine. All in all the trip took about a week to complete, it was an awesome feeling to have finished, I was left with a real sense of achievement…and sore legs. So far it looks like we raised around a thousand pounds for WaterAid so thanks for all your help! Visit their facebook page or donate online here |
Skate Wales