Words Jamila Douhaibi
Photos Sarah Hartley Photography
In 2024, he challenged two records, for longest journey by an electric skateboard and longest single journey in a country. After travelling for a month from Saskatoon to Victoria, covering over 1,500 kilometres, he broke the previous world records.
Like many passionate professionals, Bradley says that he’s “always been boarding.” Whether it was snowboarding, paddleboarding or manual skateboarding and longboarding as a form of transportation, it’s been a lifelong journey on boards.
Bradley was born on Salt Spring Island, moved to the interior with his family growing up and travelled around the province as he got older. He says he came “full circle back to Vancouver Island” and “dabbled with Victoria” but it wasn’t for him. Now he lives in Willis Point in Brentwood Bay and has worked for the North Saanich Municipality for over five years. Based on his experience boarding in other provinces, it’s clear to see why he chose the West Coast as his home base in terms of weather.
Bradley says that a regular electric skateboard battery can last for 50 to 60 kilometres. He always carries a backup, which sits on top of his board, so he can usually skate about 130 kilometres overall. He also carries a backpack with tools, and of course water and other basic necessities. Starting his trip in Saskatchewan, Bradley quickly learned that going “east to west” was “going the wrong way.” Underestimating the prairie winds having never spent time there, Bradley says he only made it 70 kilometres before being stranded. The wind resistance acted as a battery killer, and rain could also damage the board and battery, both of which slowed him down and required more breaks in his trip. But perfect strangers picked him up and other skateboard record breakers from around the world, including Venezuela and Italy, supported his goal before he’d even set out.
As one can imagine, challenging a Guiness World Record is not an easy feat. The detailed application process includes providing the exact distance, route and time frame. A list of requirements is sent back to the applicant and since Bradley’s board was a DIY built board from an engineer in Chilliwack, he wasn’t sure if it would meet the standards. But his eligibility was confirmed, so Bradley bought three different trackers to ensure each stage was tracked. He also had to take photos along the route and explain each stop he took. Although it was a big accomplishment that he in no way regrets, Bradley says he enjoys long-distance boarding “just for the journey” and that all the complications challenging the record “took the fun out of it.”
Bradley has been having fun boarding throughout the country for years. He took up longboarding when he moved back to the Peninsula in 2005, boarding from Victoria over the Malahat to Salt Spring Island. In 2008, he flew to St. Johns, Newfoundland, and manually boarded his way back over five months. But when the electric boards came out after 2015, Bradley says he was fully “hooked on doing long distance adventures” because electric skateboards are like an “endless ride down a hill.” And, even with all of the travelling he’s been doing, he’s only had two electric skateboards and says boarding has “totally engulfed everything I do outside of work.”
Already skating across sections of the Trans Canada Trail around Nanaimo, and doing casual 200-kilometre long-weekend trips on the Island last month, Bradley aims to traverse the whole length of Vancouver Island in 2026. He also knows he’ll go across Canada again, and may even try a B.C. to Mexico trip in the future. Currently in the process of confirming his two Guinness World Records, Bradley says he has a “trillion ideas” for future trips because boarding is his life. So, if you love doing something, you can challenge records, do it either as work or with your free time, or just for the joy and journey of it.
