Angie's Clock Tower to Eiffel Tower Ride...

Anjie & friends at Carterton's Clock Tower

We just wanted to wish the very best of luck to local resident Angie Bryant, who is setting off on an epic 370 mile bike ride from our home town of Carterton on August 14th. Anjie hopes to raise £4,000 for head and neck cancer charity Heads Up.



WHEN Angie went to the doctor with swollen glands, she thought it was just another bout of tonsillitis.
She didn't realise she was suffering from throat cancer and would need a 14-and-a-half hour operation, followed by months of treatment.
Now the 48-year-old, from Carterton, has battled back from the disease and hopes to repay the support the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford gave her, by cycling with seven friends and family from the clock tower in Carterton town centre to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

To donate, visit justgiving.com/cartertontopariscycleride  - as of today, a fantastic £1,700 has already been raised.  If you can't donate right now, maybe you can just share this story with friends and family...

Good luck Angie!!

Must have gadget...

Every now and again, somebody comes up with an idea that makes every fibre of your childish-being tingle with excitement...  as someone who spent many a childhood (& adult) hour in the manufacture of paper aeroplanes, this is just such a gadget :0)

The kit (available from Amazon.com) consists of a capacitor that clips onto the plane's nose, which is connected to a rear-mounted propeller via a carbon fiber shaft. The capacitor takes a 20 second-long charge from a separate battery pack, which contains three AA batteries. One charge provides enough power for 90 seconds of flight. That's probably plenty of time, considering that users presumably have to chase after their powered paper planes in order to get them back!  Visit the manufacturer's website for more details on how to best-use your flight pack.

Tony Leard, sponsored skater update...

Check out Tony's latest blog update here...

Thanks for the nice mention Tony, we really appreciate it! :0)

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NASA's image of the day...

The historic final landing of the space-shuttle Atlantis, marked by this gorgeous photo from NASA

Atlantis, the fourth orbiter built, launched on its first mission on Oct. 3, 1985.   Overall, Atlantis spent 307 days in space and traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights.  Atlantis touched down yesterday at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 5:57 a.m. EDT, bringing to a close 30 years of space shuttle flights.

"Although we got to take the ride," said Commander Chris Ferguson on behalf of his crew, "we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us."

Quite a poignant day for all the folks at NASA today, as they held the decomissioning ceremony for the last flight of the Space Shuttle Program...

On a lighter note, we are delighted to discover - in an unashamedly geeky way :0) - that we can now download a range of NASA android & iPhone apps - check them out here.

Keep up to date with us on Facebook...

We have lots of lovely friends sharing news, views & photos with us on Facebook , why not join them & keep us up-to-date with what's happening in your world?

We also tweet & we'd love to follow your news.

Make your own jet-powered Batmobile...

... this guy did!!

It is powered by a military-spec turboshaft engine driving the rear wheels through a semi automatic gearbox. It features a custom tube frame/monocoque chassis with fully independant suspension, disc brakes, and a sequential shifter. It runs on kerosene, diesel, or Jet fuel and has a power to weight ratio comparable to a Dodge Viper. The car is registered and insured for the road in the United States. Built in 2011 by Casey Putsch, of the Putsch Racing facility.

Where can I get one?!  I'm sure that the insurance premiums will be no problem at all :0)

Wooden bike...

... a snip at just £4000 & just a 12 week wait for delivery...

When established furniture maker Seth Deysach was invited to be part of the Object Society design show in June last year, he decided to create something special for the occasion that combined two of his passions - creating things in wood and cycling. The single-speed, one size Lagomorph bike boasts strong, elegant lines and an impressive catalog of high quality components. Now the designer is taking special orders for the wooden-framed bike, with custom options available on request.

Personally, I'd be a bit too nervous about my wooden pride & joy ending up as a box of matches if I had a little accident... :0)

SMB Skate Crew update...

SMB Bearings is proud to sponsor an AMAZING bunch of riders & we are delighted to bring you some of their latest news:

Welcome to John Griffiths, UK downhill skateboarder:

John will be travelling to Europe this year to race Kozakov and Insul on the IGSA European tour and hopes to do well. John says "I have been riding downhill for three years now and have competed successfully on an national and international level, heres a list of my results so far:

3rd - Festival longboarderz in portugal
1st - Marignar outlaw
1st - Bo peep outlaw
2nd - Sheepy outlaw
3rd - Bo peep crash & burn "

We look forward to following John's progress closely :0)



New videos from our Bristol crew - Shannon Francis, stunt scooter rider:



& Schaeffer Mclean, 7 year-old skateboarder:



Aaron Skippings has just announced a new blog, so that we can all keep up with his exploits... check it out here


Gravity sports "Team for Ride" won out at last weekend's Familia Challenge in France - Marie stole the show for the ladies, bagging 1st place

And buttboarding we have Fabien at the front & Thibaut bringing up the rear in their race at the Familia...

Tony Leard, US skateboarder & awesome graphic designer, has been a real treat for us - proactive, helpful & talented, he's produced some great graphics to support the SMB Skate Crew & here are the results so far:

Thanks to you all - we are so pleased (& a little bit awed) to be represented by such a talented bunch of riders!

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