He’s got wheels, a goal, and a 5,000-mile journey

Published 11:53 pm Saturday, September 8, 2007

MARYSVILLE — By this time next year, Marysville could have a new world-record holder.

Gabe Gribler, 16, plans next summer to ride his longboard a larger version of a skateboard down the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, then to New York. Total miles: more than 5,000.

If all goes as planned, he’ll be doing it with three other riders to raise money for the Livestrong Foundation, the cancer-fighting charity started by champion bicycle rider Lance Armstrong.

Gribler hopes to raise $75,000 between now and next summer. He expects the trip to cost between $6,000 and $7,000, leaving the rest for the charity. But it’s about more than money, he said.

“It’s more like giving people who actually have cancer hope by doing something like this,” he said.

A fellow rider from Utah had cancer as a child, he said. The mother of another rider from Oregon suffers from a brain tumor. Gribler was motivated to help fight the disease after his grandfather became sick with lung cancer, he said. He died recently.

“I know what it’s like for people going through that,” he said.

He read stories of other longboarders in the United States and Australia doing similar feats to raise money.

“I thought, ” ‘What an amazing thing,’ and it became one of my greatest dreams and goal in life,” Gribler said.

Gribler, a junior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, has been riding his longboard for about 412 years, he said.

Gribler said he’s also been motivated by Dave Cornwaithe of England, who rode his board solo across Australia. That’s the record for a solo trip, according to Gribler, while the record for a four-person trip is from coast to coast in Canada.

He’s planning to have the support from a van, bus or RV he’s figured that into the $75,000 he needs to raise and a cameraman and driver. But he knows the trip won’t be easy, he said. He’s riding as much as he can to get ready, and plans some intensive training in the months leading up to leaving at the end of next June.

The plan is to take back roads and bike paths from the Canadian border in Western Washington to the Mexican border near San Diego. The four riders would switch off, riding in the van when they’re not on the longboard.

Longboards are known for their speed going down hills, sometimes more than 70 mph. To keep from getting out of control, Gribler plans to use a new German model of longboard called a rolls rolls, fitted with a disc brake system. For going up hills, it’ll be just old-fashioned effort, he said.

“That’s pretty much going to be the slow part,” he said. “You know when you go up, you have to go down.”

The riders expect to cover about 120 miles a day on average, and for the trip to end in mid-August. For hot weather, they expect to take shorter shifts and drink lots of water.

Gribler’s hoping to get sponsors for food and longboards.

His parents, he said, have given their blessing to the idea, albeit reluctantly.

“They were kind of hesitant at first, because of the safety part,” Gribler said. But the riders plan to be fully equipped with safety gear, he said.

Gabe’s dad, Mike Gribler, said he was hoping his son’s idea was “a passing fancy and he’d forget about it,” he said.

“But he has a one-track mind on this accomplishment,” Mike Gribler said. “He’s been doing all the work and is really motivated to get it done.”

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.