Fabrice Gropaiz wasn’t content with just the around-the-world rollerblading record.
The 48-year-old Frenchman figured, why not celebrate turning 49 by repeating the trip on a skateboard?
Fabrice Gropaiz rollerbladed around the world at age 28. He put a tent in a backpack and set out on a rainy morning on a 17,000-mile trip that took him 28 months.
After a two-decade hiatus, Gropaiz has decided to resume his circumnavigating. This time his conveyance will be an electric skateboard.
That will certainly be easier than rollerblading when he needs to cross mountains.
He departed his hometown of Mers-les-Bains on a 1,864-mile tour of France on June 27, to test the system.
He plans to start his two-year, 16,000 mile ‘round-the-world tour in 2018.
His skateboard has an oversized battery, and he will tow a trailer which carries a solar panel. He plans to ride for six to eight hours each day.
Gropaiz hopes his example will revolutionize people’s thinking about personal transport.
“If I can do a tour of France and a tour of the world, you can easily go to work on a skateboard,” he said.
