A 16-year-old from Tsideldel First Nation chose to ride a skateboard during the Tsilhqot’in Annual Horse and Bike Ride to the Williams Lake Stampede.
Blayz Bringham said he started skateboarding about a year ago, but rode a horse last year for the trek.
“I broke my arm skateboarding and couldn’t go on a horse,” he told the Tribune.
He and his friends talked about skateboarding the route but in the end he was the only one who did.
“It was the first time anybody skateboarded it in all the years,” he said. “I was racing the bikes, it was pretty fun.”
Bingham did ride down the steep and long Sheep Creek Hill toward the bridge and was wearing a helmet.
“I did fall on the bridge because I didn’t know there were holes in it, but I was fine,” he said.
His total ride was between 60 and 80 kilometres.
He wasn’t able to ride when it was raining because his board would have absorbed water and been ruined so he rode in a truck when the entire group descended down Highway 20 into Williams Lake on Friday, June 27.
Each year the ride departs from Tl’etinqox First Nation with various stops along the way where everyone camps and various First Nation communities take turns hosting events for youth such as games of Lahal or a gymkhana.
"Getting to know other communities is something I really enjoyed," Blayz said.
It was the 22nd year of the ride.
Any chance he can Blayz is on his skateboard.
In his home community of Tsideldel (Redstone), he and his friends skateboard on Highway 20, which he described as a "ghost town."
He hopes one day they will have a skate park like the one he rides when he's in Williams Lake, 188 km away.
“We are trying to get people out to Tsideldel to see if they could put one in here," he said.
Blayz attends Williams Lake Secondary School and over the summer he hopes to find a job.
He also enjoys horse riding and once his arm heals will be back to doing that.
