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As I sit in my chair at home back in Toronto I am filled with bewilderment,gratitude,and excitement.

Bewilderment from where I had just been and what I had just done… Becoming only the 2nd skateboarder to successfully cross Canada coast to coast…( Rob Dyer in 2004)

Gratitude for returning home safe ,and reuniting with loved ones. I wondered how it would feel to transition from small quiet,rural surroundings and tiny towns to one of the world’s biggest cities.

As soon as my board hit the pavement of the streets of Toronto it felt like I had never left…

Excited for the present… The heaps of congratulatory sentiments from some of my most admired/respected friends and peers…Excited to go back to my beloved clubs and play chess…Excited for JS’s upcoming 18th season in September (#jsreport) Excited for upcoming projects.

The thanks yous simply cannot be said enough…. Instead I will vow that all I have been given I will pay forward manifold by continuing your acts of kindness. You may be shocked at how much a person is willing to help you for nothing in return…you just have to ask.

“If you need help, ask for it” a simple lesson I have learned from The Road.

Gratitude for the opportunity to team up with my friend Jamie Martinez and make videos like this…

View this post on Instagram

The Canteen is closed for the knight yet we will continue to accept donations for The HT Community Hub https://holytrinity.to/trinity-community-hub/until the end of August to finish strong.

Grateful to have experiences like this…

https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7307838

Now that the journey has been completed and Canada has been pushed… “what will The Sage Knight do next? “

Stick around and Stay Tuned…

A Special Thank you to all of my loved ones friends and families.

A special Thank you to Mike Hartman Vans So Hip and Caribbean Corner for sponsoring Pushing Canada26.

A special Thank you to Kimberly and Todd Taylor,Pamela Trondson Josh Harrower, Christopher Gollop, Robert Penrose, Jamie Martinez, Nick Sexton, Caleb “The purple God” and “The 4friends” for hosting and helping with correspondence.

The Sage Knight…NT

Another day on the road what’s around the bend? A town is up ahead I just don’t know when. Never say “are we there yet?” For we are here right now .

Sometimes I wish I could skip ahead Sometimes I wish I could stay forever

At the bottom of the hill… it feels like I’ve been here before. A beautiful sky blue house and a big red barn in the exact same place as somewhere back. Everything’s different yet everything’s the same.

He offered me a cold bottle of water, the best directions he could and more. I feel like I’ve spoken to him before. She told me to be careful and said a prayer for me…I feel like I’ve met her before. Saw her again far up the road in an old country convenience store.

Greetings from St John’s dear friends we made it! Before I post the end of journey write up I would like to lovingly encourage folks to donate whatever you’re able to PushingCanada’s fundraising initiative The Holy Trinity Community Hub.

The process is as easy as 1 kilometer… E-transfer to contact@holytrinity.to and add “Noah” 🙏

If you’d like to learn more about the hub go here > https://holytrinity.to/trinity-community-hub/

Blessings

One moment you’re skating down a quiet highway in the rain the next moment you’re experiencing a worldwide natural phenomenon (magnetic hill) with a new friend.

I was making my way down the 126 from Miramishi I knew I was at least 3 quarters to Moncton. Sometimes the rain doesn’t bother me. I just accept/embrace the soak and savour the peace and quiet it brings.A car pulls over to the shoulder up ahead on the opposite side. I think nothing of it and even go more to my side to give each other space. He hails me over. At this point I’m not even looking for/wanting a ride I’m going good and enjoying my rain push.

“maybe this person needs help” I’m thinking so instead of waving him off and continuing I cross over to his side and find out whats going on.

“what are doing out here?” I tell him and get the typical reaction he tells me he skates to and offers a ride into town. Had it been anyone but a skater I would have refused but knowing on the road the skaters I’ve met have been such gems I say “sure” get into my new friends Mini his name is Caleb and he’s a long time Monctonian. Already I’m being shown the sites. Caleb tells me about “magnetic hill” a world phenomenon that pulls cars back up a hill. Of course I want to check it out.

We drive over there in a flash as “everything in Moncton is close” I can actually feel it in the air. After waiting our turn Caleb eases his car down the hill and cuts the engine…a few seconds pass and yep we are slowly getting pulled back up the hill. “Some people think it’s just an optical illusion but I know it’s real I’ve even done it on my board wanna try?” Of course I do! This is where it gets crazy. Caleb grabs his board from is car and we start going down the hill while a crowd has formed to watch. It was something I’ve never encountered in all my years of skating… going downhill I could feel a powerful risistence and a strange feeling in my body like my molecular cells being rearranged. I stand idle a few seconds and just like the car some invisible force is bringing me back up the hill! and fast! Everybody around is just as shocked as I am “maybe it’s the trucks” Caleb and I speculate before we go down for another unexplainable ride. (Look up magnetic hill if you don’t believe me)

What a sequence of events I reflect one moment you’re skating in the rain amongst the forest not knowing where you’re going to rest the next you’re gallivanting around a brand new town with a local and offered a place to crash. That’s just how us skaters get along. I ended up staying for 3 days meeting Caleb’s amazing courteous parents Jimmy and Debbie checking out the local shop Working Class (thanks for the shirt Justin!) and the local park. Caleb is obsessed with the color purple makes his own finger boards and finger board parks and goes by”The Space Pimp” or ‘The Purple God” he’s also a musician and just a genuine good person seems like I’m often magnetized to the characters or vice versa I’ll be making my way back to Moncton some day.

Moncton has an amazing 90s style park and I LOVE OG 90 s. Style skateparks

NT The Sage Knight…🌹

🙏🧲🏁

Dear sisters and brothers we are nearing the end of the journey…A loving reminder to support your sagely friend on the road as Ferry fare and booking a flight home will hit harder on the pocket then the typical coffee and pizzas. E-transfer to Thefriendlycustodian11@hotmail.com no contribution is too small or unappreciated a million thank yous for helping Pushing Canada 26 become a reality. 🙏

And check out our fun video we made for PushingCanada/Noah’s Canteen !

It feels like this journey has flown by… I knew going east would be different from last summer but my goodness it’s as if I’ve crossed across an entirely different country. The Road has been kind to me… feeling like a very accomplished knight. As soon as I reach the coast I can plant the flag 🏁 and celebrate on The Rock. To anyone reading this you can do that big thing you’ve been planning, you can go further than you think ,don’t let anything hold you back. Even if you fail…”better to act and fail then to not act and flounder” OG Mandino

Love you all 🙏

NT The Sage Knight…🌹

I volunteer at The Hub every Tuesday if you’re looking to make a contribution to the those in need and want peace of mind knowing not a cent will fall into the wrong hands then look no further to The HT Community Outreach Hub providing food, clothing, hygiene.products ID clinic and so much more to those in need twice a week.

Here’s the link and add “in honor of Pushing Canada” https://civi.holytrinity.to/civicrm/contribute/transact/?reset=1&id=9

Place yourself on the side of a quiet backroad… there’s nothing but forrest on either side the sun is shining down, the birds are singing,the day just got going and all that’s on the menu until nightfall is push push push. Would you be content just with your thoughts? Would you play games like guess what type of vehicle will pass next or from which way? Would you talk/sing to yourself? Listen to music or podcasts?

I do a lot of thinking/conceptualizing and occasionally listen to music when the road allows it (always going against with never with) Here’s a couple of tracks that have helped pass the kilometers, this one’s for you Kayda Tynes!

1 Wicked Lady ‘living on the edge”

2 Phillip Glass “Labrinth”

3Tessa Parks “Blood Hot” full album

4Cocoa Tea “She loves me now”

5Elton John “Slave”

6I am Kloot “To you “

7Mor Mor “Whatever comes to mind”

8Stereolab “Transona 5”

9Lila Baili “Rocky mountain lullaby”

10.Supertramp “Take the long way home”

11David Bowie “Young Americans” full album

Just a to name a few… download the tracks and you have yourself a Pushing Canada soundtrack.

Greetings from Moncton friends taking a few days to kick the feet up.

Plaster rock to Miramishi was no candy walk… It gave flashbacks of the great Bruce Pines to Kenora crossing in which sometimes even vehicles don’t even make it across the 300km stretch of raw wilderness. No gas stations restaurants or motels I lived off lake water and electrolyte powder I pushed my body well past it’s limit then a little more, at times feeling like I was floating rather than standing… I digress.

Meet Ben Walsh… the newest skater to join the family. There I was in the Atlantic super store getting the usuals. I’m not a self check out type as I actually like to interact with the cashiers and break the monotony by giving a complement or telling a joke however this time the line was just too much. Over to the self check out I go.

“I saw you walk in with your board…” the boy with pink hair who caught my eye when I first walked in says “it looks cool” he says. Hmmm you’d be shocked at how much attention my whip creates (some skaters call their boards whips) I might as well be walking around with a Jennifer Aniston/Beyonce like beauty heads turn gazes are fixed,my whip even gets cat called “do a kickflip” not a day goes by without these interactions.

“Is it now?” I say I check myself reminding that I am not in the big city where I mitolght give a snarky remark or give no response at all..

and this person genuinely may have not seen a real board or a real skateboarder up close and personal. Sometimes I tell folks how I arrived and what I’m doing and sometimes I don’t…it all depends on the person,mood, situation. I tell the pink haired boy and the usual reaction of disbelief is what I get back. followed by a litany of the usual questions while the grocery store carries on around us.

“I’ve always wanted to skate” The pink haired boy admonoshes I feel this journeys greatest reward is inspiring/encouraging others. I cut straight to the point “if there’s anything I can leave you with it is get a board and start skating like now… today what’s stopping you?”

“the roads in town are rough and the nearest skate shop is in Moncton” like a Ty Evans or Jamie Thomas I like to play the excuse eliminator especially with my skateboarding students.

” you have one the biggest smoothest parking lots I’ve ever seen right behind us, and you can usually get a decent set up for cheap on market place”

I can tell what I’m saying is actually sinking in. Ben and I hit it off and we agree to meet for coffee at the super store parking lot in the morning. We meet the next morning and Ben becomes just the 2nd person I’ve had morning coffee with since I left. I was shocked at how much Ben already knew about skateboarding and informed him he’s already got a head start. I leave town for Moncton that evening and get a text from Ben showing the board he just bought from market place. I feel like at times encounters are not just random occurrences. Certain people are meant to meet at certain times.As I’ve told Ben skateboarding can enrich one’s life tremendously and to give somebody that gift and get them off the ground alone makes this summer’s a success Best of luck Ben be patient and persistent 🙏

Just a tiny portion of Ben’s new dojo NB pavement is very distinct it’s blue/gray or light clay red. It’s very very smooth with a soft yet solid texture so good I had to have little flat session myself before I hit the road.

I’ve never seen a dumpster with “be kind” written on it on officially. The dumpster is right… thanks for the reminder🙏 Also absolutely love this dark forrest green.