San Antonio – A San Antonio 16-year-old hopes to raise awareness about road cleanliness by skateboarding 800 miles across Texas.
Ezera Reagan is an independent endurance skateboarder who started his passion of skating when he was a young boy.
“When I started skating, I got addicted,” Reagan said. “I used to just ride for eight or nine hours straight. Just riding in a circle. I’d say I was getting up to at least 20 miles in a day.”
He said when he skates, he’s a different person.
“It is a feeling I can’t describe,” Reagan said. “It is very euphoric. It is a big escape.”
While skating locally, Reagan said he noticed more and more litter on the roads.
“It just makes me sad when I see that,” Reagan said. “On a skateboard, you start to realize how rough the roads are. Especially when you start putting trash and glass on it. It gets hard on cars and your board and goes into a big financial problem.”
He said he came up with the idea to skate across Texas for a fun challenge. He got his inspiration from professionals in the athletic world.
“It is a combination of people I look up to,” Reagan said. “I have always loved people with high numbers to their name. Eddie Hall is a strong man who deadlifted the first ½ ton. Another man swam around the United Kingdom. I have just been very infatuated with things like that.”
Reagan is planning the big trip in May.
“I plan to skate 828 miles from Brownsville to Perryton, Texas,” Reagan said. “I have done a little bit of math and I found out that I am probably going to have to average a hundred miles a day to get it done as quickly as I can…because I have school and stuff,” he laughed.
On his journey, Reagan will need food, water and other needed resources to complete the trip.
“I am trying to find someone to follow me so I can document everything,” Reagan said. “Hopefully, I can get a sponsor so that I can raise money and can afford better equipment like shoes and new wheels.”
He said he is still sorting out the details but hopes this journey will result in others joining him skating across Texas for clean highways.
He said at first, his mother was very anxious about the idea.
“She almost had a panic attack,” he laughed. “But now she is on board and supportive of what I am wanting to do.”
One day Reagan said he would like to skateboard from the East Coast to the West Coast.
He is asking anyone with any ideas of how he can make his trip a safe and successful one to send them his way.
“It is a lot of what I have heard Elon Musk say,” Reagan said. “Right now, it is the best time to be ambitious. Just find your passion and go with it really.”
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