{"id":33414,"date":"2023-04-19T23:52:39","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T05:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bloomfield-man-training-to-break-skateboard-record\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:09:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:09:56","slug":"bloomfield-man-training-to-break-skateboard-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/bloomfield-man-training-to-break-skateboard-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloomfield man training to break skateboard record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Loui
Loui Aaron wants to serve Bloomfield and help put it on the map. (Courtesy Loui Aaron)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lucas Aaron Almeida-Barnett, aka Loui Aaron, of Bloomfield, is gearing up to break the the Guinness world record for the longest distance traveled by skateboard in 24 hours. Aaron is also running for Bloomfield City Council and wants to help promote his adopted hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am doing this for so many reasons \u2026 I want to show people that nothing is impossible \u2026 that with enough dedication you truly can accomplish anything,\u201d Almeida-Barnett said. \u201cI want to bring life into my small town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett, who is seeking community support for the skateboarding record attempt and for his City Council campaign, said residents can call him Loui. \u201cThat lets me know we\u2019re friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett plans to go for the Guinness record on Aug. 8 in New York City \u2013 hopefully, with Guinness World Records <\/a>officials on site to monitor his effort.<\/p>\n

He recently posted on his Facebook page<\/a> that he requests everyone to look out for him as he trains locally and in the Durango area.<\/p>\n

He said that it\u2019s \u201chard enough with the dogs, weather and potholes\u201d \u2013 so he asks that motorists \u201cdrive respectively. A wave or water bottle is always appreciated and, of course, encouraging, but please don\u2019t honk,\u201d Almeida-Barnett said.<\/p>\n

The Denver native, who moved to Southern California at 14, started skating at age 13.<\/p>\n

He related in a phone interview the unique manner in which he first got into skateboarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually a little bit ironic \u2026 I was cleaning a friend\u2019s room, and his little sister had this little toy skateboard meant for your hands, really. And I was convinced that I could skate on it,\u201d Almeida-Barnett recalled.<\/p>\n

He took it to school one day and everyone made fun of him saying it was impossible for him to ride it. It was only about 12 inches long with plastic wheels and trucks. It wasn\u2019t even meant to be skated on. \u201cBut I was desperate to learn to skate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He proved everybody wrong by riding the mini-skateboard 2 miles to school \u2013 for about five weeks \u2013 and, even learned a couple of tricks. Then he got a real skateboard and went full-bore into the skateboarding world.<\/p>\n

\"Loui
Loui skateboards trails in Bloomfield, San Juan County and Durango. (Courtesy Loui Aaron)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Almeida-Barnett traveled and played in \u201cold school rock \u2019n\u2019 roll\u201d bands for about seven years, doing hits by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. \u201cI play guitar, bass, piano, drums, anything that makes a toot.\u201d<\/p>\n

His band was called Bright Disease, juxtaposing the contrasting terms. \u201cIt was the idea that a disease is something that spreads and it\u2019s something that\u2019s hard to stop \u2026 and bright is light and illuminating.<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett has a local catering business called Bacon\u2019s<\/a>. \u201cWe specifically do deliveries \u2013 usually corporate companies. \u2026 I think one of our biggest accounts is Melloy Honda, and we do Discount Tire,\u201d he said. He and Megan Underwood, his fianc\u00e9e, operate their gourmet breakfast business from 6 to 10:30 a.m. Monday to Friday.<\/p>\n

After being estranged from his family, he said that during a music tour 10 years ago he visited Bloomfield to reunite with his family. He kept coming back over the years and decided to \u201clay down roots.\u201d He is still involved in a two-year-long custody battle for his son.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got to fight to get what you want,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett has pushed himself to the limits on a skateboard before. In 2015, he skated 2,051 miles from San Diego to Lebanon, Tennessee. He said it was completely unassisted and he skated the entire distance except for a 15-mile stretch in the Mojave Desert because his sponsors insisted, as they couldn\u2019t get supplies to him because of the extreme heat.<\/p>\n

The idea to try to break the skateboarding distance in 24 hours came to him after being really busy with his business and running for City Council, but always seeking a new challenge.<\/p>\n

As a lover of skateboarding, he looked up how many have skateboarded across the continent. He found that no one has. The skateboarding distance record in 24 hours came up next in his search.<\/p>\n

The International Distance and Supercross Association<\/a>, the governing body for the sport of long distance skateboarding, lists the furthest distance traveled by skateboard as 313.9 miles, achieved by Joe Mazzone of Littletown, Colorado at Miami Ultraskate in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Andrew Andras is the current Guinness world record holder for the farthest distance traveled on a skateboard in 24 hours<\/a>. Guinness records indicate that he achieved the record of 261.8 miles on Jan. 7 and 8, 2013, at Homestead-Miami Speedway,<\/a> Homestead, Florida.<\/p>\n

Andras used push sticks, ski poles with a knob or tennis ball on the bottom for traction, and hit speeds of about 7 or 8 mph.<\/p>\n

\"Loui
Loui is pushing himself to handle all road conditions and weather. (Courtesy Loui Aaron)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Aaron said he\u2019s achieved speeds of 12 mph during his training around Bloomfield, which he said is one of the toughest areas to skate because of road conditions.<\/p>\n

During one of his long-distance skates in Southern California, Aaron met James Seamus, who supported his 24-hour distance quest, and agreed to help as his coach.<\/p>\n

When Aaron applied with Guinness Book of Records, his first location choice was Fort Collins, Colorado, where there were smooth streets and long downhills. Seamus connected Aaron with Bustin\u2019 Boards as a sponsor, and they decided that Seamus\u2019s home in New York would be the site.<\/p>\n

He plans to leave for New York in a couple of weeks to train on the actual route with Seamus. There will be more publicity and potential for sponsorship there, Aaron said.<\/p>\n

Aaron is seeking local skateboarders to help him train here and serve as pacers. He\u2019s also looking for photographers who skateboard and who might join him in New York.<\/p>\n

His training routine lately has been \u201caggressive.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to find the most crappy paths and I\u2019m skating in the worst weather, just so I can build up the muscles I need in any situation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s skating a lot at night, on highways and even on gravel. \u201cSo I\u2019m trying to figure out how to balance rough roads in the worst climate right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serious injuries are inherent in skateboarding.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy worst falls have been going slow \u2013 not fast,\u201d Aaron said. He said endurance and stamina are important because when you get tired you start making mistakes. He called them \u201cdumpy falls.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his long distance rides he wore a 70-pound backpack, so if he fell \u2013 no matter how he rolled \u2013 he could really get hurt.<\/p>\n

\"Loui
Loui is seeking local skateboarders to help with his training and pacing. (Courtesy Loui Aaron)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For the record attempt he plans to have pacers in front and behind to clear obstacles, photographers and a drone pilot and bicyclist who can maneuver and film.<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett is driven to succeed in this effort and to accomplish the goals in his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is the personal goal to challenge myself \u2026 and the more we can just make our community better as a whole and to work with people who really want to make a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His desire to serve on City Council is part of his effort to be of service to his community. He also wants to help Bloomfield by bringing national attention to his hometown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely want to get as many local artists, skateboarders and supporters in on this thing as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett believes that communities and individuals who work together will have a greater impact. \u201cThe bigger the team, the better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Almeida-Barnett said Guinness will send an official to cover his efforts if there\u2019s enough publicity. \u201cBut if I don\u2019t get adequate recognition and support, I will have to pay $14,000 for the official to come out,\u201d Aaron said.<\/p>\n

Aaron has a Go Fund Me<\/a> page to help his efforts. \u201cThis is a truly world-changing event, as well as a real chance to show humanity what we are made of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am supported by a great team both here in the Four Corners and in N.Y. Please, put some water on the seed and let me show you how beautiful it can be!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This story was republished with a correction to credit Joe Mazzone of Littletown, Colorado with the longest distance skateboarding in 24 hours record of 313.9 miles, which was provided by the International Distance and Supercross Association<\/a>. Andrew Andras is the Guinness record holder in the same category. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aaron, who\u2019s seeking a seat on Bloomfield City Council, asks motorists to respect skaters <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1222,950,28,443,2227],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bloomfield","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico","tag-skateboarding"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82189,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33414\/revisions\/82189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33414"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}