Around lap 20 of his approximately 30-lap mission, Zachary Choboter stops to take a break.
He's been inline skating around Stanley Park dressed as a bee since 6 p.m. the previous day (July 25) - with no sleep - and still has over six hours to go before he's reached his 24-hour target.
Choboter has a non-profit called Blading for Bees and as out-there as his most recent adventure may sound, it's just one of several crazy feats he's embarked upon in the name of pollinators.
During the school year, Blading for Bees, which is partnered with other pollinator protection non-profits, works with the education system, but in the summer, Choboter straps on his skates (the fancy efficient kind with larger wheels that are more like speed skates) and thinks of "badass things" to do to raise awareness.
“We do crazy inline skating adventures to raise awareness and educate people about bees and how we’re all connected,” he tells V.I.A. over the phone.
Plans to make a beeline around the globe on inline skates next year
Back in 2021, Choboter skated 10,000 km across Canada, breaking a Guinness World Record for the longest distance covered on roller/in-line skates, and next year he plans to circumnavigate the globe on skates.
He thinks it'll take him about a year to skate the globe and plans to set off from Vancouver on February 29, 2024.
For now, though, he's pushing through the last stretch of his Stanley Park skate. It takes him between 40 and 45 minutes to complete each lap of the park and if he manages to complete 30 laps before 6 p.m. Wednesday, he says he'll keep going.
"I'm not trying to be a hero," he laughs. "It's a mental battle."
He has a small support team who have been helping him, though he did send them home to sleep during his overnight laps.
Stanley Park at 3 a.m. was "a little bit eerie," he admits. And full of coyotes. "None attacked me but I did see a whole bunch,” he recalls.
Otherwise, Choboter says that the south side of Stanley Park facing the city was beautiful at night.
If you're on the Stanley Park Seawall today and see a skater roll by dressed like a bee with an antenna, funny glasses, and a striped shirt, just know it's for the bees.
“We do these things to show what we’re willing to do to help bees and the environment,” he says.
