With Nikki settling in nicely, and July now within touching distance there is an exciting buzz in the ttride HQ.

In fact nearly everyone we speak to seems to be pretty be ecstatic with their situation having either just finished exams or in some cases decided to take well earned time out from what some describe as ‘the grinding routine of everyday life.’

Either way these are exciting times for our potential Riders and I am always the first one to tell people that the whole dilemna of “where to go? and what to??” is in reality one of the best dilemna’s out there.

Tim is all set to jet off out to South Africa and straight into their prime surf season. As head of Ticket to Ride trips to South Africa, Tim is going to be leading our 1 month African Road Trip this July. Looking over the group we have lined up and ready to hit some of South Africa's most famed surfing locations, I am pretty sad not to be on this one.

In fairness I am fairly sorted for my fix of sun, sea and surf as I am off to Portugal in 9 days for 3 weeks. Here I will be running our School Up and Riding Courses. Both the enthusiasm and seemingly unlimited energy of the boys and girls on these courses is incredible, however as long as don't over do it over the next 9 days, I am fairly confident that I can give these whippers a run for their money when it comes to energy.

Looking further ahead to our September Career Break Instructor Course seems to be a forefront of everyone's mind as far Rider recruitment is concerned. We already have a fantastic group lined up for this one with just a few spaces remaining. Having met most of them in person a week or so ago in Ticket to Ride's favourite London watering hole I have no doubt that this career break course will be an epic. The fact that some of the group travelled right across London to get to know their fellow Riders bodes extremely well for a trip where everyone is super keen to really make the most of everything offer and with our man Tim at the helm of this one, this one is predicted to raise the ttride bar even higher. And with high standards in mind I thought I would put up some surf shots of TTRide trip leaders.

Our January 2009 Course to South Africa and Costa are filling up as fast as ever, this must be in part due to the fact that A-level exams are almost over.

The TTRide website makeover is also on track as well as the the new TTRide movie. These two projects have so all in all…

Exciting times…

It all started with just myself and Will working from wherever we could place the paper down, and then Tim joined us after year 1 to give us an extra pair of hands, the 3 of us have been ploughing on for the last year and a half, but try as we might the work load has out grown us, and so it is with great pleasure that we can introduce Nikki Leadbetter to the team.

As an aspiring professional photographer Nikki joined us on our 2007 Zero to Hero programme before going onto travel a little. Returning to the sunny UK shores fully qualified she worked with the prestigious Animal Surf Academy, where she was a highly regarded instructor for their busiest Summer on record. We then offered her the position as trip assistant from Jan – April running our Zero to Hero programme with Tim, where she did an excellent job and managed to hold her own in what is usually a male dominated role.

Nikki is a sparky, confident, and hard working character with a creative mind, and we are confident that she is going to bring a new dynamic to the team.

In order for everyone to get to know her a little bit better we went through 5 minute’s worth of questions….

How did you get involved in Ticket to Ride?

One online surf check, an advert for TTRide, and then a short phone conversation later I ditched all my plans to go to Australia back in 2006 and I was booked onto the Zero to Hero 2007 trip to South Africa. I then ran the Zero to Hero trip 2 in 2008 with Tim and now here I am the newest addition to the ticket to ride team!!

What's the most exciting part about joining the team?

Being able to go into work and talking about surfing all day!! More seriously its exciting joining a young driven company and being involved in an exciting industry that opens up so many opportunities and adventures for people. I’ve been lucky enough to carry on my South African adventure with Ticket to Ride and watch other people start there's.

How long have you been surfing?

I’d tried surfing a few times while abroad when I was younger but I properly started after a holiday to Croyde in 2004. After that all other plans went out the window and I changed my round the world ticket to take me to only places I could surf and I've been at it ever since.

Favourite countries you've traveled to?

Hmmm… I have a lot but and not just saying it for obvious reasons but South Africa, as you travel from place to place its just so different and the waves are amazing. I love Costa Rica, Mexico and Indo oh oh and OZ its just so laid back; I love the lifestyle there. So I dont really have one specific place!


Favourite surf break?

New pier (Durban, SA), Nahoon corner (East London, SA), Santa Teresa (Costa Rica - lots of fond breakthroughs) and somewhere in Cornwall.

Other than surfing how do you keep yourself busy?

Taking photos and hanging out with friends (and eating chocolate shhhhhh don't tell anyone!)

In a film about Nikki, who would you choose to play yourself?

Jonny Depp its the only way id get to meet him!! Is that allowed?...

From all the musicians (dead or alive) who would you most like to see live?

Bob Dylan and Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedders voice makes my knees go!!

Anything else? Time for a chunky kit kat!!

We're down at Beachbreak Live at the moment, enjoying the sunshine and trying to convince ourselelves that we are at work. It's been a hard one, it really has. Haha! Since we left the office on Sunday the sun has shone and we've been basking in the rays outside our Gazebo listening to live music, checking out some of the stage performers and really just enjoying ourselves. Being located right next to the beach volley ball court is also a minor bonus.

So far there's been alot of interest from the festival goes with our tent regularly being swamped. This may have something to do with the free board raffle, check back here next week to see the winner, however we've also had lots of interest in our trips around the world. Being a student festival our Portugal trips and Morocco trips for Uni Surf clubs have drawn quite a bit of attention. Our new summer 08 clothing range is also on display and has gone down well so far, check out the photos on our website for more info on that!

Monday finished with a quick surf and Tuesday has started no differently, up for first light and down to the beach to check the waves. The wind was up so it was back for coffee and to do a few chores before we head back over to the site in just a minute. We have Sam and Niko, two of our Trip Leaders, along for the week and it's been great to catch up with them. They will be heading out with us on the January 2009 trips that Linley, our lynchpin in London, reliably informs us are selling well despite two of our three man team heading off to Corwall.

3 man team... well no more! Today Ticket to Ride welcomes it's newest member of staff. Nikki Leadbetter, former TTRide graduate, photographer, trip leader and all round surf siren joins us today on a full time basis. A big welcome to Nikki and you'll be hearing much more from her in the future.

So there we go, sunny days at TTRide.

Cheers
Tim and Will

It's weekends like this that make you feel that Summer is well and truly here. Not only has the weather been as good as possible, England saw off New Zealand with an innings in hand, and it's been all stations go with TTRide present at a handful of Summer events.

Will and Tim are currently down in Cornwall as I speak on our stand at Beach Break Live. Early reports are that the festival has doubled since last year, and our plot is on a fake beach which the boys seemed pretty happy with!

We spent Saturday at a quintessentially British Summer event, which was Varsity Polo held in Windsor Park, no royalty there unfortunately. But we took out lady friends down to enjoy a day in the sunshine whilst taking the chance to talk to a handful of future gap year students about their prospects for their all important year off.

Yesterday I took on the Blenheim Triathalon, which given the high temperatures proved fairly hard work! It's an annual event held in the stunning grounds of Blenheim Palace, I was running for the Banana Army Team, which raises finance for Leukemia Research. It's always a great day, with over 4000 competitors all pushing themselves as hard as possible to raise money for charities close to their hearts. It was also a great chance to get the fitness rolling for my bike ride later in the Summer. For those of you who don't know I'm cycling in a team of four from Lands End to John o Groats in the last two weeks of August to raise money for the TTRide Foundation, it's going to be hard work so anything I can do in the meantime to raise my own fitness is very much needed!

We’ve also got a busy week ahead, with Tim and Will down in Cornwall we’re welcoming in our newest team member Nikki tomorrow. The team has officially double in size since our inception, the people involved in TTRide play a huge role in what we do, and hence we take a huge amount of time thinking about who we want involved. Nikki is a TTRide graduate herself, led a TTRide trip from January to April and presents a strong addition to the team.

Enough of this, as the only one in the office today it’s time I got back to work!

Over and out.

L

The end of another good week here at Ticket to Ride. I returned to the office yesterday after a fantastic few days in Cornwall with Sherborne School on the first of our UK Up and riding adventures. We took 12 staff and pupils from Sherborne down to Cornwall for a weekend of exploration and were blessed with mostly sunny skies and some great little waves.

The Weekend started at Perranporth where we kitted the guys out with all the equipment they would need for the weekend, then it was a stroll down to the water's edge for the first of 5 surf sessions. As most of the guys were new to the sport, or just passing the beginner stage, the aim was to get everyone sitting out beyond the breakers by the end of the weekend and catching their first green waves. This was going to take lots of water time, lots of persistence and lots of energy! I can happily report that the group came through in style.

Perranporth provided us with some good waves on the friday. A solid swell hit so it was a battle against the energy sapping rip but everyone finished the day having caught plenty of waves and mastered the basics of board control and popping up. Refreshed and well rested, we headed south on the Saturday to Godrevy. The swell had mellowed and we were greeted by some perfect little swell lines and plenty of space to walk and find our own peak. Putting the experience of Friday to good use, we all paddled out to the back line where the guys started to get the hand of catching unbroken waves, sitting on their boards and perfecting the all important surfer pose. By the end of the day we were all exhausted and ready for a hot chocolate in the beach cafe before retiring for a final rest to take on the dunes at Perran Sands!

We arrived early on the Sunday and descended the 100ft or so of sand dune onto the deserted beach. Assessing the conditions, we had the pick of the sandbars and had a great 2 hr session to finish with. Looking back over the days it was clear to see how far some of the guys had come. Rory and Tom in patricular showing some great progress going from total beginners to chargers in just 3 days! Well done guys.

It was great to able to show the guys around the beaches of the South West. Until you go you never really know just how good the waves on our doorstep can be. Having 3 days with the group allowed me to explain the ins and outs of the different breaks as well as some basic theory around ocean saftey and surfing etiquette. Hopefully the guys will keep surfing and are now well equipped to take to the waves on their own when they are next down in the summer holidays. A big well done all the group and hopefully we will see you again soon.

Next week the fun continues with Beach Break Live. We will be on the festival site from the Sunday night and look forward to seeing you all there. Come by the TTR Gazebo for a chat.

Till next time,

Tim