After work I had a quick drive to meet up with Dave. He was working in Louisville and we were going to skate a ditch after a meet up at the park. But I bet deep inside both of us knew we wouldn’t stop skating wherever we started. I went through 3 setups as it rained during the warm up stage. Pretty much right away Dave did the boardslide out of the qp after we laughed about how weird the parking block placement was. Did you actually put it there Dave? He also had some nice pivots on the weird qp then front 50 the bank to ledge. I was trying a line of crooks the ledge then noseslide to fakie the bank to ledge. The crooks felt great, but I kept messing up the noseslide to fakie. After a pretty bad slam I needed extra motivation and was trying to add a trick before the crooks but, couldn’t get a treflip or heelflip. Eventually settled on kickflip over the parking block and surprised myself with a great feeling kickflip, good feeling crooks, then great feeling noseslide to fakie. Dave was going to punch me if I didn’t do the noseslide to fakie. That line made me happy though. Struggled with front 50s again and may have only gotten a couple really slow ones. Dave had some good ones and did one with a nollie shove at the end into the little bank that was pretty amazing. Dave went in on a line of ollie to drop in on the mini hubba down the stairs, then ollie onto the ledge and roll into the bank, then back tail on the parking block out of the qp. He would get a couple to fakie, but not quite to forward like he wanted. I really struggled to ollie onto the little ledge and roll in like Dave was. I would never commit to it. But I would get a low b/s flip over the main hip that was pretty rewarding. Dave then did a few and a perfect b/s flip over the mellower hip. I was posing front heels over it and they started to feel kind of realistic and then out of nowhere I landed a really floppy one. And it felt incredible. I rarely land new tricks these days and even rarer do I land them in less than 20 tries. Kind of a mixed session struggling with some basics, but landing a new trick at the end felt incredible.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, royal 144 hollow kingpin, spitfire f4 99a 51mm classic, new balance numeric 574 vulc blue/white size 11.5 with half insole and currex run pro insole)
(pain level 5/10)

After lounging on a cold morning the sun had come out and I snuck out for a couple hours of skating. After yesterdays performance not being able to ollie well or even push comfortably I had written off Thunders yet again. I tried my 8.5 Slace setup. It felt good. My goal was to go around the school and selfie film a trick at every one of the close to 10 spots around the school. Well, it got off to a bad start when I couldn’t even ollie onto the narrow pad by the chalk board to start. I did have some warm up flippers that came really easily though. Bs flip, halfcab flips, fakie flip, heelflip. I settled for the dorky manual. Then I had posed an ollie over the two block and almost died bailing it. So I was going to selfie film trying to ollie it, but then a group of kids came to the play equipment which is like 5 feet away. Whew, I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway. Then I ended up at the weird curved area and skated the regular ledge at first. It was crazy, I tried a noseslide and went over the top and fell into the dirt. Not as bad as it sounds, but it was still crazy. May have gotten one little crook jib. Couldn’t get halfcab noseslide. Then I messed with the curved ledge for a while. I couldn’t get the nerve (or enough angle) to 50 it. Settled for the ‘nollie’ tail then quick ollie. It was way harder than I wanted it to be. Then I was on the side of the school. I really struggled to front 50 the low ledge comfortably. It was annoying it faces directly at the road so anytime a car would come I would let it get to my head and stop skating. I would eventually go on to get a run that sounds good on paper, but was really slow. Halfcab flip, front 50, curve around and b/s flip out of the little bank. Finally to the front area aka the main attraction and I was pretty sore. I would get some noseslides, noseslide to fakie, perhaps a crook jib and I think a boardslide. Front 50 didn’t even seem remotely possible ugh. Also tried several treflips and came up empty handed. Another tough session. Made me doubt the larger setup. I flipped it well until treflip time and certainly was no better at ollies with it. Argh.

(setup 4/10 null 8.5/14.25 20 year deck, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.5 (ace baseplate and bushings slappy hanger), 51mm bones pj stf v1, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insole plus currex runpro insole)
(pain level 5/10 was pretty sore)

On a cold and snowy day I went to Longmont on a LOCO run. It was flurrying, but let up so I randomly went to Skyline which I haven’t skated in years. It felt even colder than I imagined right around freezing. The ledges seemed infinitely taller than I remembered. I did not feel good on my board nor did I like my board even though it did flip really well. I had an early warm up line of noseslide the downhill one, kickflip, noseslide to fakie the tall one. But it had taken me a while to get to that point. Took a while to do a switch front nose on the downhill one and it was terrible. I got a treflip that might be the biggest stretch of a make to date. I had some alright halfcab flips and b/s flips using the hill. Remotely close to a few cab flips. Couldn’t get a heelflip or a crooked grind on the taller ledge. I tried like a million ollied onto the tall pad and barely got one. I was trying crooks on the downhill when a car pulled up and it was Bernie! Great hearing his voice again and it hyped me up enough to finally get a little crook. I tried a bunch of noseslide to crook and only one attempt was even remotely close. Eventually I left with the intention skating more, but Longmont HS had a bunch of youth roaming around. Tough day at the office.

(setup 4/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 royal bushings, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insole and currex run pro insole)
(pain level 3/10 felt good until the end)

Took a lunch break to Blue Skies and it was sooo nice out. I went with the Strikes again and this time felt like they have some potential. I took a bit to get a warm up line of boardslide a flat bar, kickflip on flat, noseslide down an escalator ledge, b/s nollie on the bank, crooks the ledge. I mostly lined things out the whole time. Had a couple front board jibs, a few halfcab flips, a heelflip, ollies over the lowest part of the dragon rail. Ended doing a crook jib on the escalator ledge followed by front 50 attempt on the lowest ledge which I kind of did but also rode along the top slowly.

After work I met Dave at Valmont park. He was battling back bigspin over the hip and would get a really smooth one. Then he went on to line out several b/s flips over the hip too with back d on the little qp, back tail on the volcano, front ride the barrier. I got quite a few kickflips quickly. To fakie on the mellow bank, b/s on a hump. Went on to do a line of f/s flip on the mellow bank then kickflip to fakie on the shark fin. I was pretty hyped on that. Then I failed at treflips to fakie on the bank for a while and Dave had to leave.

So I went over to dog park. Was hyped that Jamison and Robbie were there ripping. I thought I would do basically nothing, but I ended up doing a few basics. Crooks on the bench was fun, front 50 the lurb was hard because the Strikes are so cushiony they absorb pop, slappies, couldn’t get kick back 50.

Lotta skating. Really sore a day later writing this. I was hoping these strike shoes would avoid that, but alas it doesn’t appear there will ever be a perfect skate shoe.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, strike mvmnt transit street trainer black/gum size 12 currex run pro insole)
(pain level 3/10 felt good until the end)

Met Nullers at Broomfield park with the purpose of filming a little skit for the new shirts. We skated for a while at the park. I was trying to break in some Strike MVMNT “Transit Street Trainer” shoes. Wow they are thick and stiff. I skated pretty bad. I don’t know if I can even remember a trick I did. I know I was switching between my 8.5 and 8.25 setups because of how the shoes felt, but ultimately stuck with the 8.25. Garrett had some great back tails on the ledge into the bank. Bo somehow couldn’t treflip. Joe’s front crooks on the ledge into the bank were great. Sean being Sean was awesome. Then we went to the nearby school and had fun shooting hoops and dunking. Then to another school with a low wall rail that everyone got denied on.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, strike mvmnt transit street trainer black/gum size 12 currex run pro insole)
(pain level 6/10 from the day before)

On a warm morning I went to dog park. Bratcher, Jesse and Tim were there. Tim was shredding extra hard doing some really long slappies. I was skating alright. Tried a line of crooks the back of the tall ledge then really close to kick back 50 the lurb. Jesse, Jack and I played a game of SKATE. I managed some very defensive takes on a lot of non-flip tricks and managed to win it at the end with a few flippers in a row fakie flip, halfcab flip, heelflip. Finally got a really slow fakie 50 on the bench. Then I had to go meet Nullers.

Later on we ended up at Fort Collins HS which I haven’t been to in like 20 years. Maybe like 18, but either way, crazy. Last time I was there I was filming Metal Matt pop over a huge bar. Jack was struggling early then hit a tree branch with his head. But he managed to go on and do some tricks including a crazy nose bonk. Garrett flowed around and went in on a gnarly manual. I filmed Bo get a cool line where he popped up the 3 and over the rail. Joe did some high speed hard flips on flat but couldn’t get it over the rail. I ended up not filming much so I skated a lot. I basically tried two flip tricks then front 180 a 3 stair for an hour. I only got to the 3 stair like 4 times. I did get a front halfcab heel for the first time in a while. Ultimately the line I got was fakie flip, halfcab flip, front 180. After that Garrett got his manual and I took a few tries to ollie a slightly taller 3 stair then noseslide 180 a tall bench. I had fun ollieing down the 3, but the noseslide was a struggle. I kind of got it. It was a fun skate. Was hyped to street skate and then spend $500 on a marg (not really but it felt like it).

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insole and currex run pro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

On a nice morning I met Cass at Frederick. We had the park to ourselves for a long time before Bo and then Brian would arrive. I had eaten before skating which is rare and was messing with me getting going. But I had some kickflips on various things and got a couple up onto the smaller pad. We played a game of SKATE that I won kind of quickly somehow. I had first try fakie flip, halfcab flip and heelflip. Cass hit me with a hardflip because he didn’t want to get pink slipped. Forgot to mention I had a different setup. 8.25 with Thunder and I loved it. After the game of SKATE I had a few manuals in a row then ollie up onto the pad and nearly kickflip off. I asked Cass to film it but missed the manual (or nose manual). I was happy to get the ollie up and kickflip off pretty quickly through, maybe around 10 tries. The crooks after was a nice bonus. Cass did the fornt noses then we skated the hump for a bit. Cass got kickflip and kind of a hardflip 180. I got some pivoted varial flips both ways. Then I needed to do a treflip before I got too tried. We skated the fly out area. Cass did a couple of perfect ones. Brian and Bo showed. Cass went on to do several tricks. I would get a couple bad treflips and was really close to several decent treflips. Brian was trying kickflips but the knee and hip wouldn’t let him get it. Bo hadn’t skated in a couple week then just skated the ledge the tall way like it was nothing. Brian did the blunt real quick. Pretty great session. Then Brian, Cass and I went out to lunch which was also pretty great.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insole and currex run pro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Got home from work super tired and was sitting eating chips thinking I would not skate, but then Dave said he was at the school. So I rallied and met him. He was doing amazing slappy switch front crooks in a fast line down the little hill. I tried some switch front slappies. But then Dave had to leave.

While stuck in traffic on the way home from work earlier I saw this spot and was reminded that I should try and skate it. And I needed the motivation of a new spot to generate a little hype. I’m not sure why I’m dragging so bad this week. Anyway, as expected the spot was way harder than I imagined. I started with a little warm up line of switch 180 a tiny flat gap, pop shove on flat, front 180 a two stair after rolling up the handicap ramp. Then I basically tried to do ollie up the corner of the 2, noseslide the bench which I did a few times. A couple were okay but I still landed with no speed and had to do a quick little push before ollieing the next two. I also did some backside axle stalls and nose stall up to crooks the ledge on the right side. I wish it was waxed up because it’s good.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, slappy 8.5, spitfire f4 99a 51mm classic, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half thin insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Been really tired this week. Went over to the school wearing xero’s because I was sick of the pain that skate shoes cause me. I went over to the school on a weird setup of 8.25 with 8.5 slappy trucks. And I would really like it. Because you know, I like everything the first time. I was lazy, was interrupted by people often. Went home and regrouped and actually tried a few ollies and flippers. Nothing really of note though. It’s crazy the difference in shoes. Like some of the movements I made to avoid pain were no longer necessary in the Xeros. But that doesn’t mean they are great for skating.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, slappy 8.5, spitfire f4 99a 51mm classic, xero kelso with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Somehow the brutal wind had died down so I raced off to dog park and met Bratcher, Jesse and eventually Cass. I’m writing this too many days after the fact to remember very well. I know at dog park I played a game of SKATE with Ted and Jesse that I did okay on, but lost again on a Jesse fakie tre. I was struggling to motivate and ended up at the park. I had a run of 3 flippers on the bank in a row. B/s kickflip, kickflip fakie, bigflip. Then took too long to get a halfcab flip. Mostly because the approach sucks or kids on striders. Then I got a line I liked of boardslide transfer into the bank then kickflip to fakie on the shark fin. Cass got some bigflips on the bank too and kickflip over the hip. Bratcher had hurt his back. We went back to dog park and the 303 dudes showed up and they are so good we just watched.

Later on in the afternoon I met up with Dave at this little ditch at a church in Longmont. Talk about hard spots to skate! I think I only did the nose stall and a bad kickflip. As you can see Dave was ripping. He didn’t get the trick he wanted, but he did get a front pivot we’re holding onto and a line with a kickflip and back 50 to fakie. Sounds nuts right?!

Then Dave pointed out the crazy bump in the parking lot and I took way too long to do a b/s flip on it. But man it felt amazing! One of my happier moments on a board in quiet some time. Dave added some 360s and we called it a night.

(setup 8.5 null 20 year 14.25 wb, null grip, royal ultralight 149, 52mm bones v1 stf, new balance numeric 600 black/gum size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 2/10 early, 6/10 later)