Met up with the 98% dudes at dog park on another day with a high above 100. It was quickly very hot. My hip flexor was not happy at all. I tried to get warmed up and would do a few ultra basics, but mostly I just sat and chilled and talked with good dudes and watched good dudes.

(setup same 8.5 ventures nb ct300s)
(pain level 8/10 hip flexor)

Another hot morning. I was up early and wanted to skate before going to Denver for the Red Bull contest. I had setup 8.5/14.25/venture and it felt decent. My warm up went pretty well. Those dudes showed before it was time to start ollieing. It went okay for me. Had some slow front 50s and a shove out on the lurb. Went in on noseslide bigspin which I ended up getting. I had put the phone at such a bad angle that it missed it though. Oh well, it wasn’t perfect, but it make me happy for sure. Jesse had some good 50s both ways. Jack too. Jack was feeling kind of dizzy so kind of kept it mellow. The b/s flip out of the bank was fun. I was close to treflip out too. Jack couldn’t get kickflip out, but got them to fakie. Near the end I wanted to front 50 the black ledge. It took a bit, but I got one and followed it with a kickflip to fakie on the bank then a switch front nose. I decided to end on a good note for once. Another dude had shown and did front 180 up the happy ledge then fakie treflip out. So sick. Then I went to Denver and had a great time watching the Nullers lay an egg at the Red Bull ledge contest. Ha. It was so fun though, those dudes rule, so did the winners and so does TJ Rogers.

(setup 7/10 null purple archway 8.5/14.25, pepper g5, venture v-cast 5.8 flat top washer, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance ct300 white/blue size 12 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Went to Southern Hills on a Friday evening as I had saw they redid the 2 stair which is now a 3 stair with a good expansion crack before and after it. Doh. I skated 8.25/14 as a test and boy did it fail. I had zero confidence or drive. Which isn’t all the boards fault, but it made it worse. I went in on treflips to at least see if maybe I could take advantage of the small setup. Nope, couldn’t commit to save my life. Somehow I went home happy. I think knowing with certainty that a small setup doesn’t make flip tricks happen anymore.

(setup 1/10 8.25/14 thunder hollow 52mm nb 300)
(pain level 5/10)

After a long day of sitting at work I went out with some new shoes and two setups to skate. I didn’t really have any intention when I left and ended up at this bank to curb spot to warm up. It’s a good warm up. Axle stalls are fun. Couldn’t get a hurricane though.

Then I went to Willville. Started at the main area. I was on an 8.25 with 14″ wheelbase and Indys. It felt good initially. Some of the problems were probably due to new shoes but I couldn’t land a kickflip to save my life even though they flipped much easier than my 8.25/14.25/thunder setup. Couldn’t get manual into the bank. Went down to the rock area. Tried a line of front 180 up the 2, halfcab flip, ollie the 3. Never got the halfcab flip. Went to the main pad area again, attempted to get some ledge action going, but ended up just leaving. I had no drive and it was despressing.

(setup 7/10 8.25/14 sample, pepper g5, indy 144 titanium, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance ct300 white size 12 half insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After dinner I went to campus. I hadn’t worked out much so my legs didn’t feel great. Ended up starting at the ride on grind / ledge area. I skated with very little confidence, speed, grace, skill, etc. I managed a few ultra basics. Managed a front axle then floppy kickflip. Went to the flagstone ledge for the first time this summer. Did okay on backside tricks. Then was starting to slowly commit to front 50s when some cops rolled by and gave me the boot. Doh. Moved on. Struggled to ollie a manhole. Found a nearby manny pad that I had never noticed before. Had some fun manuals. Tried manny front 180 for a while which would be cool as there is a slight bank in the landing. Never got it though. Walked to my car thinking about how bad I’ve become at skateboarding. I don’t know what happened after that recent foot injury, but it all seems gone now. Argh. I will keep stubbornly trying I’m sure. For now.

(setup 4/10 8.25 null abstract 43, pepper g5, thunder 148 hollow light, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance numeric 306c foy cup 12 b/grey half insoles currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Had 30 minutes to skate. Went to the side of the school with the goal of halfcab heel on flatground. Was reminded that I cannot do that trick with Thunders. Then was reminded I cannot do any tricks on any setup anymore.

(setup 2/10 8.25 null abstract 43, pepper g5, thunder 148 hollow light, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance numeric 306c foy cup 12 b/grey half insoles currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Woke up really early on another day forecasted to be triple digits so I got ready and went to go skate. My body was not feeling good. The first few ollies hurt my groin. A pain I haven’t had in a while. I started at the mini bank area. My first warm up line was front tail, ollie up the curb, nollie back 180 the micro hip. Then a better warm up line of back tail on the bank, ollie up the curb, b/s flip the micro hip. When I tried to film the b/s flip by itself it took too long and I just accepted the garbage one. There were clouds and I wanted to take advantage and skate the bank to curb. I was pleased at the bank to curb to do first try noseslide to fakie. Would almost die doing another one on the turn around and almost dove into the fence. Yikes. Then I went in on the front shove to back 50/axle attempts. Some were close. They felt doable. The sun came out and my phone started overheating as was I. Went to the massive ledge and could barely nose jib it. Then a slow front 50 on the nearby little downhill curb and I was out.

(setup 7/10 8.25 null abstract 43, pepper g5, thunder 148 hollow light, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance numeric 306c foy cup 12 b/grey half insoles currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Hot morning. Met Bratcher and Eric at Broomfield. Taylor showed up. Then Cairo Foster showed up! So stoked to finally see him since he moved to CO. Sean would show too. Eric was popping into manuals and front 50s quick. I took quite a while to get going. My ledge game wasn’t all that, flippers were better. I think on the lurb all I got were front 50 and not beyond that. Oh maybe a line of halfcab noseslide the black ledge, kickflip to fakie the mellow bank then fakie front 50 the lurb. The mellow bank session was fun. Bratcher battled the kickflip for a while, glad he got it. My front heel was sloppy but still made me happy. It was fun watching Cairo skate. He still rips and has really good style. Front nosegrinds were sick and a first try switch front tail done super well was a silent killer. I should also mention he is super nice, was clapping for everyone, really positive. So cool. Sean ripped it like he does. Back nosegrind the happy face to nollie back nosegrind the black box was sick.

After sitting and chatting at Broomfield for a while because the heat was too much I swung by this new bank spot on the way home. I basically just carved them a few times then did the bad shove “off the nose”. Cool spot, would be fun to skate when it’s cooler out.

(setup 7/10 8.25 thunder 148 hollow 52mm new balance numeric 306c foy cup 12 b/grey half insoles currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a cooler day with some rain I went to campus with one goal in mind. The Reynolds flatground line. It’s just a line I saw him do in his story once. Bs flip, fakie flip, halfcab flip. Since it was sprinkling I went to the covered hallway at the UMC. My initial attempts at ollies and kickflips were so bad I thought I should give up. Eventually I landed a backside flip so it gave me hope. I got to the halfcab flip 5 times before finally getting it. The whole line felt really cool. I was happy. I had also done kickflip and varial flip. Then I tried to do a line where I ollied the nearby 3 stair since it had dried up. I tried to start with fakie bigflips or heelflips but I couldn’t get one. So I went with halfcab flip. Got one, went down the handicap ramp, rode off the 2, ollied the 3, but shot out. Then it took forever to get another halfcab flip and then I hit a hole down the handicap ramp and slammed super hard right in front of a group of people. Doh. I think they were surprised I got up so quickly. Although I didn’t get to the 3 again and it had gotten dark anyway. I was tired so called it a night.

(setup 7/10 8.25 thunder 148 hollow 52mm vans half cab waffle cup size 12 b/w fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Stopped at dog park after work. There was actually clouds! It was still in the lower 90s, but the clouds made it feel great. There was a crew of about 8 teenagers. It was good to see some youth out skating, even if they did film everything they did. I had put Slappy Low Profile trucks on. They were better than the Indys. That’s not saying much though. I had a random warm up line of boardslide the concrete things, ding the jersey barrier, come back and then front shove. Not sure I got the line. Did another line of air out of the tiny qp, crooks the wood ledge (my crooks were feeling so good and I did like 15 in a row) then b/s flip. But I could not get b/s flip to save my life. Strike 1 against the Slappys. Other stuff was kinda whatevs. Tricks I came close to that I would have been very happy with: halfcab heel noseslide, nollie tre, f/s halfcab heel, kickflip 50. I did a couple switch crook jibs on the lurb. I left tired and mostly happy.

(setup 4/10 8.25 slappy low profile 52mm vans half cab waffle cup size 12 b/w fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)