Met up with Rob, Neil, Fuzz, Jack, Carleigh after work at the Louisville park on another nice spring day.  I got their first and cruised around the park avoiding ollies.  Rob showed, Carleigh, Jack.  Then Neil, Fuzz, Lazer.  No one was skating great.  Some other dudes showed that Fuzz indicated were lame and well, he was right.  As an example I skated by one of them as he bailed a switch front 50 on a ledge and he looked at me dead serious and said “THAT WAS SWITCH!”.  Yikes.  I saw Carleigh trying noseslides down the hubba and thought it would be fun to try double noseslides with her.  But that backfired and she went into one of her pouty moods.  Jack and I tried doubles for a bit with him nosesliding the rail, but he didn’t feel like the slams were worth it.  Understood.  Rob had some nice b/s ollies on the hip and almost a feeble grind on the bank to ledge.

We left for a nearby ditch.  It was fun!  Fuzz killed a back blunt, Carleigh got a back 50 grind, Neil b/s ollies and no comply to tail on a rock, Rob was getting used to it, Jack did back d and front pivot on the taller part, I landed a couple basics and had a fun b/s flip on the bank.  Then we got the boot.  Ugh.

Ended up at the basketball court park and it was a blast.  Rob had a really sick line of ollie up one curb, back 180 off then halfcab back 50 on the next curb.  Neil worked on halfcab manuals and did lots of standard Neil tricks (which rule). Carleigh was there, doing back 50s and avoiding everyone. Fuzz got ups. He was ollieing onto the top ledge super easy and almost tried to manual it. Also had a cool front 180 up the curb and switch back 180 off. I had to work really hard to get up that ledge, but I managed a few time. Tried front shove off and technically landed it with lots of wheel bite and toe drag so I cam to a halt. Still really hyped on that. Jack slayed. Boardslide a half handrail at a nearby house. Ollie up the right side of the ledge, gap to manual over the stairs, up the ledge then nollie flip and hardflip off. Geez. Jack and I finished with a super fun game of SKATE. He held back on the obvious tricks I can’t do, but we got most of our other tricks. I lost on a cab which is ok because I cannot do that trick. I had landed a 360 flip and a nollie 360 flip so that pretty much made me super happy.

On a super nice day I met up with Jack and Carleigh after work at the “Goodtimes Barrier”.  Carleigh had gotten close to wallie’ing over it recently and wanted to go back and get it.  When I got there she was already in celebration mode having done it a few times.  Sick!  We stayed there awhile.  Jack was skating flat a lot and doing some barrier tricks like wallie, wallie front 180, back pivot some other cool stuff.  I started hucking kickflip wallride and it seemed pretty realistic.  Omi showed up and did a few wallrides.  I ended up getting a couple kickflip wallrides.  They weren’t great or very high on the barrier, but they were fun and put me in a good mood.

Then we had a good meal at Wahoos and chilled with Fuzz at Crisis for a bit.  I played with some slappy noseslide tricks like noseslide to fakie revert back to forward.  Jack did it too, but much better and included a crook.  I also did a silly switch nose to forward then lift back up to front lip.  Fun.  Off to the Broomfield park we went.  I waited too long to write this entry so I don’t remember a whole lot of the session.  Carleigh and I started in the flow bowl which was fun until a bunch of people showed up there.  Then carleigh skated the pool and I skated the steep bank with Fuzz and Jack.  Jack did pivot fakie.  Fuzz did front slash and something else I can’t remember right now.  I got a front rock.  Neil was cruising all over.  I played a game of SKATE with Neil, Darin and Fuzz that Darin won.  I was skating pretty well, but kept getting stuck at treflip.  Skated the slanted brown ledge.  Fuzz was doing board transfer 180 and halfcab off.  Sick.  Jack did noseslide shove to nose manual.  I did boardslide transfer to manual (hyped me up!) and almost got it with a front 180 out.  Carleigh battled back disasters on the brick qp.  Most people finished on the quartapotty or trying to ollie a trash can, but I tried more kickflips on the hump then front 50 the pier 7 ledge.  I kind of got the line.  Fun day.

Just when I thought J Mascis couldn’t be any radder. I feel fortunate to have seen Nirvana with Kurt play School. It was amazing. Hyped that J does it justice.

April snow is the worst. It was about 28 degrees out and snowing. I went out to Rampy pretty motivated, but nothing much happened. I somehow did a fakie front smith on one of my first runs which is a trick I can almost never do. That was cool. Flatground was ok. Got a second try treflip then tried switch varial flips for awhile and called it a day after banging my shins a bunch.

Another beautiful day. Went two hours of India’s dances and had an early dinner. Then after a nap I went out in front of the house for about 30 minutes. I had put a hole in the bottom of my Lakai’s so it was time for new shoes. Or, another pair of not-skated-til-death shoes from my stockpile. I pulled out some Emerica Provost shoes. They have one of the worst shapes in a skate shoe I’ve ever skated. But they are somewhat ok shoes and I am on a vulc kick so they seem like the ones for now. I didn’t skated great. My mom came out to watch for a bit so that was embarrassing. I showed her what a kickflip is and she clapped. Yeap, at 41 that is the first kickflip my mom has watched me do. I struggled at halfcab flips and fakie bigflips. Those have gotten much harder on the bigger setup. I got a 3 flip first try though which always puts a smile on my face. Glad I skated a little.

One day prior to my 41st BDay I met up with Eric and we went to Longmont to meet Dave, Rob and Neil. It was an insanely nice day out. We packed into Neil’s little Civic and made the drive to the newest Fort Collins park called Waterway. There were three dudes there already and as you can probably see from the photo this park is tiny. Only one person can skate at once. The first half hour or so was pure frustration for me. It was non stop waiting or almost running into your friends. We eventually figured things out and got in a groove. The kids left and Mike joined us. Everyone had moves. Rob had some manuals around the deck, front slashes on the pool coping, back smith the top little qp. Dave killed it. Stalls on the extension, long pool coping grinds, boardslide to fakie on the birdbath qp. Eric was trying back disaster on the corner bank and getting into back noseblunt. Neil had some long lines actually skating the ledge and lots of ollies on, into, under everything. My bailed axle stall count got high quick. About the only thing I did I liked was a front slash on the little corner qp. Mike cruised around like he skated there the night before. He did. Ha.

When we went to leave Dave and I being the little 40 something kids we are had to do the dirt ride. I kickflipped in. Tried a few other things, but didn’t get them. Dave ollied in and then switch ollied in. So cool.

Next up was Fossil Creek. There was a period at Fossil where I felt some of the best I have in months. It’s amazing how good warm weather is for my body (UGH why do I live in Colorado????). I didn’t really do anything new or crazy, but I landed quite a few basics for me and crooked grinds were locking in so good. That bottom ledge rules. Eric got a heelflip off the manny pad. Dave nose manualled the box on top of the manny pad and did a bunch of boardslides to fakie on the ledge. Neil was all over the place doing the basics well. Back 50s, front lips, front tails, nose manuals. Dude can skate. Mike no complied a flat gap, ollie to rock the Carrol gap. Chadman joined us and ruled it. Front board to manual, front smith grinds, kickflip nose manual, poppy, steezy, ruler. Jack and Carleigh showed. I was stoked because I haven’t skated with either of them in so long. Carleigh did the little wallie into the downhill pad right away. Rob and Dave eventually got it. Jack was trying wallie boardslides down the six stair hubba, boardslide 270 shoves on the 3 stair out rail, other neato tricks.

Then we went to Spring Canyon. It was so nice out. I was pretty sore, but went for it anyway and shortly into the session I felt great again. So awesome. Warm weather rules. Again, I didn’t really do anything new or all that great, but some of the basics came quickly and that park is just fun. I was 4/6 on treflips. My favorite trick (even though I did it horribly) was an ollie onto the bench and drop to 50 on the curb. At the end of the session I wussed out on dropping into the pool or carving over the coffin door. Rob had an amazing frontside nosegrind on the curb. Carleigh carved over the stairs and did wallies and pole jams. Mike grinded over the stairs and no comply jammed over the pole jam. Dave had some killer back tails on the spine thing, rock ‘n rolls next to the coffin, boardslide to fakie down the rail. Neil popped ollies onto everything, nose manuals, all them neil tricks. Eric slammed so hard wallie’ing the wood thing, but got up and landed it. Jack manned up to the coffin carve then grinded over it. Manual to boardslide, front hurricane the little rail, front 5-0 3 shove out, texas plant, transfers, everything. I’m sure I missed a ton of tricks. Oh well, it was a long day, we had a blast.

The session in Fort Collins yesterday seemed to only get my legs warmed up. I still took a long time to warm up, but I felt decent. Rob was already killing it though. He did so many tricks it was insane. Front tail, front 50, nollie front lip, nollie front 50, back 50, back smith, 180 nosegrind to forward, so many more I can’t remember now. All pretty quick. He went over to Crisis after awhile and I think I had only done 50s at that point. Ha. I ended up getting some stuff I liked. Kick back 50, front 5-0 shove, front crooks to fakie while holding onto the wall, and a forced slow front lip. Not sure I’ve done that on a real ledge since high school. Only done it at Red Curbs. Flatground went ok. I hucked tricks a lot, landed a 3 flip and the first fakie treflip I’ve done in a long time. Warm weather is nice.

Had to bring boards to MRKT so started asking if anyone wanted to join and soon enough I had a full car. Matt, Bernie, Nolan and Allan. Yes, Allan. Allan from Sol Allan. Unbelievable. After a brief stop at MRKT we went to what appeared to be an empty Northside as we pulled up. But nope, everyone was behind the qp and the park got fuller by the minute. I had fun cruising initially, but kinda lost interest quickly. Before I had ollied nolan already noseblunted the brick bank, and then front 270 to switch 5-0 to forward. Geez. Almost back noseblunt too. Seeing Allan skate the mini ramp section was rad. Matt and Bernie mostly skated the ledge. It was basically too crowded for everyone so we bailed to Spring Canyon to check out the new stuff.

It was crowded too, but not as crowded. Nolan killed the tombstone. Airs both ways and back smith over it. Almost a nose manual nollie flip out too. Geez, he can skate street too? Matt killed some stuff. Pole jams, treflips, ollies, back tail the bench. Bernie ripped. Front board up the rail to manual the new box. I failed at nosegrinds on the small ledge. Was kinda bumming, but I guess I’ve gotten better at ollies because I was ollieing onto the potato chip with enough speed to hit the qp at the end easy. Got a front rock. I played a game of SKATE with Bernie, Matt, Teagan and another dude. I thought I’d be out immediately, but when I got a treflip I was hyped. Then everyone got letters when I landed varial flip and then fakie varial flip. Ha ha! Bernie ended up winning the game on a fakie double flip. It was a fun game and put me in a better mood. Until the last cali grind curb session when everyone, but me could grind down it. Doh!

After freezing my butt off watching Ollie’s flag football practice I cruised to Longmont and met Dave, Rob, Neil and Lazer at one of Colorado’s best spots. Rocky Mountain Elementary. I had played tennis in the morning with Liz and stretched after so thought I’d be in pretty good shape. Nope, I was hella sore and starting out was rough. I tried the long dropin a few times and had to jump out and kind of strained my legs. Great start.

Lazer was ripping the speed bump a new one. Ollies and shifties over the whole thing and later tried to ollie a tall cone and came up just a few inches short. Gnarly. Rob was boosting some ollies off of it too as was Neil. It got me motivated to try, but I’m sure mine weren’t lofty. I did manage a run I was hyped on though with a speed bump ollie (not the whole thing), ollie up the curb, front board pop out the ledge, then ollie onto a brick median and ride down it (I was supposed to manual down it though). Neil got lipslides again of course. Lazer did front tail fakie on the ledge. Rob did back 180 up the curb then switch boardslide popped out regs. Dave did boardslide to fakie. I got a line of b/s ollie a concrete median on the bank then a manual front 180 out on a brick median. Flatground was sucking for me, but i think it was more soreness then the big setup. Dave did a sick beanplant over a median like Rob did last week. Neil too. Rob did a back pivot going straight up the bank to the curb and a b/s flip on the bank. I took forever to get a couple crappy slow back 50s on the ledge. Rob got front tail on it. That was pretty much it for the day.

Had a busy morning of homeowner fun attempting to seal a leaky roof near the stack pipe. It was ok. Then headed to Crisis with Ollie and met up with Rob, Blake and Neil. We went to Safeway ledge first so Ollie sat in the car. He don’t like ledges yet. Ha. I was on an 8.5 board and setup new Null wheels. I was out of 8.3″ boards and didn’t want to go down to 8.25. And since most of the wheels I have skated lately have been 50mm (and worn down) the 52mm Nulls felt big. So my setup felt pretty large and I felt it. I didn’t do much new, but came closer to locking in good smith grinds.

Neil was slaying it. He was happy to be skating again and it showed. Lipslides, boardslide a crazy display rack, front tailslides, fast and poppy. Blake mostly skated the display case and got boardslides too. He got pretty close to crooks as well which would have been gnarly. Rob is the man. He almost did back 180 to fakie smith grind 180 out. Or something, I don’t even know but it was cool. He also had some good front noseslides on the fence ledge and a million other tricks on the regular ledge.

Then we went to this bank spot. People seemed bummed on it at first because there was dirt everywhere, but we stuck with it and it ended up being my favorite part of the day. We mostly skated it to the left of the stairs and dirt. Neil had some nice one foots to fakie and a kickflip fakie. Rob got some rad backside one foots, back kickflip, back big, some type of boneless variation. Blake had a back kickflip, back heeflip and a front 360. Tight. Oh yeah we were skating it in lines. Trick on flat then trick on the bank after awhile too. I had a kickflip to fakie, line of no comply 180 then fakie flip on the bank, heelflip on flat then alley oop back kickflip (I guess like a back 270 kickflip). Had a bunch of great feeling halfcab flip too. Couldn’t get a treflip though. Blake ollied the 4 stair, I bailed. Things started going downhill for me then. Ollie was killing the grassride game. Front 180 into the grassride, fakie ollie into it, and even a fakie shove into it with a sketchy ride out. People were hyped.

Then we went to this spot. I’ve filmed here a lot and barely skated it. I was super sore and it didn’t get much better then that. I couldn’t manual it to save my life. I ended up giving up and settling for a couple ollies onto it then ride onto the middle stair and back 180 off and also front 180 off into the parking lot. Very frustrating session for me. I should listen to my body and not skate. Ollie was hyped on the spot. He didn’t ollie up, but he did lots of back/front 180s and halfcabs onto the lower stair. He also rode onto the lower stair into manual. Rob got manual drop down to the lower stair, and I want to say he manualled the lower stair too. Neil got nose manual and more. Blake killed the game with manual to 5-0, lipslide the 2 stair then pull up and was the last one skating. He better be right, he’s only 17! Ha.