Woke up feeling really bummed on how much skating hurt. I haven’t landed 10 flip tricks in one day in a really long time. So I was determined to do it. I started on the 8.3 setup which worked fine for kickflip, but then I went back to the 8.1 after I failed at fakie flips for awhile. It felt better. I went in the order in the video. The halfcab flip went ok. The heelflip took like 20 minutes. For awhile I thought it would be impossible for me to get to 10. I gave up on halfcab heel, trefilp, nollie treflip and nollie varial fip. The varial flip and no comply flip were cop outs. The varial flip even took a long time. Ugh. It was depressing how long most of these tricks took to land, but it felt good to try. Even physically I felt okay after. Wearing orthotics appears to be a must for me when I skate.

(setup 8.1 null rabethica deck, venture 5.2 high trucks, venom 91a bushings, 51mm spitfire classic f4 99a wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12, remind cush chico orthotic insoles)

And then the snow was gone. Carleigh and I (eventually) rolled to Broomfield park to meet Rob, Jake and Fuzz. It was cool, but sunny and nice out. I was bummed on how quickly I could tell my legs would not be functioning well. I still tried to skate. It didn’t go so well, it took like 5 tries just to ollie onto the little blue box. Rob was ripping. Crooks, manuals, front boards, and solid front noseslides. Jake was shredding. Front tailslides, front 5-0s, front blunts on the quartapotty. Fuzz started slow and had some bad slams on back 180s off the blue box. He got it together though. Carleigh ran through the brick qp tricks. I’m not sure if she got the back d or not, but she did do a really good front lip on the parking block. I had fun with slappy crooks on the parking block then tried a line for awhile of boardslide the black ledge then no comply flip over the parking block. Never got it.

#stubborns

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on May 20, 2017 at 2:03pm PDT

Then we went to the nearby bank spot. My legs were done son. Just rolling down/up the bank hurt. I did some ollies to fakie, then that was about it except for some bonelesses later on. Jake did some back tails on the bank. The other side was pretty slick and both Jake and Rob slid out trying to control front tails. Fuzz had a bunch of steezy ollies and a line with a kickflip to fakie. Rob had the kickflip on the bank, one foot, tail blocks and more. Carleigh is still batting near 100% on bean plants, did bluntslides and maybe front tails too? After that we got some food then hung out at Fuzz’s. It was fun.

(setup 8.38 null machine deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 classic 99a green wheels, bronson bearings, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 with Remind Cush Chico insoles)

#deadspots

A post shared by Rob Helmstetter (@43shifty) on May 17, 2017 at 8:23pm PDT

After a chill day at work, some yoga, a nap, exercise bike and jump rope I went to Redder Curbs to meet Rob and Dave. Dave was totally ripping upon arrival. Flying around doing slappys, noseslides, etc. I took awhile to get in the groove and, well, never really got in the groove. Rob though, he was doing super fast and long back 50s on the kinked curb that were so sick. We were all doing lines around the place. It’s so fun like that. No complies over the parking block, slappys on the busted yellow block, grinds on the red kinked curb (unless you are me who only got one weak and slow front 50 oh I guess I got a few slappy crooks), not much flatground though. Rob started doing wallies out of a little bump to wall. It was really sick. Dave was doing no comply body varials. I was posing kick back tails on a curb and got a wallie/nollie into the little bank Rob was wallieing out of. It felt cool. We skated for awhile like this so it was kind of hard to see what others were doing. I had fun doing 180s out of the little bump, but couldn’t back it up with a flip trick. Oh yeah, I was on a bigger setup out of my quiver. It felt pretty good. My knees though, not feeling so good. After awhile Dave and I tried no comply tricks over the parking block for awhile. Dave got a few switch no comply body varials. So crazy! I tried a bunch of no comply flips and only landed one. Got close to a bunch though. Then we all did slappys for awhile. Rob with the slappy while pushing and slappy crooks. I got a couple slappy front crooks that were over 40 makes. Dave did them switch though! Bonkers. Fun time with a fun crew. I wish my knees didn’t hurt while trying flip tricks so much though.

(setup 8.38 null machine deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 classic 99a green wheels, bronson bearings, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 with thin adidas busenitz insoles)

Landed a trick for every person at the park today. #none can't breath up there either and I got sunburnt

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on May 15, 2017 at 4:56pm PDT

Hit the Leadville park on the way back from my moms on a beautiful day. Sunny and 60 degrees. Although a little windy at times. There was one other dude there for awhile. Aldyr? He was really nice. He thought I was 25 or 26. Ha ha. Man I wish. He was only off by basically 20 years. I felt okay to start, but was really hating my setup for some stuff. Lesson learned. 8″ highs are not good. I bailed a lot of stuff I shouldn’t. Tricks like slow front 50s on the curb, ollies up the wedge, axle stalls. Ugh. Depression set in pretty quick even though Aldyr was rad and ripping. I did get a little line of basics that was okay. Axle stall a bank, noseslide the bump to ledge, axle stall the bank to curb, roll into the little qp, the worst boneless over a rail ever, slappy tailslide, boardslide the round bar. Aldyr left and I had the park to myself. I lost most of my motivation and tried tiny ollies to fakie on the banks and switch flips on the mellower bank. The switch flips felt doable, but I never got one. I also rolled my ankle at some point. Not bad, but it’s worse now. I will be trying wider trucks or something else for now.

(setup 8.1 null rabethica deck, venture 5.2 high trucks, venom 88a bushings, 51mm spitfire classic f4 99a wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12, stock nb insoles)

Left a little early to pick up my mom at the airport so hit D park for about 30 minutes. I had gone for a longer run than I have in years (2 miles) so I was sore and not very motivated. I just kind of pushed around and tried tiny ollies and manuals for awhile. I settled into a run that should have been very easy, but ended up proving to be more then I wanted. Kickflip to fakie on the little bank by the entrance, switch 180 on flat, noseslide the little ledge, axle stall on the washboard qp. The only trick I got was the noseslide, and it was a struggle. I was reminded how much I dislike 8″ high trucks. I like 8″ lows or bigger high trucks. Ugh. I also posed some kickflips to fakie out of the snake run into a little bank. It seemed doable. But then I needed to leave. I really didn’t do anything while I was there. Why did I even go skate? Ha.

(setup 8.1 null rabethica deck, venture 5.2 high trucks, venom 88a bushings, 51mm spitfire classic f4 99a wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12, stock nb insoles)

Solid crew today!

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on May 13, 2017 at 12:06pm PDT

Got a text around 9:30 from Rob saying he was heading to Broomfield. So I wrapped up things and met up with Rob. It was a really nice morning. Sunny, warm, but not hot. We mostly had the park to ourselves for awhile. My confidence is still shot, everything hurts so it’s much harder to get motivated and try hard. Rob was ripping though. Manuals around the blue bank, crooks and front boards on the black box, halfcab boardslides. I really tried to just work on getting some confidence back with basics like ollies up the blue curb, noseslide the black ledge. Matt and Ed showed. Matt hasn’t skating in awhile, but was still shredding the ledges. Fakie 5-0! Eric, Carleigh, Jake were there too. Carleigh was working on decking back disasters more. Jake still gets better. Ed is fun to skate with. Eric was going for broke trying to boardslide the six stair rail. It was gnarly! Matt, Jake, Rob and I played a game of SKATE. Matt was the first one out. Ha ha. It was hilarious to see Jake and Matt try no comply finger flips for the first time ever. Rob took me out with a b/s flip and I don’t know if Jake or Rob won it.

@_f_u_z_z shreds @crisis_skateboards

A post shared by Rob Helmstetter (@43shifty) on May 13, 2017 at 2:20pm PDT

Then we ate and went to Crisis which turned into a full on session on the parking block in front of the store. It was rad. Matt went the back tail, lipslide, etc route. Fuzz went slappy feeble. Ed lead the charge on layback slappys which turned into a funny session to watch. A lot of us got them, or some version of it. Rob was quick with it. Jake too. Carleigh and I took longer. I had a bunch of slappy crooks that were really fun too. Rob and Fuzz worked on G-turns. Rob’s were amazing.

@nolancormier fixing spots and filming lines. #nolanthejanitor

A post shared by Null Skateboards (@null_skateboards) on May 13, 2017 at 7:10pm PDT

Then I met Nolan at Stonehenge. He had cleaned off the barrier as best he could. I did some turns on it, then we skated the bank to curb for awhile as Carleigh showed. It’s fun trying to skate that spot like a line. I tried basic pivot tricks on the curb then rocks on the jersey barrier, but wasn’t close at all. Carleigh had to split right away. I filmed Nolan get a rad line. Long day!

(setup 8.1 null rabethica deck, venture 5.2 high trucks, venom 88a bushings, 51mm spitfire classic f4 99a wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12, stock nb insoles)

After a super busy week of work I went home and chilled for awhile. I had no desire to skate at first. But after some grub I started to feel alive again and went in front of the house not expecting much. I was on the 8.25 with 8″ Venture Highs. It felt really good. I need to never allow myself to skate lows again. The timing just isn’t right for this tall dude. I still have no confidence, but I had a few runs with a couple of basic tricks in them. And I mean real basic. Fakie ollies, 180s, kickflip, shove. I managed really slow fakie flip and halfcab flip. I got really close to heelflip, fakie bigflip, kind of close to switch flip and I actually felt good enough to huck 360 flips. Most of which felt good, but the board just was not flipping. Argh. Since the 8.25″ deck I was riding was past it’s prime I focused it clean through and it felt great.

(setup 8.25″ null fortune deck, venture 5.25 v-hollow highs, venom 88a bushings, 52mm spitfire classic F4 101a, 3 washers inside the axle, New Balance Numeric PJ 533 black/white)

After a poor night of skating last night I wanted to blame my setup. Even though I know it was just me. I went in the garage and kickflipped all the boards in my quiver to see what was easiest and what worked best, etc. I had to assemble an 8.25 with 8″ high trucks to get a full range of sizes. And it ended up being the best feeling kickflip. My last setup of 8.1″ with 8″ low trucks felt pretty bad actually. But not as bad as the 8.5″ with 8.5″ trucks. Neat.

I’m always tired after work anymore. Today was no exception. On a cloudy and perfect night I forced myself to go to campus even though I wasn’t motivated and my knees hurt. I started out with some slappy crooks. I got quite a few that weren’t posted up very well. I was starting to not like how tight my trucks felt with the harder indy bushings either. After getting one slappy crooks I moved on to the two stair area I like. But someone was sitting there doing homework or studying for a final so I moved on. I posed some back 180s up a curb and wanted to ollie down a 3 stair, but there was a bunch of construction going on. I ended up at the little yellow ledge where I totally sucked. I got some front 50s and nothing else. I was having seriously mental motivation issue. When my legs hurt I should probably not skate, because it really takes me down. But I got a little motivation going. I was doing little dork plants off a nearby ledge, 180s, trying switch front crooks, got a couple kickflips and couldn’t commit to a treflip. Back 50s were scary. I only really committed to a couple of them and it bummed me out. Almost got some nollie front lipslides, backside hurricane, front tail. I took a few tries to ollie off this ledge. I was scared just standing on it. Ugh. I bailed more ledge tricks for awhile then I walked/rolled back to the car feeling really bummed out.

(setup 8.125 null inspiration deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock indy bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

Met Dave at Twin Peaks on a warm and muggy Sunday around noon. I had changed bushings yet again. This time stock Indy bushings I had laying around. I really want to avoid wheel bite and have more stability. These felt stable for sure. Dave and I started with a warm up game of SKATE on the bank. It was rad. We had quite a mixture of tricks. Shoves, kickflips, bonelesses, etc. I randomly tried a regular boneless to fakie and it ended up being really fun. And maybe the start of my comeback as Dave was looking to pink slip me. Dave got a letter on me with kickflip to fakie. Ha ha. He almost got me with fakie flip too, but luckily I had two tries. I milked the two tries a few times. I was able to get the worse “switch front shove” ever done, but it actually hyped me up. On fakie/switch tricks Dave was pushing switch like it wasn’t switch, I was pushing switch like it’s very hard. Ha. I almost went down a couple of times. Dave got me with fakie shove. I hit him with b/s kickflip, f/s flip, no comply shove to fakie, boneless to fakie (which he got later and it looks really cool) and the last trick was no comply bigspin. Kind of surprised that won it. Then we both tried 360 flips for a long time. I think we both got close. Neither of us landed on the boards though. I think that trick is way harder on a bank. Then some lady came out of the school and told us we weren’t welcome. Doh. First time getting kicked out there.

Then we went to this nearby spot. It was way worse than I remember. We struggled initially, but being the amazing street skaters we are we adapted and conquered. Ha. Okay, we didn’t conquer, but we did manage to skate it. Dave had the moves again. Manual around the basketball hoop, wallie nollies, nollies, back “360” off the curb cut and ollied up the tall part of the ledge! Conquered! I took a long time to kickflip onto the sidewalk, couldn’t noseslide the unslideable bench. I took a long time to do some 2mph ollies up a lower part of the ledge and did a very non-popped backside 180 flop off the ledge. It felt cool though. I tried a couple tricks on the bank to curb part of the ledge that I enjoyed like front 5-0 to fakie. On the way out I tried to kickturn the steep bank because Dave told me to. I forgot how steep it is. It actually took me a few tries to get it. Lame.

(setup 8.125 null inspiration deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock indy bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)