After a long day of work and some soccer with Ollie I went to Broomfield debating just staying at home. There weren’t many people when I arrived. Justin and Darin were playing on the quartapotty/manny pad. Sean was dynamically stretching. Rob had been there a bit and was already sweating. Justin was on a bad one trying front 180 fakie manual over and over and not getting it until the inevitable board focus came. Darin had some tricks on the qp. Rob had a nice nose manual on the brown angled ledge, but didn’t get it again. He had some fakie bigspins and b/s flips too. Sean warmed up with flippers and played back heel with Darin after Justin left. I struggled with front 50. Argh. I was determined to get a line I’ve wanted to do for awhile. Start at the ledge and end at the six stair. Everyone else had left except Sean and I. He was trying a line of front nosegrind the happy ledge, nose manual 180 the brown angled ledge, switch back heel. He did it, but kept at it because the switch back heel wasn’t perfect. I had settled on front 50 front shove out, back shove out of the mellow bank, curve around the pool then ollie the six stair. I went through waves of problems with the front 50, but near the end I was somewhat consistent. I few tries before the make I snapped the tail real good. Kinda surprised there was any pop left, but it worked out. I didn’t know Sean was filming the ollie. Pretty cool. It was a really fun line even if I splatted ~10 times before riding away.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, doh dohs 92 bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 knees were sore at the beginning)

View this post on Instagram

Impromptu park session with @fullertrron after a long day of work. #accidentalwallie

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Sep 17, 2018 at 9:07pm PDT

After a long day of work and impromptu session at this little Longmont park went down. We were alone when we got there, but we had to deal with waves of scooter kids, one young one in particular that would not ever shut up. I went in pretty quick on the flippers. Had a fun line of front tail over the hip, b/s flip on a bank, kickflip fakie on a bank then fakie shove on a bank. Dave was doing long tailslides over the hip, bluntslides. Then we worked into the lines above which were fun for both of us. We took turns filming each other. It’s a lot easier to film when there’s just two people. Dave’s back 180s were gnar. Loved the switch hippy jump. I didn’t land many of the fs flips clean, but they were fun. I was also hyped to get the ollie up the taller ledge. After we got our lines first try (ha) we kept at it. I had a fun line of frontside tiny ollie the hip, front 180 off the curved ledge then a little switch nose jib. Dave was doing solid front 50s on all of the bump to ledges. We did some kickflip flyouts. I tried treflip flyout, didn’t get so close. I did a few front 50s around the C ledge that were super fun. Then we messed around with the silly ollie to fakie 50 well past the sunset and when we were supposed to be home. This park is really fun.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 2/10 a little knee pain built up over the session)

View this post on Instagram

#allhailcardio @baffoos @fullertrron @edhatesfun @43shifty @matthouse

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Sep 15, 2018 at 4:42pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Boneless buddy line with @fullertrron at the Estes Park pump track. Repost since I hated the graininess of the compressed video.

A post shared by Ed (@edhatesfun) on Sep 15, 2018 at 4:52pm PDT

On another hot day Ed suggested heading into the hills and hit Estes Park. Seemed fun. A million texts later Kevin and I pulled into the park, Rob arrived shortly after us. Ed and Matt a bit later and then Dave eventually. Kevin and I chilled and looked around for a bit before skating. Kevin was doing all kinds of tricks on the ledge immediately. Back 5-0, front nosegrind, etc etc. I was feeling a bit awkward. Maybe it was the expected result from not wearing orthotic insoles or maybe even just being in the higher altitude. Rob, Kevin and I mostly hit the ledge. When Matt and Ed joined they did the same. I was struggling with front 50s, but landed all my crooks. Matt quickly did 50s, 5-0s, even a back nosegrind. Back tail takes him a bit now. Rob was shredding the qp. Front d and t. Boardslide, halfcab board and crooks the ledge. Ed had some smooth boardslides on the flatbar, ollied onto the ledge and front 50. I had a harsh slam trying to cali grind over the hump. Dave showed and didn’t seem to realize there was a ledge at the park. Ha ha, he hit the bank to curb and quarterpipes. The sketchy roll in was crazy. Other tricks on the ledge. Kevin nollie nosegrind, Matt front tail, me front 50 shove and 50 180.

Then we went to the pump track. There isn’t much to say about it other than it’s super fun and it burns the legs! Two laps really gets to you. Ed and Dave doing bonelesses was sick.

Lastly we played some flatground SKATE in a gazebo area with super smooth concrete. Dave, Kevin, Rob and I played a game of SKATE. Kevin went first and Rob was out not really trying the nollie flip/switch flip game. Dave had an epic switch flip where he rolled up slow to a picnic table and held on for a switch flip. Totally counted. I like trying the tricks I can’t do, the switch frontside flip felt doable. We played another game with no repeats. I at least got a few letters on Kevin this time. Even though he got 360 flip I was happy to get one and it felt so good. I got outed on nollie tre though which I just can’t seem to do anymore. Rob was working on frontside flips and getting so close. Then we bounced.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 4/10 especially after the pump track)

On another hot and sunny day I went to dog park after work. I did some dynamic stretching then started in on the basics trying for little 3 trick lines that got progressively harder. I knew I was feeling pretty good when I got the kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip first try. And especially when I got halfcab flip first try (and most tries) as I put it down with backside flip. I went for heelflip then treflip and got a first try heelflip and darn near got the treflip too. But then heelflips became very hard and I don’t know why. I would get quite a few, but they were these weird primo catch and would somehow roll over. I started adding kickflip to the start so it could be an ironman line and ended up getting it. The kickflip was good, the heelflip was sketch, but man, the treflip felt incredible. When I would bail tricks in lines I would normally try a switch or nollie flip on the way back. I got insanely close to nollie flip, switch flips weren’t too far off either. I got another two tricker. Frontside halfcab flip then frontside flip. But the f/s flip was more of an over 80 defense kind of thing. Took awhile to get fakie flip then fakie varial flip. Tried a line of fakie treflip then halfcab heel, but gave up after awhile. I needed to get Dave a trick so I tried fakie bigflip for awhile and I couldn’t do it. In ~15 minutes all I got was this terrible one above. So then I went across the street to the manny pad and tried nose manny shove until I got it. Took about 10 minutes. Landing it was fun. It was another day without orthotic insoles and I felt great. I hope my body can keep this up because I felt great.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 2/10 a little knee pain built up over the session)

This dude is a shredder.

So I was super annoyed with the Es Swifts the night before. I wanted to try vulcs again. I pulled some lightly worn 255s out of the closet and put some Footprint 5mm insoles in them. I drove all over town trying to find something to skate. Valmont was dark, new ledge area is close to the police station, blah blah, I ended up back at research ledge. I set the board down and immediately felt better about my feet situation. I went to the front and rode down the long stairs as a warm up. Then down to the ledge. Much to my delight the student bus wasn’t parked there and would never come. Hopefully they stopped running it! I felt a little weird because of the different shoes, but for the most part felt great. I had some funny slams up the curb, but other then that I skated great. I was trying. I got into a back 50 right away, but didn’t land it. I would never get a proper 50. I was having fun forcing myself to ollie up the curb at a spot that was a little further than normal. The highlight was how easily I was getting onto the ledge frontside. I got into like 5 front 50s in a row. I only landed a couple, but the chunky ledge is partially to blame for that. I was even going a little faster than normal too. It was encouraging to say the least. I ended trying front 180 up the curb then halfcab noseslide the ledge. I got a very bad halfcab noseslide that took a long time. I ended with a couple fun crooks. I felt great in vulcs. My toes hurt less. My heel didn’t hurt. My knees were sore after though so we’ll see how long I could keep this up.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 general knee and toe pain)

View this post on Instagram

Happy upgrade @dnutz37 ! 4.5 @slaherty @baffoos

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Sep 12, 2018 at 11:37am PDT

On another beautiful evening I met up with Kevin, Darin, Sean at Broomfield park. Mike had joined and Justin was there. Mike and Kevin were totally ripping when I got there. Sean was doing the ol’ dynamic stretching warm up. Darin was on the QP / manny pad section. My ingrown toenail had gotten really bad, I tried to skate through it, but after awhile it was kind of impossible. I mostly started with Kevin and Mike on the black ledge area. Kevin was shredding lines and skating fast. Back 5-0s, nosegrinds, nollie nosegrind, nollie b/s flip out of the bank, etc. Mike shreds. Back tail, nollie back tail fakie, bigflip. I did okay going backside, finally got the easy switch 180 into the bank easily. Had a fun crooks. But when it came to go frontside I couldn’t 50 the black ledge to save my life. So I went over to the quartapotty and lined stuff out with Darin. I was going for fakie flip, fakie pivot fakie, fakie 50. What I got was a fakie smith fakie and a fakie 50. I had a few fakie 50 attempts where I straight up missed. It was annoying. My shows were driving me nuts. Sean and Justin were flying around the park. Sean was rattling off tricks on the black ledge. Him and Kevin were flying out over the cone too. Saw Kevin switch flip it and Sean fakie flip it. Before you freak out let it be known it was on it’s side. Ha. Darin had a line of back tail the qp then back tail to fakie the blue ledge. I had given up on skating by then as my toe hurt too much. So I filmed for awhile. I need to let the camera run longer after Kevin bails because he does funny stuff. Darin went for bluntslide too, but couldn’t get it. Maybe after he upgrades to 4.5. Kevin gave up on switch flip manny after almost doing it first try. We watched Sean get a new trick, halfcab nose manual 180 the hard way. I did a couple slappy front “crooks” that Kevin filmed and it totally inspired him to try one more switch flip manual and land it. So sick!

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, es swift 1.5 blue/clear shoes size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 8/10 ingrown toenail)

After work I met Dave at the basketball court ledge spot. I did some stretching and debating which shoes/insoles to wear as one dude shot hoops then left. Dave and I rolled in around the same time and started the warm up process. Another dude joined us. He did no comply 180s and front 180 fakie 50 right away. Dave and I were still working on the ol’ noseslides and stuff. Well, Dave got on a front 50 in the corner pretty quick, but didn’t land it. Then another couple dudes showed up. A skater and his filmer. I’ve seen the dude once before and he back noseblunted the Broomfield double set first try. Great, back to struggling around people that are very good at ledges. It was cool though, maybe helped to warm up a little. I was feeling a little uncomfortable about committing to tricks because I wasn’t wearing orthotic insoles. But it felt good. I managed a heelflip, first try 270 flip, halfcab flip, one very slow front axle stall, a few crooks, a couple switch front noseslides (slappy style of course) and a lot of bails. Dave impressed the masses with a first try slappy crook, noseslides to fakie, halfcab noseslides, kickflips, varial flips. The other dudes filmed some cool tricks. Front 180 fakie 50 creepy out. Other dude did a line with crooks nollie front 180 heel out then did crook inward heel out. Whoa. It was cool to see, embarrassing for me, and a struggle. But overall I still had fun and was hyped to skate with Dave.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, es swift 1.5 blue/clear shoes size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

View this post on Instagram

It was absolutely great seeing these dudes today! #nullumni #classof2005 #hulslegend

A post shared by Null Skateboards (@null_skateboards) on Sep 9, 2018 at 6:00pm PDT

On a hot morning I met up with Cass, Jeff, Kevin and Tyler at the York St spot. I had switched to Gamechanger insoles in hopes of some board feel. It was better for sure, but it made for a lack of confidence that was compounded by skating around such rippers. I took a long time to commit to any grinds. Kevin said he was struggling too, but a very early front nosegrind begs to differ. It hasn’t been too long since I’ve seen Jeff skate. He got a first try front blunt up the granite ledge. I was surprised at how good Cass looked on the ledges after all he’s been through. Front 50s, front 50 shove, front tail. It’s also been awhile since I’ve seen Tyler skate. Man it was great seeing him rip. Back 5-0 front 180 up the granite, kickback tail, kick crooks, halfcab crooks the tall ledge. Kevin got quite a few tricks too, the back smith being a stand out banger. I would eventually get some crooks up and down the granite. Doing it down was really fun. 303 Cody showed up and was crooking like crazy. Jeff was going in hard on front blunt backside flip out. He would get one, it wasn’t perfect, but it was still sick. That was it for skating, felt like I hardly skated.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, es swift 1.5 black/clear shoes size 11.5, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10 but my knees would act up bad later)

Up early on a Saturday and motivated to finally get the trick Dave challenged me to. Nollie back shove to manual. I went to this spot on Pearl & Foothills I haven’t been to in a long time. There are a ton of different little manual pads and other fun options. I tried to go in right away on on the nollie shove manny on a normal, but very low manny pad. I was hating it. I started skating around and having more fun. Then I noticed this bump to manny and went back in on the nollie shove manny. Obviously it didn’t involve as much pop, but there was still a crack you could hang up on. I got one pretty quick with some heel drag. I would try a few basic flippers in between. I like that when I finally landed it I said “YES!” It did feel pretty great and was a relief to not get another letter. I skated around the area for awhile. It’s pretty fun. Manuals going the other way on the same curb were fun. I went over to the 1-2-3 stair area. It’s a total street spot, not easy to skate at all. Cracks, short runways, everything. I took a bit to get front 180 up the 1, switch 180 down the 2. I wanted to line it out with ollie down the 3, but the angle was hard and there is a huge crack there. I took a few tries to get an ollie down the 3 and then I lined out a manual and a little ollie over a curb and then tried to ollie a cone I had placed after a little bump earlier. I was hoping for the cone ollie first try. Nope. It took several tries. My feet and knees weren’t feeling so good. I had tried some old Pinnacle Powerstep insoles and they didn’t feel very good. The board feel was also terrible with them. I hucked a few flippers as I went back to the starting gate. Ollies are hard for me. When I finally got it I was bummed to see I kind of went over it sideways. Oh well. I was happy to get it.

Then I went to research ledge. I was incredibly sore when I got there. Saul was biking by and we chatted about turtles for a bit. Ha ha. I didn’t think I’d have much of anything and was on limited time before India was to show up at home. I stretched a bit and felt better then went for some slow noseslides to rewarm up. They started working. Then crooks. Couldn’t get back 50. Somehow managed a very slow front 50 jib. Hucked a few flippers, but my feet were hurting and I didn’t want to commit. Ended it on a fun crooks and called it a day.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, es swift 1.5 black/clear shoes size 11.5, pinnacle powerstep orthotic insoles)
(pain level 6/10 feet and knees)