This is one of the best parts of the year! Up there with Suciu and Worrest. I love how Chico skates. This part is seriously amazing.

On the first night of below freezing skating I went in search of dry and ended up at upper valmont. I started in a weird location I’ve never skated before. Basically just a 20′ manny pad, but it had a slightly weird downhill approach and the curb was extra low. It made me struggle. I couldn’t get the manual. I tried for a really long time, then gave up and ollied up the curb, then ollied a tiny gap then did a kickflip. Then I went to the 2 stair area that I had waxed a few months ago. It now has a camera right above it so it’s a little weird. I just did a couple front axles on it. I had put in a Bones Hard Bushing on the bottom as I wanted a little more stability. I ended up hating it. I guess I’m a loose truck kind of guy. I had tried a few flippers. Not much worked. I was skating hard though. The 8.5″ felt huge this time around. Of course. I went across the street to the manny pads. I still struggled to manual there. Argh. I was skating hard. Came close to a line of switch 180 up, then ollie up, front shove out of the weird curb cut, manual, nose manual. Nose manual was the only one I didn’t get. The whole night I was haunted by an image of a raccoon I had seen get hit by a car right before pulling into Valmont. It was just such an unpleasant image. The cold never really bothered me at least.

(setup 8.5 null nolan deck, Venture 5.8 trucks (cast baseplate, titanium hanger), bones medium/hard bushings , spitfire F4 52mm 99a green swirl wheels, new balance numeric 306 Foy b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 3/10)