On an insanely windy day I went downtown hoping the trees would block some wind. They did, and on top of that the wind almost stopped for a couple hours. I was pretty sore so I wore some Westgates I had gotten from Tytus. They felt pretty good initially, but I eventually got that cupsole knee pain that reminds me not to wear cupsoles. I want to explore more and since I was in pain that’s mainly what I did. Just kinda wandering in allies and behind buildings I haven’t looked at before. I had a really embarrassing slam on an ollie off a curb into a parking garage driveway. I almost stopped at that point. Did a fun wallie nollie behind the Boulder Theater. Took a long time to do a really lame manual down a sidewalk then forced myself to kickflip. Right next to it was a new mini bank to curb that I took too long to slappy. Ended up at Casey and took awhile to do a bad line of front 180 the little stage gap, switch front 180 on flat, get into noseslide on the kinked hubba. I had thought of falling off the first part to grass ride, but it was too wet to ride. Went down near Ideal. Did a tiny crook on the plastic bench in the back. Man I was sore and lacking pop. So I walked some more. I went to go home, but right as I got to my car Dave called and said he was on his way. So we skated Wells Fargo for a bit. To our surprise they had taken out a tree and made a new miniramp. Ha, it is so hard to skate. I took forever to get a front slash. Then we started trying lines. Dave had some good slams, but would get the 3 trick line for the win. Then he ended it with the 3 continuous slashes for the MVP award. So sick. Not the best start to a new year, but I was ultra timid on my ankle still.

(2020 setup 8..25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 v-hollows, 1/16” riser, bones medium bushings, 52mm spitfire green swirl classics f4 99a, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 913 black/yellow size 12, stock insoles)
(Pain level 7/10)

Went in front of the house on a nice afternoon to try a few ollies and see if my ankle was ready to skate. At first I couldn’t even commit to no pop shoves off the nose. My ankle didn’t really hurt until I tried a switch front 180. Something about the way you land that trick gave it a good jolt. It’s my back foot that got hurt. I would eventually do a couple slow shoves and one kickflip. Then I went in before doing any major damage.

(Setup 8..25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 v-lights, 1/16” riser, bones medium bushings, 52mm spitfire tablet f4 99a, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 212 size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 6/10)

Here is my list for 2019.

Best part of the year: Mark Suciu – Verso. You know a part is amazing when it’s 12 minutes long and there isn’t a single tic tac. The tech skills, the relatable spots, the middle two songs, the spots, the flow. This dude is one of the best of all time.

Runner up best parts of the year:
Flo Mirtain – Helas Fellas
Bobby Worrest – Venture
Mark Suciu – Habitat Control Room
Gustav Tonneson – Adidas Reverb
Chico Brenes – 7×7

Video of the Year: Helas Fellas

Runner up best vid of the year:
Sour Solution 2 (my two favorite videos of the year are euro vids!)

Now for a bunch of random ones:
Here’s a link to my ‘best of 2019′ playlist that I added to everytime a part I really liked came out on YouTube.
Skater Of The Year: Mark Suciu by a mile
Trick Of The Year: Milton Martinez kickflip into the carwash
Worst Trend: Handrail only parts. I thought these died years ago? Ugh
Most Underrated Skater: Was gonna say Chris Colbourn, but he just turned pro so that’s good. Maybe the majority of the Santa Cruz team.
Best PJ Tricolor remix – To Pavement! So good
Best Instagram Post – NB PJ 533 commercial. This will probably be the last PJ clip we ever see so cherish it.
Best Line Of The Year: Can’t decide. Either Tom Knox in Atlantic Drift Moscow, Bobby Worrest “up the three” in Venture part, Or Suciu’s line at Flushing in Control Room (7:46).

I skated 277 days in 2019 and changed my setup 30 times. Yikes! That’s why my main skate New Years Resolution for 2020 is to stick with 8.25 the whole year.

( I will probably keep adding onto this for awhile)