Went to the garage without much motivation hoping to randomly try nollie varial heel. After some warming up I tried a bunch and was not close whatsoever. So. I went into the normal rotation stuff. Kickflip variation, heelflip variation, nollie, switch, treflip then nollie varial heel. I got a couple of the kickflip tricks. Somewhat close to switch flip. Couldn’t get a treflip to save my life. And it killed me. I managed to just stop and go inside after about 30 minutes. No landing treflips is driving me nuts. Never before have I committed so many times and not gotten feet on it. I’m gonna change something.

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Kevin had called out an 11am dog park session which worked good for me as I didn’t have as much time as normal. I got there first. The park was arranged pretty weird. Upon Kevin and Rob arriving we did some arranging and it worked out pretty good. The crew ended up bing Kevin, Rob, Mike, Bernie and cameos from Dan and Aki. I had nothing for a long time. I was able to pop ollies alright, but my flip tricks weren’t going well and I didn’t have much drive. Kevin was ripping the ledges a new one. Back tails, back smiths, crooks, back 180 nosegrinds, nollie nosegrinds, nollie front crooks, etc. Bernie started mellow, but got into the kick back tail battle with Kevin. Bernie would get a couple that looked oh so good. Mike hadn’t skated in a couple months and it showed. He is human after all! He still ripped though. Nollie back tails, back nosegrinds, all done with power. Rob had the sickest fakie nosegrind 180. I need to try that trick, looks so fun. He also had some long lines, front noseslides, halfcab noseslides, back 50 mongo out, back 180s over the parking block every time and much more. Rob had left. Aki had shown. Good to see him. He hadn’t skated much lately either. Still had some good 50s though. Dan showed on his lunch break right as we were about to play a game of SKATE so he joined and then won it. I wasn’t happy with getting a letter on treflip, but I managed a few tricks and was the 3rd one out. It was funny getting like 3 letters on kickflip and fakie flip. I also got halfcab flip, heelflip and fakie bigflip. I of course got letters on Kevin’s nollie and switch flips. Dan put down Janoski and won it with nollie front heel. After that we were mostly chilling, dorking around. I hucked a few kick back tails on the little guy, but never got both feet on. I told Bernie we had to do a new trick before leaving so he went and did fakie back tail kickflip out like 3rd try. That was a new one for him. And he got it so quickly! I started trying the switch nose kickflip out. I wasn’t close at all for awhile, but then just put my board on the ledge and tried it. I figured out that thinking of it as a backside flip really helped. Then as you can see above I kind of did it. i was actually pretty happy about it. Hopefully it’s a step towards doing them moving.

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Had more time before we left for my mom’s than I thought I would so hit up Jake and Rob for an early dog park session.  It was cold at first, but warmed up quite a bit by the end.  Especially when the strong breeze wasn’t blowing.  I was there first and quickly realized I was feeling alright for me.  Warm up line was switch front nose cinder block ledge, halfcab nose black ledge, crooks new bigger ledge.  Got back 50 on the a-frame, first try heelflip, front 50s weren’t as hard as normal.  The small board was kind of awesome at everything, perhaps because I kept the high trucks on it.  Rob and Jake got to ripping pretty quickly.  Rob halfcab noseslide the street bench, halfcab boardslides, crooks, back 50s, noseslides, kickflip, front nose 270 the new big ledge, almost backside flip, super steezy no comply back 360.  Jake had some solid front tailslides, 5-0s, did 2 or 3 varial flips in a row, joined me on crooks shove/bigspin attempts on the new ledge.  Neither of us got close, but we had some fun crooks.  Jake broke his board on a frontside flilp.  Doh.  Those guys were wrapping things up, but I had 3 tricks left on my list.  Somehow I would get them all.  Nosegrind 180 the little ledge.  Ollie the barrier off the kicker (after a switch nose 270 shove).  Then a sloppy treflip that took too long, but they all felt good.  Fun send off for the holiday weekend.

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Feeling kind of out of it I went out to the garage remotely thinking about varial heels and nollie varial flips.  I did a few warm up kickflips, slammed on a fakie flip, did a few other tricks then went in on varial heels.  I tried for 25 minutes.  I landed the one other one, but put the hand down and didn’t want to count it.  I was so close so often, but to actually land it was hard.  And when it finally did it felt kind of lucky.  I was hyped though.  I listened to Dinosaur Jr Give A Glimpse yet again.  That album seriously rules. 

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Went over to curbs on a breezy, but nice day on my lunch break. I had put some old Thunders on because I was obsessed with how they are lower again. I was quickly reminded how badly Thunders turn. I had some fun, but slappies didn’t work all that well and I didn’t have the energy for flip tricks. About the only thing I really did were back 180 nose picks. I would say nose grind, but I didn’t grind them. I did go to fakie though. They were fun.

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 147s, venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm f4 classic shape 99a 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insole)
(pain level 3/10)

Up pretty early I did some yoga then went to campus since the forecast said intense winds and it was already breezy. It ended up being really nice until about the time I left. I started right by the tunnel to the hill. I don’t normally do yoga right before skating and I felt a little weird, but not very sore. I messed around with some stalls on a step then ended up doing a fun little warm up line. Front tail, nollie front shove, nollie back shove, grind up the curb cut, noseslide the ledge, wallie nollie the bank to brick wall. I messed around with some kickflips and b/s flips, got noseslide to fakie. Then mostly just skated the ledge for awhile going slow because the downhill scares me. I got crooks, boardslide, switch front nose, took way to long to get halfcab noseslide then ended with a crooks to fakie. I went around the corner and made myself ollie up the rounded two stair a couple times, 180 off, then switch front nose, also a crook. Then I ended up at the stadium bank. Did pop shove to fakie, first trick kickflip to fakie and b/s kickflip. Then I went in on treflip. Aka the trick I kind of hate more than anything right now. It’s not that I don’t think they rule, it’s that I cannot do them. I tried probably 50 treflips to fakie and never got me feet on one. Not even close. It’s like it’s physically impossible for me to land them anymore. I left campus after this with mixed emotions.

After dinner I had nothing going on and was still mad I hadn’t landed a treflip. I changed to the forged baseplate in hopes it would make my board feel more flippy. It did. Warming up went pretty good I got kickflip and fakie flip right away then went in to the 5 way rotation (variations of kickflip, heelflip, nollie, switch, then a treflip). I got first try halfcab flip and b/s flip and had some of the best heelflips I’ve done in awhile. I was very close to nollie varial flip and setup the phone to maybe capture it. My rotation was fakie varial flip, halfcab heel, nollie varial flip, switch flip, treflip. For 30 minutes straight I did not land a single trick and I didn’t even get both feet on a treflip. It was so incredibly depressing. Maybe it’s time to go back down to 8″.

(setup 8.25 colfax deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast/forged baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Feeling anxious early on a winter day I went over to the school armed with a 10 x 10 list. I warmed up a bit, got kickflips and then started on the list.
halfcab flip – made myself do fakie flip first so it was kind of a line. Got a couple.
heelflip – Got one then made myself do another one after a halfcab flip.
fs flip – Got a couple really bad pivoted ones
front heel – Kind of landed one. It could maybe count if it was a game of SKATE between two 60 year olds and it was on defense.
fakie bigflip – Couldn’t get this one. Made me mad.
360 flip – Didn’t get very close. made me mad.
nollie tre – Didn’t get very close. Also made me mad.
rick flip – remotely close, but it would have come to a halt.
switch flip – remotely close.
cab flip – remotely close. There were a couple that I landed on the front wheels and almost got around, but fell off.
I had posed other tricks in between, but didn’t really land anything. Still I was hyped on skating an hour of flat early before eating.

After some food I met up with Jake and Rob on campus as the sun and a breeze came out. Jake and I had arrived first at the new meet up spot and warmed up with some flatground. Around the time Rob arrived Jake and I were trying the warm up line of kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip. I got it in a few tries. Angry Jake started to show when he would land on a bunch of fakie flips, but not get it. Rob and I went up the stairs and started goofing around on the double snow section. It started as ollies, 180s and graduated to manuals and kickflips. Ha ha. I had a fun one of switch front 180 then back 180. Also ollie then kickflip. Was trying kickflip then b/s flip, but never got the kickflip with the added speed. Jake got front 180 then f/s halfcab. Rob shut it down with the gap in/out manual. Jake would get the kickflip/no comply 180/fakie flip line and we moved into campus. We did some jersey barrier wallrides. Then ended up at the little downhill curb/ledge. I think Rob got slappy crooks, back 50 and front tail. I don’t think Jake liked it very much. I had a couple fun line. Halfcab flip then front 50. Heelflip then front 50 shove. Next was the micro bump to hill for a frustrating, but fun session. Jake beat me to kickflip and returned the beam favor from earlier. But then would go on to struggle with frontside flips. I got a few flippers. Kickflip, fakie flip, first try halfcab flip, super slow backside flip, a battle of a treflip but it did feel pretty great, f/s halfcab flip and ended with a fun no comply 180. Rob was struggling with kickflip then tapped into his inner Neil and lined it out with a no comply shove. Jake had tried fakie 3 shove too. I couldn’t get heelflip. We left and on the way back I forced myself into getting a heelflip. It was a fun day. I had more energy than I’ve had in awhile. Maybe it does help to take a day off once in awhile.

(setup 8.25 colfax deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 2/10!!!)

Had the day off work and after honing in on a dry park I left the warm feeling sun of Boulder for the frigid cold at Frederick. Dave had been there for a bit. Rob and I got there at basically the same time. Garrett and Jake a little later. There were clouds and a little breeze making the park feel super cold so warming up was not easy. Dave was doing lots of little nollies, fakie ollies, shoves on the banks and hips. Rob was doing full pulls around with some manuals. I was pretty random although pretty early on I had a pretty long line that made me happy. Back 180 off a little wedge, switch 180 over the a-frame, back 50 down the corner qp, slappy the bank to curb, kickflip the hump hip. We were in the manny pad area for awhile. Rob did back 180 up halfcab boardslide, ollied up the euro. Jake was going for fakie flip then halfcab noseslide, ollied up /down the euros. Dave did some quick up 50s, ollied up and down the euros. Garrett was flying around. B/s flip the steep hip, back big the steep hip, switch manual the little pad, manual kickflip the big pad, almost nose manual nollie flip. I got frustrated getting one ollie up the tall ledge and missing a bunch of other ones. Eventually Dave did a bunch of fakie flips on the steep bank then ollied up/down the euro, maybe a 180 too. I couldn’t get the fakie flip. I was having a lot of trouble flipping my board. I ended up trying b/s flip on the steep bank then treflip off the little wedge. I committed, but never rode away. Rob and Dave left. Jake, Garrett and I played SKATE. Well, I got 3 letters on fakie flip and managed to not focus my board! After I lost on another trick I should land I took a few tries to get a cruddy 270 flip. Jake and Garrett finished up and I went over and started trying the line above. I struggled with the kickflips initially then pretty much would get to the front shove every try. Garrett was kind enough to suggest filming it so we did. It didn’t take too many tries and I wasn’t even bummed when I saw the footage. Then I filmed Garrett for a bit and some scooter kids showed up so we called it a day. Skating in the cold is hard!

(setup 8.25 colfax deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Felt like trying tighter trucks on my 8.25 setup so I put some stock venture bushings in with both washers.  I met Jake at the dark and dreary Steelyards garage.  There was an older dude drinking beers, smoking up and riding a bmx bike around the garage all fast.  It was awesome.  The darkness of the garage quickly got to Jake and I.  Also, I quickly remembered how much I hate tight trucks.  We struggled to do a few things we can normally do right away then decided to leave and check out something else.  We ended up at redder curbs which wasn’t much colder even though it’s open.  Jake had a little line ollieing the median then slappy the curb.  I flailed around hating tight trucks and did some front 50s, slappy crooks, 180s over the parking block.  I couldn’t get b/s flip over the micro hip.  Jake learned dump truck transfers over the parking block.  I would get one too that took way too long.  Then we played a really fun game of SKATE transfers over the parking block.  It started with me doing a terrible ollie over it.  Ha.  We went quite a long time before any letters were handed out.  I can’t remember all that we did.  Some fun ones I did were front axle to fakie, front feeble nollie shove, blunt shove, we both got first try dump trucks, nosepick transfer was a battle for both of us but I got it.  Jake did nollie shove rock transfer, f/s cab rock transfer which I somehow got too, a beanplant 360 hand shove which was incredibly fun, he almost got fakie shove rock transfer.  Somehow he accumulated SKAT while I had SK and I one it with a back 50 to fakie transfer.  Fun game, I needed a “dork” session.  I tried to kickflip it after the game, but didn’t have the commitment.  Oh well, fun night.  Tight trucks suck!

(setup 8.25 colfax deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger stock insoles, spitfire 52mm f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a cold and snowy night I went into the garage.  The goal was to rotate between 6 different types of tricks.  Kickflips, heelflips, nollie, switch, 360 flip, random trick.  It made for a lot of failing, but at the same time made for some good motivation.  I had a new pair of 212s and they felt a little slippery and stiff.  Good shoes take a minute to break in.  Also my trucks were making so much noise they were driving me nuts.  Maybe it’s time to order better pivot cups.  Basically I was not close to anything other than kickflip tricks and a couple terrible heelflips.  I was not close to treflip at all which was oh so frustrating.  I had gotten halfcab flip kinda quick which was maybe the only joy I had on the 8.5.  At some point I grabbed my 8.25 sitting there and said “8.5 never again”.  I didn’t land a treflip on it, but I actually committed finally.  I got a f/s flip that felt alright.  Some nollie and switch flips were close.  Was not close to casper flips.  I went in after about an hour and a half of flailing around feeling quite depressed.  I guess the one positive is I think I finally found some insoles I really like.

(setup 8.5 then 8.25 both with ventures and 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 2/10!)