On a nice cool day with rain threatening I met Kevin at dog park.  There were several puddles around, but mostly things were skateable.  I had setup a new 8.3 deck since I didn’t like the old 8.25 I had temporarily setup the day before.  I liked it.  We armed up on a bank to curb we built out of the two wedges and it was fun.  I should have gotten a clip for understanding but it was the steeper grey wedge to parking block that was about 2″ taller than the bank.  We both did some pivots/axle stalls/front tails.  Kevin added in back tail, switch pivot and switch front tail.  We had a few boardslides on Wally World and flippers too.  We skated around for a bit before settling in on the little guy.  The smaller wedge was right behind it and it was fun to do a trick, turn around on the wedge then do another trick.  Kevin totally destroyed it.  Switch flip 50?  Yeah.  He almost did fakie front 50 f/s halfcab out too.  I had some fun mirror line attempts like nollie 50 then fakie 50, front 50 back 180 out then back 180 front 180 out.  Then I spent way too long working on the little kid trick  – front 50 kickflip out.  Never got a clean landing, but it was fun trying.   Garrett showed right at the end and we did some halfcab heel noseslide hucking before the rain came in.  We ended up at a spot later and I filmed Garrett get a solid little line.  

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer night deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 148, bones stf v1 52mm 103a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10 probably sore because of too many ciders lately)

Shortly before 11 I met Rob and Kevin at Broomfield park. As I walked in I said “what’s up with all these damn kids on bikes?” and the mom totally heard me. She took it so well though, laughed and said they were leaving. I apologized, but she was so cool about it that it made the mood good. And then I stepped on my skateboard. Apparently skating a bunch the night before is hard on the legs because I quickly noticed I had nothing. I had put an old 8.25 deck on after Jack put an end to my cracked 8.3 the night before. I very much disliked it. Kevin was dialing a new version of his old setup and it worked as he was shredding everything. First try nollie front nosegrind, switch manual, etc. Rob would beat Kevin and I to crooks. He also had some manuals, front tail, halfcab boardslides, really good kickflip. Kevin and I played a game of SKATE. I struggled although getting heelflip and halfcab flip first try felt good. After that I think I only tried switch front nose shoves and got only remotely close. Kevin was doing switch front 5-0s. The rain moved in and we called it a day.

(setup 8.25 null smoke valley, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate v-hollow hanger, venom 88a big 91a small bushings, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a rainy night we had a friend gathering at Square House. After some good veggies and drinks Gordo said “lets go take a run in the park.” With no idea it would turn into a full session we did some runs. At first it was just Gordon, Rob and I, but after awhile Brian joined in and Jack did a little too. Initially we cruised around, but all settled into some stuff. Gordo wrecked the tight window sill qp. Back rock, front rock, front pivot and close to some more. Rob had some lofty beanplants over the hip, front board pop outs on the bank to ledge, one foots on the banks and more steez. I had some axle stalls, noseslides, crooks and posed some flippers. Brian mostly went at the window sill too. He got some frontside tough guys and grind. After awhile Brian went in on the nollie tres which turned into all of us skating flat. Jack was the first one to land one and would also get a switch tre on a zip zinger. I got close to a first try treflip on a mini board but went on to not land a nollie treflip on my regular board in like 100 tries. I was so close to several at least. Gordon landed his first one ever and of course it was so good. Brian got close, pretty sure he will get one by his 50th. Rob had some kickflips, some other tricks and some wallride nollies the bank to wall. Heck of a good time with good people. And thanks Jack for putting an end to my cracked deck

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate v-hollow hanger, venom 88a big 91a small bushings, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After a night of not sleeping well I forced myself up and to the skatepark. On the way there I biked quite fast so I thought it might translate to a good session. Nope. As soon as I set my board down it felt wrong. I’m not sure how much of it is to blame on the new setup, but I’d say the Aces are 80% responsible. That stupid clicking noise! Also I could not skate the transition very well at all. Add in more ghost pop over the hip and I was ready to walk away. I did have some fun noseslides across the bump to ledge at least. I tried several noseslide 270 shoves on the ledge and got remotely close, but never both feet on it. The whole session made me want my old favorite setup. 8.25 with venture lows. But don’t worry, I know better. I guess the good news is my ankle felt pretty decent.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After work I had changed my 8.3 setup to have some Thunder 148s. It had rained but there was still a decent patch of dry. I had Nate give me a 10×10 list and got to it after some warming up.

kickflip – did a few, the lower Thunders felt good.
fakie flip – struggled, got a couple bad ones.
heelflip – took 20 tries to get a terrible one.
fakie heelflip – got one hands down in a few tries.
fakie bigflip – got a bad one first try then couldn’t get another.
halfcabflip – Had a couple
treflip – really wanted one and was so close so often, but ended up giving up after about 30 tries and went home. I was happy I managed not to focus my board.
bigflip –
fakie varial flip
backside bigspin

(setup 8.3 jack night deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 hollow light, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After work I met Rob and then Gordon and Brian. I haven’t seen Gordo in years and it was immediately awesome. But before that Rob and I had done some warming up. There was a cool crew of somewhat older dudes doing flippers and some good ledge tricks. My ankle wasn’t really holding me back anymore. I was still cautious, but it ended up being fine except later on when I tried a nollie tre. The Aces felt alright for crooks, noseslides, halfcab noseslides but I didn’t try more than that. Gordo started by taking some photos of the obstacles for his trivia game then went on to shred the place. It was cool how much he liked it. He was doing a lot of the standard ledge tricks first or second try. But what’s really funny is he cannot slappy crook! Ha ha. We both did some front slappies though which were fun. He tried to hype up the treflips too, but I wasn’t ready to commit to one of those with my ankle. I did get a few kickflips. The first one felt great, then each subsequent one felt much worst. Strike one against the Aces. Gordon was doing these casual front and back boardslides up the edge of the steeper kicker which peaked the interest of the rest of us. Rob and I were eventually able to get some regular boardslides. Gordon fs grinded up it too. I did some weird no comply grind up it like a pole jam which was fun. Brian started the double boardslide routine with Gordon then somehow it turned into Rob and I doubling up and Gordon going after. And somehow it happened first try. And it was crazy how Rob and my board bonk and we still landed our tricks. Gordo’s powerslide lipslide was amazing. Brian battled the boardslide, but couldn’t get it. He did get the incredible rock fakie and feeble fakie though. Skelly was kind of on his own program, but I saw him almost get a nollie lip shove on the flat bar.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

With my ankle still not feeling great I went across the street in the heat hoping to beat the sprinklers.  I did, but that didn’t stop the Tesla driving Lacrosse moms from parking along the red curb after awhile.  My ankle did feel better though, I actually did some ollies, no flippers though.  The little dorky pivots from the bump to curb are actually quite fun.  I had done a few of the stalls 270 out that felt better, but of course could no longer do it when I set my camera up.  Had some really fun slappy crooks, okay front slappies.  Took awhile to get regular slappies and slappy front crooks.  It’s weird the Aces seem harder to slappy than Ventures.  Maybe it just takes some getting used to.  I had one one pop shove, ollied up the curb a few times.  It’s still way too early to say if I like the setup since I haven’t skated how I normally skate yet.  But it is definitely fun to cruise around on.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

My ankle was still hurting, but it was Go Skate Day and I thought I could handle some slappies.  I had my new setup and was blown away by how sharp the Aces could turn.  There was a big puddle from the sprinklers right in front of the main spot which would get much worse after the sprinklers turned on once again.  UGH!  I did a few front slappies, few slappy crooks and that’s about it.  I didn’t want to pop with my ankle feeling the way it did and the sprinklers kinda ruined it anyway.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a cloudy morning Kevin was asking if we were street skating or hitting parks so he knew whether to wear pants or shorts.  Ha.  Since it was cloudy I was in the mood for streets.  But by the time we got to a spot the sun was out and super bright.  We started at the case logic bank.  It’s just a little mellow bank to serve as a warm up which it did pretty well.  I was alternating between 8.5/6.1s and 8.3/5.8s and ended up on the 8.3.  Kevin was going between his normal 8.25/5.6 and a new 8/33 setup and ended up with his old one too.  I got a quick kickflip to fakie, Kevin got a quick nollie flip.  Nothing out of the ordinary for either of us there.  I couldn’t do a b/s flip on either setup and it made me mad.  I couldn’t get a back heel either.  Argh.  Kevin had done some nollie front 180s out, back 180s into the bank.

Then we went to the nearby ledge spot which did not have nearly as much shade as I hoped.  Kevin got the hang of the spot quickly.  50s, manuals, tailslides.  He was not affected by the tightness of it like I was.  I actually got really upset at how badly I was skating and had a nice tantrum throwing my board like a baby.  It seemed to help though.  I didn’t land much of anything before Kevin was ready to try a line.  I didn’t want to just film so we agreed on rotating and I came up with something.  I actually got it first try.  Ollie onto the pad, kickflip off, front nose 270.  Except that I was barely moving for the nose”slide”.  I was kind of happy though.  I would try to get a better line by doing front smith or back 180 nosegrind on the ledge.  Kevin was trying back tail, manual, back 180 nosegrind shove.  He would never quite get it.  After several tries I started getting a pain in my ankle.  Apparently I must have rolled it on the inside or hit the axle to my bone because I could barely walk.  Argh.  Kevin eventually gave up too as the heat and pain were too much.  Doh.  We left defeated and hurt.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nb abzorb insoles)
(pain level 3/10 then 9/10 after the ankle acted up)

After one heck of a sendoff from Liz I biked to Saul’s on a warm Friday afternoon. Rob, Saul, Kevin and Teddy were there. Teddy is a younger dude and since he left first I”ll start with him. He shreds! Boneless disasters, Jim Gray tricks, front smiths and much more. Kevin was on a mission. Switch disasters, pivot fakies, back smiths, back tails, some awkward slams and couldn’t quite reel in the front smith. Saul treated us to some of this quick carve grind action, back 50s and frontside Saul over the hip “that was an accident” ha ha. Rob had some steez carves, figure 8s and the sweet 16. I had one decent back 50, a few front slashes in the shallow end and some rocks that were not decked. Dave had joined us. He was getting into it, had some front smiths, decked rocks but then had a real bad slam on a rock fakie and hurt his wrist. Argh. He skated a little more, but definitely lost the edge. Then we all went to dinner at Darkhorse and it was a good time.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Up early again and biked to Boulder park.  I wasn’t the first one there this time.  There were a couple older dudes rocking the black shorts/royal blue shirt/full pads combo carving around.  Both of which were nice dudes. I was there for about 15 min before Rob showed.  My warmup wasn’t as tough as last time although my knees were in more pain and I would struggle.  I had some fun front 50s on the wide qp, still couldn’t grind the parking block qp, fun noseslides, some ghost pop ollies over the hip.  Rob got going with some speed carves through the old park and new park, qp back 50s, manuals.  Then had some really snappy ollies over the hip, boardslides, nollie bigs on the bank by the hip.  I got another quick crook jib on the bank to ledge, some crooks the bench followed by 50s the bank to ledge.  I wussed out on back 50s , but finally got some front 50s on the bump to ledge.  Only a couple of them were locked in good and I couldn’t 180 out, but it felt good to finally do the bump to ledge. 

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)