Having successfully taken a break from the dog park I went on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I was lazy after a late night after the NCAR fire kept us evacuated until late the night before. The concrete was clean, way fewer rocks/dirt than normal which was nice. I didn’t have a lot of drive, but would get through basics at a good rate. Front 50s on the flat side of the C ledge came easy, front 180 out, front shove out. Crooks on the benches, couldn’t get noseslide 270 shove. Flippers weren’t great, but got a 270 flip to cheer me up. Had some back 50s and manuals, but no nose manuals. The scene was weird, a mixture of total beginners and annoying jocky type skaters with ear buds in. The beginners would stand like 5 feet from the manny pad with no understanding to move out of the way.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S grey 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 5/10 right knee is not good)

Out kind of early on a Saturday morning I met up with Jake, Cass, Venture Dave, Rob, Kevin and then a bunch of Nullers after a couple hours. Riley, Garrett, Jack, Hayden, Bo, Joe, Sean and Monico!!!! So as you can see with a crew this size and a few days since the session it’s going to be impossible for me to remember everything. Of the original 5 only Kevin wore a non-white shirt. So we didn’t include him in our warm up game of SKATE (well mostly because we didn’t want to lose super quick). It was a fun game, somehow I won it on a no comply backside shove. I was like 1-4 on halfcab flips which was annoying. Other then that it was rad seeing Dave in the mix. He’s got a mean impossible and does a lot of similar manuals around the top of the bank like Rob. It was also rad to see Rob in the mix, getting front boards, crooks, manuals and the classy style. Kevin was shredding even more than normal. Kick back tails, fakie 5-0 halfcab out, treflips, nollie tres, switch 5-0s, everything. Jake was doing nollie back tails on the black ledge and fakie f/s noseslides and a bunch more. I skated okay, not great. I consistently had the pop to get up on front 50s on the black ledge, but didn’t land a lot of them. Cass had a perfect first try hardflip, good front noseslides. After a while I sat down, drank my smoothie then resorted to filming for the next couple hours as the Nullers were in effect and it was so fun to watch. It ruled seeing all of them at one session and how different they are and all so good. It’s rare to see Monico so that was the highlight. He ollied the black box second try! We got word of a fire near Boulder and thought it would be okay, but Liz started calling and I got an evacuation notice so I had to bounce. It was sketch!

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

A little crisp in the morning, but really nice once we got going. Cass and I were there first and there was only a few people skating. We had a solid couple hours before it got crowded. Now that doesn’t mean we warmed up quickly. Ha ha. I was still sore from playing ball a couple days ago. I had new shoes and was struggling to find the flick with them. I basically spent the whole time trying two lines, which I would get. The “warm up” line that took way too long. B/s kickflip on the little chip, crooks the little ledge, backside flip the hip. Then the next one which wasn’t supposed to be the only other line I got, but soreness got to me. Kickflip to fakie the little chip, switch front nose the ledge, fakie bigflip the hip. I had done some boardslides on the little rail and failed to 50 the bump to ledge, also failed to ollie the hydrant mostly because I can’t push that hard with my achilles yet and I kind of hurt it. Argh. Cass had some good front boards on the flat bar and then fakie front boards. He had some poppy ollies over the a-frame and kickflips over the hip. He came close to bigflip over the hip. Sean came and did some ollies and 50s. But oh man they were sick! The long front 50 was sketchier than he made it look, the uphill 50 gap to the bank was NUTS. We then got some tacos and checked out a nearby school, that had nothing more than a weird bank to curb that I did a pivot on.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 5/10 still sore from basketball/bad diet)

Cass and I arranged a Boulder session as the weather was great. But by the time we arrived the wind was raging pretty hard. We still had a good session though. Kind of early on we hit the little qp and it was fun we rattled off some tricks. I had done front d then kickflip to fakie. Cass was doing good back smiths so I filmed it then did the front d to sugarcane then luckily got the kickflip. Cass had some good tailslides. I didn’t have much else but a lot of noseslides and I tried a bunch of noseslides to fakie then “cab” flips over the mound. I say “cab” because its’ really only like 270. I got pretty close a few times. Cass was getting some good crooks on the bench. And we had a Rob sighting! He came in for a bit and cruised around before a big gust sent him on his way.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a snowy day I ditched the fam and dropped of boards at Ramps and Alleys in Salida then proceeded to skate the ramp for about 20 minutes. It was really fun, a lot like Rampy. The aluminum coping doesn’t grind too well, but that’s okay it’s fun for stalls. I took the opportunity to do a few tricks I haven’t done in a long time. Fakie front axle, fakie hurricane (although I fell out to rock) and fakie pivot fakie. I couldn’t get a front tail or a fakie tail revert. It was fun though and they let me play music on the boom box.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Had some time away from the family in the morning so I took advantage on a nice and warm morning. I had the park mostly to myself except for a few minutes between a couple of beginner skaters and scooter kids. I started really slow feeling coffee jitters and disdain for the park. I had wanted to do a bunch of flippers on the bank, but b/s flip took too long. I would get a line to kickflip fakie of front tail off the tiny qp to weird ledge, rock ‘n roll the qp, kickflip fakie on the bank. Then I wussed out on rock fakies for a while and rather than getting mad I just started skating how I want to skate. I did flip tricks around the park and lined out the wood ledges which are better than most of the concrete mounds in the park. I started with b/s flip then halfcab flip, go around and front 50 the ledge. Also tried crooks the other way then drop in and try treflip to fakie. Which then turned into the most ridiculously long line which I did actually come close to. Two flippers, front 50, kickflip flyout front rock, axle stall the qp, treflip fakie the bank. Never got it, but I was close. A couple of the two flippers I got were halfcab heel then heelflip, halfcab flip then treflip, b/s flip then fakie bigflip, I was having so much fun with it. I was 3/4 on heelflips which hasn’t happened in what feels like forever. I got the treflip 2nd try, but was so close on all of them. I was so close to going 3/3 on flat. I didn’t get much on the ledge, aluminum coping isn’t the best, but it was more fun than the weird transition and huge coping. I kept thinking my brother and his kids would show up so I skated hard thinking my session could be over any moment. They never did and I ended up just leaving on my own. Flip tricks make me happy.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After a stressful day of work I busted out for a quick one at the tennis court before my brother would arrive. It was cool out. There were a few other skaters there for the first time. They were pretty chill and nice. I’m dealing with an arthritis flare up, but was able to skate pretty well for me. I mean I didn’t really land a ton or anything, but I skated more how I want to skate with lots of flippers in lines. I almost got a line of f/s flip, switch noseslide, fakie bigflip. Been struggling with fakie bigflips lately. Had fakie flip, halfcab noseslide, almost heelflip. Halfcab flip, crooks, b/s flip. None of these were great, but I was really trying and it felt cool. Had some slappy crooks, a little switch front board on the curb, multiple front 50s which is the first time getting up on the ledge that easily. Even got a front shove out of one. But they were all pretty slow. Ended trying switch front nose shoves and then a manual on the little pad. I got really sore at the end, but I had to go anyway. I had hucked a lot of other flippers, some of which were close.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 6/10 arthritis)

It was nice that the rain timed it with an indoor old man night at Square House. I arrived pretty late. Saul, Eric, Furlong, Brian, Christian, and Furlong’s kid were already there. I struggled on the ramp, was very sore and pumping hurt it. Somewhat quickly Saul and I did some slappies. Switch ones are hard, but it was fun. I think I actually slightly rolled my ankle on that axle stall to fakie slam because it’s really hurting. I got a couple kickflips up the euro, a good feeling crook on the bump to ledge and not close to b/s flip the hip. Back to the ramp. Brian had some of his fun patented bonk lines and is 100% on one footed front rocks. Furlong shredded, the long front smith was great. Eric had some good fakie tailslides, back ds, long back 50s to fakie and got some pivot fakies. Christian is a beast, he would go on to get a long front noseblunt. I struggled and wasn’t getting anything harder and Brian suggested a butt dropin to roll in. Somehow it seemed fun and I went for it. I actually had to try it a few times which is embarrassing, but it was actually pretty fun and it seemed to kind of warm me up. So I challenged Ace to a game of SKATE. My legs were shot and he destroyed me. But at least I got a first try halfcab flip and he said “Oh okay then” like it was a real game. After that we hucked some tricks. I got a sex change and came close to nollie tre. Fun night, rad crew.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a warm, but breezy afternoon I met Dave at SC. Actually I almost ran him over in the parking lot because he tried to startle me and succeeded. Ha. We started on the curb and had some good slappy starts, but Dave beat me to kickflip. I’m not sure if I ever rolled away from a clean slappy front crooks, but other slappies worked, including switch front slappy. Dave had a great slappy front crook to fakie, slappy crook shove, switch slappy crook. Then we went into the park which wasn’t too crowded. Other than a couple 50s and noseslides across the bump to ledge I pretty much just tried backside flips over the hip. I got a sloppy one somewhat quick, then a clean one in a few tries after that. I made the mistake of trying to get 3 of them. I would land on like 20, but never roll away again and ultimately just gave up. I can blame the wind a little. Dave was totally shredding with some really cool lines. Tricks like 5-0s on the qp down onto the bench, front 3 over the hip and a lot more I’m forgetting now. He tried a bunch of front bluntslides on the hip, but also ended up giving up. He can totally blame the wind. Mike had some really good halfcabs over the hip. I missed most of Saul and his slappy session. Saul lined out an exit over the noping. It was a really fun session even though I spent way too much time trying a trick I had already landed.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After going out for breakfast and hanging with the family for a while I eventually made it out to skate. I went by the new spot near my house that would be oh so much more fun if it hadn’t been knobbed. I warmed up briefly, had some great feeling kickflips. Then tried a line of halfcab flip on flat then ollie the lower of the gaps. The knobs are really close together making ollies onto the ledge hard, luckily you can just ride on at one point. I had all these ideas for things to try, but it wasn’t as fun as I had thought and there were kids playing hide and seek and their parents (younger than me) kept looking at me weird. The curve into the lower gap was hard. I would get it, and also did it with a fakie bigflip to start. But none of the ollies were good. I made myself commit to the larger gap and it was depressing how scary and hard it was for me. I never got a clean landing. The runway is only one push and the roll away is only about 6 feet long. Oh well.

Then I went to the flagstone bench where I started to feel pretty tired and lazy. I had some okay crooks, but really struggled. Couldn’t ollie onto it or front 50. The spot is really tough to skate. Rough brushed concrete, large cracks and it’s narrow. The dork trick was kind of fun.

Then I went down to the next school and made myself do 10 flip tricks. The basketball court was smooth, but not level and the imperfections messed with me. Almost all of the tricks I did were terrible. I got kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, f/s halfcab flip, fakie bigflip, heelflip (the only trick I liked and it’s been hard lately), f/s halfcab heel, absolutely terrible varial flip, backside flip and fakie heelflip. Not all days can be as fun as yesterday.

(8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, spitfire 51mm 101a classic shape with 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5 440 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)