After work on a really nice evening I ate a quick meal then bolted to meet Rob and Dave at Frederick skatepark. Somehow I got there in a little over 30 minutes which is the least amount of time it’s ever taken me to get there. The park was not crowded and was surprisingly chill all night. Warm ups were kind of whatever. We mostly skated the bank to curb area for what seemed like the whole night. Dave was working on slappy crooks shove to board transfer. Never saw him get it. But he did get a kickflip to fakie on the bank followed by f/s halfcab flip into the little bank. And it was funny because of how sketchy it was he looked like he was going down a huge hill. Rob had a couple kickflips on the bank. A line of front shove to fakie on the bank, halfcab out of the smaller bank, shove into the tiny bank. I took way too long to get kickflip to fakie then halfcab flip. I also couldn’t get a treflip out of the bank. At some point I rattled off a 8 trick line of axle stall the bank to curb, kickflip out of the smaller bank, noseslide the ledge, front disaster the lowest part of the qp, maybe a slash the other side, ollie up the euro, 180 off, switch front nose the ledge. This started more attempts to do long lines in what would be an incredibly fun session with lots of falling and laughing. Dave had a few full pulls around the whole park, I had one. I don’t remember all of the tricks. Rob had some ollies the hip, bean plant the hump, slappys on the bank to curb, slappy back smith, slappy crooks, I think manual or nose manual the pad. Rob left and Dave and I kept at it til the lights shut off. I was happy to have tried a couple kickflips off the ledge and landed on both, but fell down. Also a first try front 180 up the tall pad felt cool, crooks the ledge. Was trying back heels on the hump and kind of did a heelflip toe drag to fakie instead. Dave had several ollies up the euro, 50s the manny pad, good ollies the steep hip, f/s flips the upper tight hip, back tail the parking block from the top and from the bank, so much more that are a blur at this point. I tried to start a line with noseslide the bump to ledge then b/s flip the upper tight hip, but never really got beyond it. This was one of my fav sessions in a while. It’s rare I feel good enough to try this hard and can fall this much without pain. Although a day later as I write this the pain is real. Either way, super fun time.

(setup 4/10 8.25 null beatles, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 with royal bushing flat top washer, spitfire f4 99a classic shape yellow wheels, new balance numeric 574 vulc blue size 11.5 with half 272 insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10 but started to get some bad knee pain at the end)

On a warm and sunny morning I picked up Dave and we went to the nice and simple old prefab Berthoud park. And it ruled even though warming up seemed slow. I took a lot of tries to get a kickflip over the hip. Dave less tries. But once we had moved on it went pretty great. Dave’s switch front bigs were so good. He had never even done a fakie ollie the way over the hip, then he does a fakie flip too! I had fun trying some switch front boards, was hyped the b/s flip only took a couple of tries. The crooks were really fun. I haven’t done a treflip over a hip in like 20 years, since the Aurora Wheel Park days, and maybe even before Null. So yes I know this one is terrible, but man it felt great that it was right there. I want to go do it better now! After that I tried a line for a while of nollie front tail the little round bar, flatground heelflip, front 50 the curved ledge. Never got all of them in a line, but did get each trick. Dave kept going. The slip ‘n slide blunt was cool. And the kickflip tail OMG! Extra fun session.

(setup 9/10 8.25 null spanbauer, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 with royal bushings, spitfire f4 99a yellow classic shape 52mm, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 half insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a super nice night I met Dave and then Nate at dog park. Dave and I had been warming up before Nate showed. At the dog park I saw Dave try fakie 50 halfcabs and was surprisingly struggling with them, fakie back nosegrind, ollie up then nollie back 180 off the c pad. Nate casually front nosegrind the c lurb, front smith it, back and front 5-0s, casual killing. I tried some nosegrind 180s on the c lurb but never quite went fast enough or committed enough. I struggled to kickflip over a parking block which was supposed to set me up to front 50 the bench which I never did. I had on front 50 shove on the c lurb. All this while some some alpha male had to show us how fast he could skate and do the same 2 tricks over and over.

Dave’s back was hurting so we went over to the low impact zone with the scooter kids. Nate had a really good first try ollie the euro. We were treated to some Dave magic although I forget the trick that stood out to make me think that. Kickflips over the hip both ways, solid f/s halfcab over the hip. I pretty much only tried to b/s flip the euro hip and would eventually get it and was quite happy about it. Dave had left. Nate and I did some boardslides into the bank as the wind kicked in. I couldn’t quite get a kickflip to fakie on the shark fin.

(setup 4/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder team hollow 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 440v2 11.5 wide with currex runpro insoles and half 440 insole)
(pain level 3/10 calf pain went away as I was skating it was crazy!)

On a super nice night Dave and I met on campus near the infamous Baker ledge. Dave did a gap to manual on the nearby pad as I kind of just jibbed around trying to get warmed up and used to my setup change. Then we hit the manny pad to grind area. The ledge had cars so couldn’t skate it. I somehow did a couple manual to back 50s pretty quickly. Dave went in on ollie up to ride on front tail then shove out. He never quite got the shove out. He had some back 50s transfer up onto the pad. I would get some front 50s, accidental and intentional 5-0s up onto the pad. One followed with a sketchy b/s flip up the curb, a couple followed by slow and questionable treflips. Either way I was happy. Dave got manual to front 5-0. Front 180 up to ride on switch crook! I got kickflip up then ride on crooks for my fav thing of the day. Came close to nollie tres, kind of close to kickflip manual too. Then we went over to the newly deknobbed ledge both feeling exhausted and sore. I started out by slamming a lot. We did some ride on grinds, Dave even did switch backside. As well as pretty easily getting a solid front 50 and some switch noseslides. I was happy to get a couple slow front 50 jibs. Then we ended with the little kid ride on grinds to nollie shove out. They were fun. One of my better sessions in a while. Really liked my setup too. Which probably means I’ll dislike it next session, but I really liked it today at least.

(setup 9/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 149 royal bushings, spitfire 52mm 99a tablet, new balance numeric 440v2 wide size 11.5 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 at times my calf was so bad but I kept skating and it eventually loosened up)

After work I had a quick drive to meet up with Dave. He was working in Louisville and we were going to skate a ditch after a meet up at the park. But I bet deep inside both of us knew we wouldn’t stop skating wherever we started. I went through 3 setups as it rained during the warm up stage. Pretty much right away Dave did the boardslide out of the qp after we laughed about how weird the parking block placement was. Did you actually put it there Dave? He also had some nice pivots on the weird qp then front 50 the bank to ledge. I was trying a line of crooks the ledge then noseslide to fakie the bank to ledge. The crooks felt great, but I kept messing up the noseslide to fakie. After a pretty bad slam I needed extra motivation and was trying to add a trick before the crooks but, couldn’t get a treflip or heelflip. Eventually settled on kickflip over the parking block and surprised myself with a great feeling kickflip, good feeling crooks, then great feeling noseslide to fakie. Dave was going to punch me if I didn’t do the noseslide to fakie. That line made me happy though. Struggled with front 50s again and may have only gotten a couple really slow ones. Dave had some good ones and did one with a nollie shove at the end into the little bank that was pretty amazing. Dave went in on a line of ollie to drop in on the mini hubba down the stairs, then ollie onto the ledge and roll into the bank, then back tail on the parking block out of the qp. He would get a couple to fakie, but not quite to forward like he wanted. I really struggled to ollie onto the little ledge and roll in like Dave was. I would never commit to it. But I would get a low b/s flip over the main hip that was pretty rewarding. Dave then did a few and a perfect b/s flip over the mellower hip. I was posing front heels over it and they started to feel kind of realistic and then out of nowhere I landed a really floppy one. And it felt incredible. I rarely land new tricks these days and even rarer do I land them in less than 20 tries. Kind of a mixed session struggling with some basics, but landing a new trick at the end felt incredible.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, royal 144 hollow kingpin, spitfire f4 99a 51mm classic, new balance numeric 574 vulc blue/white size 11.5 with half insole and currex run pro insole)
(pain level 5/10)

On a nice morning I met Cass at Frederick. We had the park to ourselves for a long time before Bo and then Brian would arrive. I had eaten before skating which is rare and was messing with me getting going. But I had some kickflips on various things and got a couple up onto the smaller pad. We played a game of SKATE that I won kind of quickly somehow. I had first try fakie flip, halfcab flip and heelflip. Cass hit me with a hardflip because he didn’t want to get pink slipped. Forgot to mention I had a different setup. 8.25 with Thunder and I loved it. After the game of SKATE I had a few manuals in a row then ollie up onto the pad and nearly kickflip off. I asked Cass to film it but missed the manual (or nose manual). I was happy to get the ollie up and kickflip off pretty quickly through, maybe around 10 tries. The crooks after was a nice bonus. Cass did the fornt noses then we skated the hump for a bit. Cass got kickflip and kind of a hardflip 180. I got some pivoted varial flips both ways. Then I needed to do a treflip before I got too tried. We skated the fly out area. Cass did a couple of perfect ones. Brian and Bo showed. Cass went on to do several tricks. I would get a couple bad treflips and was really close to several decent treflips. Brian was trying kickflips but the knee and hip wouldn’t let him get it. Bo hadn’t skated in a couple week then just skated the ledge the tall way like it was nothing. Brian did the blunt real quick. Pretty great session. Then Brian, Cass and I went out to lunch which was also pretty great.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow light 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insole and currex run pro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

After a cold morning doing PT I met up with Cass and Jake at a crowded Cushing skatepark. Jake’s back was hurting so we mostly just skated the micro halfpipe. Jake did his front and back blunts, switch blunt, almost sugarcane and more I’m forgetting. Cass and I had similar front 50s. He had some front 5-0s, tail. I had some disasters and the little revert tricks. It’s a really fun area. Did a couple of noseslides on the ledge. It’s funny to me how the switch front nose still gets love from others. Got a crooks that didn’t come easy. Cass may have gotten kickflip up the hip or b/s flip the hip.

Then we went to Merrill school which I hadn’t been to in a few years. The asphalt has taken a beating, but it was still run. Initially I was really sore and lacking confidence and didn’t think I would do anything. Cass got a good kickflip over the hip and I eventually got a really slow kickflip that didn’t go over the mound. Cass then did a really good hardflip which we are saving. I setup the cam for my b/s flip and tried to add fakie bigflip but didn’t really get it. Cass came really close to treflip. Then I started lining it out and it was really fun. The line is just a few basic tricks, but after not being able to really try tricks the last couple of months it felt so great to try hard and link a few tricks. Really fun session.

(setup 9/10 generator 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, thunder team hollow 149 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, vans wayvee white size 12 spenco 3/4 thinsole orthotic and 272 insoles)
(pain level 4/10 started slow from all the ollies the day before but really it feels amazing to try real tricks again)

On a nice afternoon I couldn’t resist the urge to skate a little. I was sore from PT exercises, but in a good way and the knee felt better than it has in months. But I’m trying to still be patient. Just because it’s feeling better doesn’t mean it’s healed up. My knee is still quite swollen. I went behind Safeway hoping the super mini bank to curb was dry and it was! Took a couple tries to do some axle stalls then went in on the pivots. The f/s one took a big I kept putting the front wheels down in the crack. It was fun though and some of the attempts grinded which felt cool on my new Slappy trucks. Then I went to the ride on grind off Pearl parkway. I also did a couple ollies that felt good and popped pretty well. But I kept it to literally only two ollies. Then lastly over to the arapahoe bank with the holes thinking maybe I could carve over a hole or two but there was a lot of snow. So I just did some no pop noseslides on the ledge and called it a day. It was incredibly fun to get out and street skate even if I didn’t pop.

(setup generator 8.5/14.25 sample, jessup upltragrip, slappy 8.5 hollow, 52mm snot pink wheels, new balance 212 b/w sized 12 spenco 3/4 orthotic insoles and 272 insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Was in the office, but took a lunch break and met Dave on a cold and windy day. I got there first and struggled through some warming up. I had a goal of a line of boardslide, kickflip, ollie to fakie on the bank, switch front nose, fakie flip. But I only got to the fakie flip once and didn’t land it. I was really struggling with flippers because of the wind and my confidence. Dave showed and it got more fun. He started in on hippy jump then boardslide to fakie the flatbars. I skated really slow with some other tricks, got a couple noseslides, one really bad crooks, a couple kickflips, remotely close to some random hucks, one nollie shove to fakie on the bank that was scary. Oh yeah, Dave was trying nollie back tail on the flat bar and I was trying switch front nose. A couple of tech rail skaters here. We got them. Dave would go on to get a line of front board to fakie, fakie flip, halfcab noseslide, front 50. Pretty sick! I didn’t land much, but it felt like progress and it was fun reliving the Blue Skies era with Dave again.

(setup 6/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, royal 144 hollow kingpin, bones stf v1 pj 103a, es swift b/w size 12 with spenco 3/4 orthotic insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Took the morning off work so I could skate with one of my favorite skate homies Josh. My knee was hurting bad and I was pretty grouchy before arriving to pick up Josh and get some coffee. We chose Commerce City park and had it all to ourselves for a couple of hours. We did our little warm ups then some casual warming up. Well, not so casual for Josh. He was doing grinds on the big qps pretty easily, tricks on the steeper banks like no comply, back big, kickflip fakie. I hadn’t really popped much before we started a game of SKATE. Josh went right in on creepy spin and something else to get me a letter before we went a while without landing anything. So we decided against playing the game anymore. Josh has a heelflip a session requirement so we went in on that for a bit each getting one. I almost got treflip too but decided to slam instead. Then we mostly hit the two ledges for a while. Both of us had some alright lines, Josh some pretty good slams. He was doing the basics really well. I took a while to even do a slow front 50, but had a few that worked okay. Somehow I was 3-3 on halfcab noseslides after really struggling with that trick as of late. I managed a front 50 180 too that felt good. Josh had one that hours ago ha ha. I setup the phone and we did a lot of our tricks again. Unfortunately the phone overheated before capture Josh’s solid front nosegrind. We ended the session trying tricks on the bank. Josh almost got front noseblunt, but compromised and did a super steezy beanplant. I had a few front tails and did a wallie nollie after that felt really good. Also managed a back tail that took way too long. I tried to end it on a treflip, but again chose to slam instead. Doh. Anyway, super fun session, great to see Josh. He’s still shredding so hard and it was inspiring. Now if my knee would just stop hurting so bad.

(setup 7/10 null sample 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 v-cast/ti royal bushings flat top washer, spitfire f4 52mm classic shape, new balance numeric 440 white size 12 some thin es insoles)
(pain level 7/10 would never have skated had it not been for Josh visiting at least it loosened up a little)