Took the day off work for obvious reasons and met up with Dave at an empty Frederick park at 10am. I got there first and felt great as soon as I put my board down and did a few warm up laps. Dave showed a few minutes later and we kept our warm ups going. I felt snappy pretty quickly and even got a manual on the little pad first try I think. I man have popped up onto the taller ledge first try too, but I did it a few times. Dave and I settled into some lines on the manny pad area. I couldn’t get a nose manual to start it. Dave got his line way quicker than me. Back 50, manual, quick up front 50, nose manual. Wow! I ended up doing ollie up, kickflip off, noseslide (I had done a few crooks that felt good but when I finally got the kickflip I just wanted to keep it going), 180 onto the pad then switch front nose off it. Normally if I pop up that ledge once I’m pretty hyped, I must have done it 20 times! After that we went to the bank to curb area. Dave had the nice boardslide to tailslide. I got a questionable treflip flyout after struggling to do axle stalls. Dave front pivot to front rock then kickflip flyout was so sick. My phone missed some of the action after this. I had some slappy crooks and nollie front 180s out of the bank. Dave did a halfcab rock up to feeble. He had to get to work. I ended it on front slappy then rolled out to celebrate with the family. Really fun session.

(setup 8/10 null 8.3 abstract33, jessup ultragrip, royal ultralight 149, 51mm bones pj, es melange black size 12)
(pain level 4/10)

After a follow up with Mitchell (best sports doc in Denver) about my calf I met up with Jake at Cushing park. It’s my first time being there since the redo. I’m not sure if I even went before the redo or not. It was 60 degrees out and beautiful, the park wasn’t too crowded. Took me a bit to get a feel of things. That may have been made worse after a setup change and wearing 440s again. But I really liked the setup. I played fakie flip with Jake and his friend Max in the parking lot. Jake tried some fakie bigspins over the hip. I got a little ollie on the a-frame then back around to a cruddy noseslide. We did a few basics on the ledge then Jake skated the miniramp for a while and kept skating the ledge. I was kind of blown away by a really slow front 50 3rd try. I haven’t popped onto a “taller” one in a while and that setup snapped right to it. Like I thought I was bailing and went right into it. Then Jake and I played a game of SKATE in the parking lot. I had a streak of 3 flippers in a row that made me happy. Kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip. I would go on to win with a very slow, but rewarding treflip. Back to the park we lined out ollies up the euro, qp trick, ollie the little set. Jake did it quicker with a back blunt on the qp. I flailed on the qp for reasons I don’t understand so gave up and just did a back 50. Ollieing the little gap was painful, but fun. Was also hyped to see Ft Collins Jake there. No, not Creepy Jake, but Airbud Jake.

(setup 11/10 8/3 null abstract33, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 149, 51mm bones pj washers outside, new balance numeric 440 white size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Not feeling very motivated on a cool night I ended up at Square House for the “Silver Session”. To my surprise only a few people were there and they had moved things around a little making things seem new and exciting. I hid in the back area for awhile and took a bit to get a 5-0 from the little qp to the bank. I was hyped Nick was there and he was hitting that area too doing little shoves on the banks. After a while some dudes had put a parking block on the bank and it looked really enticing. I would go on to get a run of slappy crook, then come back to the bank and kickflip. Felt really cool. I couldn’t get a bigflip on the bank though. The only person there I hadn’t met before was “Steezy” who made me jealous with his tiny setup and flip tricks. At one point he did a fakie flip front tail on the little ledge going ultra slow. Dennis is still one of my favs to skate with, he got a heelflip up the euro. Damian, Pat and Aiten ripped it. Jesse didn’t have his best session but was still in good spirits. I went in on kickflip axle stall on the parking block. It took a good 35 minutes, but was ultra rewarding. Thanks to everyone for the sympathy cheers! It really did make me happy.

(setup 3/10 null 8.3 abstract33, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow with royal bushings no big washer flat small washer, 51mm bones pj v1 with 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 288s w/b size 12)
(pain 3/10)

Seriously love skating random spots just cruising around a downtown area. On a hot day Neil and I started at a kind of random curb spot with some skate stopped ledges and a ride on curb that neither of us could quite get. We quickly went over to the downhill curb slalom that was super fun. We pretty much documented what we did. I wanted to add a fakie bigflip after the back 180, but couldn’t get it. I also couldn’t get a halfcab flip to start the line. I had some fun 5-0s on the first curb too. Neil was charging. His lines were FAST. He almost almost tried 50 gap over the curb at one point too. Paul met up with us and somehow struggled with the front 50 on the first curb. But he ollied the 4 stair first try as well as almost doing the 50 gap over the curb.

Next we hit the little downhill section and 2 stairs. Pauls ollie up and into the bank was so good. My jibs were fun. Behind that was a fun little bank to curb that was for real incredibly fun even if the cracks denied me.

Somehow then we got to skate the downtown plaza for a good minute. Neil was first with the no comply then one foot down the 3. Paul did the manual pretty quick followed by all the ollies which was trick of the day. I played around with the 2 stair then noseslide and could never quite get all the way up on the ledge. We got the boot, walked around some then called it a day. Man it was fun.

(setup 3/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 3/10)

After a long day in the heat doing some swimming, hiking and the art museum Liz and I met Neil at Ala Moana. I was super disoriented and had to wear glasses because of a huge stye on my eye. I had also changed my setup to 8.5 with ace highs hoping that a whole trip on this setup would convince me I liked it. Neil was charging out the gate. he is built for lines here. He got the phone out pretty quickly and I think did this line first try. It took me a bit to get used to the wavy ledge. It was a fun session. I didn’t get any lines really, but managed to finally land a treflip in Hawaii going 1mph between peds. After this fun session we had some food and went to see Dinosaur Jr!!!!!!! Epic start to the trip.

(setup 3/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 2/10)

On a super nice day after some exercises and a nice walk with Liz I was picked up by Jack B and we met some other older dudes at Zuni including Cass. Cass and I joined Salty, Michael and another guy on the little bank and tiny qp until we each did new tricks. Cass had done one front 50 to fakie already, but got my back when I finally got the sugarcane. We were hyped. Sugarcane has been a dream trick of mine for years. Hoping to get them better and maybe on an actual qp ha ha. We hit the long little qp for a while. We had a bump to ledge session almost everyone got boardslides. Jack and I got noseslides, Cass with the front noses and front nose shove. Hype man Michael had floaty nollie bonks out of the qp. I did a lot of flippers on flat in between tries. Had halfcab flip followed by backside flip. My treflips were not good, but I did get one. I ended the session with a fun line of halfcab flip on flat, bump to boardslide, ollie the 4 stair. It’s been a long time since I ollied a 4 stair.

Then we went to the Rino spot near Cass’ house. We met Chad there, but his back was mostly hurting. We started slow. I was pretty stiff at this point. The curbs teased us again and didn’t grind well. Barrier rides were the highlight for a while. I had a fun line of frontside barrier ride, tiny manual to quick front 180 out of a curb cut. It sounds way better than it was. At the end I was tossing around a line of something on the ledge then 180 up the curb and Jack suggested I go to the barrier. I had started with nollie back tails, but they were sucking and moved on to halfcab noseslide. Thanks for filming Cass. I got a line I’m hoarding for Stubborns 2 or a 50th bday part or something. Super fun day.

(setup 8/10 null 8.5 vhs, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 v-cast plate titanium hanger royal bushings no big washer flat small washer, 51mm bones pj stf v1 103a washers outside, new balance numeric 440 brown size 12 half insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Nice winter day I picked up Jack B and Jesse and we met up with Dave and Rob at Rocky Mountain. Things started slow it seemed, but everyone got going and it was a really fun one. I’ll start with Rob since he bounced first. Nice manuals, no complys on the bank, back 50 to back lip, nollie front lip shove. Jesse casually did some surprising moves like first try halfcab noseslide, fastplants, varial flips. Jack mostly attacked the curb and was kind enough to film quite a bit. Nollie front lip to 50, switch boardslides up to 50, slappy crooks, slappies. Oh yeah he also kickflipped off the curb which spawned a little kickflip session. I think most people got them first try, Rob on flat, Dave, Jack did them first try off the curb. Jesse got a couple. I got it up and down. My flip tricks were working really well which is kind of ironic since I had upped my board size to 8.5. I got 4 treflips. The most in one day in forever. Granted, they were not very good, but I was still hyped. Also 4/4 on fs halfcab flips. Got a few halfcab flips, fakie bigflip, sketch fakie front heels, backside flips, varial flips, several kickflips up the curb, no regular heelflips though and I couldn’t get a kickflip on the bank. I didn’t really do anything other than flatground and a few slappies. I couldn’t get a front 50 on the ledge although I did almost get a Glen 50 (5-0). As usual Dave was the last man skating. He had done a lot of nollies and shoves to fakie on the bank, manuals on the medians and some crazy curb tricks like switch back 180 5-0 180 out, varial flips, and tried to end on a crazy nollie 270 up onto the kinked brick median. Fun day fellas!

(setup 8/10 null 8.5 vhs, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 v-cast plate titanium hanger royal bushings no big washer flat small washer, 51mm bones pj stf v1 103a washers outside, new balance numeric 440 brown size 12 half insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Was able to get out of work for a bit to enjoy a session with the boys. I had only though it would be Jake, Rob, Dave and me, but it turned into a rad collection of homies. Dan, Colin, long haired Jake, Will, even Saul was there walking a cute new dog. I had put wide ventures on the 8.25. It was way better than the aces. It was a fun session. Some highlights. Dan first try treflip on his new 8.75, back nosegrind over the step, front blunt the metal bench, manual no comply, this dude is a shredder. Colin first try nollie tre, almost manual kickflip out. Rob nollie front lip all quick, manual drop down to manual through the crowd to boardslide was epic. Jake front tails, manuals, back 50s. Dave was charging back 50s on the curb, then around the C ledge, manuals and got several nosegrinds then ended with a front nosegrind 180. It hyped me up to try nosegrinds too which I would eventually get a couple with some tail taps. I got a really sloppy front nosegrind 180 in way less tries. Before that I had skated alright for me with a lot of accidental front 5-0s on the curb, crooks, a few flippers and came close to a super sloppy line that would have made me so hyped. Fakie flip, font halfcab heel, nollie tre. After Dave and I had shut down the curb with our nosegrind dominance we went over to the barrier where Rob and Jake were talking. I hyped up Jake with a first try front rock, but he never got the follow up front blunt and owes me a huge horchata now. Dan and Collin joined. I think everyone did front rocks except Dan who did it switch. I would get a front slash which was a great ender. The wind was getting super annoying. Fun session, rad crew.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null esher, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium bones medium bushings, 51mm bones pj stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 440 brown size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Nice day out. I rolled down to Dayton to meet Cass and Jake. There were some other older guys there, solid session, great vibe. Jake was quick to shred the “spine” and quarterpipe. Cass was dealing with some back issues. We all seemed to skate alright. My flippers weren’t working as easy as hoped. Oh, it’s actually funny I had 3 setups in the car and chose an older deck with Thunders on it. At first I didn’t like it, but ended up liking it. Got a few of the ledge basics. Jake did front 50 on the tallish ledge and I made myself get one too before we left for the bank to ledge. Except that I did a Glen 50 which is a 5-0.

Then to the nearby bank to ledge Cass had Stefan to join us so we had a good crew of 4 of us. It took most of us a bit to get used to it. Maybe not Stefan or Cass so much. Cass was doing video part tricks quickly. Aka front nose shove. Stefan front 50s and tails quick. I would get some questionable slappy crooks, noseslides, first try noseslide to fakie and a front pivot/smith stall, super close to kickflip back 50. Jake would get close to crooks, front 50, front 3. Cass got some front 50s and front nose variations before he had to leave. Stefan did the most buttery nollie front crooks. At the end I became obsessed with a 3 trick line. Crooks, kickflip, kickflip fakie. As you can see the crooks where terrible, but it was a fun way to end a really fun day.

(setup 8/10 null 8.25 spanbauer night spots, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 hollows venom 88a bushings, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic shape, new balance numeric 440 brown size 12 half insole)
(pain level 3/10)

On a cool night I had some juice. I drove around for a bit and ended up at a new parking garage in north Boulder that was super well lit. I did a few basic tricks before realizing I just couldn’t do flatground only in a parking garage. On I went and I ended up at a newish building with a few tall ledges and a normal sized one that had snow around it. I had a setup change once again – 8.25 ace lows and I really liked it. This new spot had some decent flatground, some okay manny pads and then a few smooth and tall ledges in weird locations. Initially I tried to quick up to crooks, but wasn’t ready for that. Then I lined out a flip trick, noseslide to fakie, flip trick. But noseslide to fakie got hard. Had a few varial flips, couldn’t put down a heelflip or crooks. I was trying lots of flippers, hucking away, not landing much. After a while of trying to line out the taller benches I saw the shorter one with the snow. It’s hard to see but the gap in was a little scary (to me) because of the snow and it took a while for me to commit. In between tries I got backside flips, halfcab flip, fakie bigflip, fakie varial flip and close to a lot more. The noseslide was hard, I was hyped that i did it. Hyped on the session in general, I skated really hard and felt good.

(setup null 8.25 mc hesher, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 44 lows hard bushings, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic, new balance numeric 440 brown size 12 half insoles)
(pain level 2/10 really some of the best i’ve felt in a while)