On a hot day Rob and I rolled towards Fort Collins and met Hayden and Bo at Spring Canyon.  First time carpooling with Rob in a long time! It was rad. It felt incredibly hot when we got there.  But the park was mostly dead so our warm up process went pretty well.  I had made some subtle setup changes – 8.25 hangers and larger old 54mm wheels.  Felt alright, not great.  Rob was on mannies and back 50s quickly then got into nose manuals, crooks the tall bench, alley oop manuals on the hump, some no complies and more.  I had tried to do a decent back 50, but did an accidental back 5-0 where I locked in and came to a halt so did a shove out.  I was unable to manual or nose manual and the larger wheels did not help me get up the ledges any easier.  Bo and Hayden joined.  Hayden did the most casual manuals right out of the gate, like even back 180 fakie manuals.  Bo brought the energy and was popping up/off everything.  I tried a line for a bit of crooks the bench then nollie tre on flat and got it!  The nollie tre felt pretty amazing.  Hayden and I played a game of SKATE in which I got smoked.  I think I only got him with a halfcab flip.  Then I had the dumb idea of trying front 180 up then fakie flip off the curb.  Neither Hayden nor Bo had done it either.  Hayden did it real quick.  Bo pretty quick too.  I thought I would have Bo’s back, but instead as you can see in the clip above I decided to not land it in near 100 tries.  I had tried about 20 before I asked Hayden to film me for “3 tries”.  As you can see it turned into an hour of Hayden getting sunburnt filming me in the heat.  I tried it in the line as hype for awhile and then gave up just trying the 180/flip.  It was fun trying so hard.  I probably would have kept going, but the heat was too much.  Thanks for filming me for so long Hayden.  

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate v-hollow hanger, bones hard bushings, bones 54mm stf v5, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Up early before working later again so I went skating. I felt like something totally different so I ended up at Big Arvada. It’s been a couple years I think since I’ve been there. I was surprised when I pulled in around 7:45 by how few people there were. Only 2 other skaters. And one of them even seemed much older than me. The park would have a steady stream of other people joining, but never got crowded when I left shortly after 9. My legs felt rested after a two day break and my ankle seemed fine. After a bit of putzing around I got the first warm up line. Ollie onto the manny pad, ollie up the little euro, kickflip to fakie the mellow blue bank. Then I did front 50 the little manny pad (very slowly I hate how little confidence I have on that trick now), b/s flip on a bank, kickflip to fakie on the next bank. That felt cool. Then I did halfcab noseslide then 360 flip to fakie on the mellow blue bank. I struggled with halfcab noseslides and it was more of a 270 flip when I got it, but I was still happy. Then I settled in on the fakie bigflip on the bank. It came pretty quickly and made me happy even if it wasn’t rotated all the way around. Next I did the noseslide which a bit. I only had a few minutes left so I just kinda did some bank to curb axle stalls/front rock and a couple basics on the tiny qp up top. Oh and I took a couple scary runs in the snake run. Really fun session, mixing it up is good for me. Landing new tricks feels pretty magical too.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger no big washer, bones 52mm stf v1, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 2/10 !! first time in a long time)

On a cold morning I woke up at 6am with the plan of getting to the dog park to do 48 tricks before work. I had made a list and everything. Mostly as a reference in case I blanked out and forgot what tricks to try. I would obviously have to stick to easier ones since I was on a time limit. I arrived shortly after 7am and it was 30 degrees. It didn’t feel too cold though. There was a rollerblader dude there. After posting up my phone immediately to film the slappy crooks I explained what I was doing. He offered to film me, but I would never put a stranger through that. Ha. He was cool. So yeah the video is mostly in order. I started with slappies to get the legs going. Most tricks went pretty well until the front 50. I just couldn’t commit with any speed. I was about to nix them when an accidental 5-0 worked out so I stuck with it until getting the shove out. The nollie front tail to fakie was also a total fluke, but I was happy. I had also done a switch front nose 270 out, but missed it when making the video. I was skating really hard, I was exhausted, breathing heavily and having fun. Flip tricks went okay. The treflip came in about 15 tries. I had to give up on nollie tre even though I was super close to a bunch of them. The halfcab heel took a bit. I wanted to ollie the barrier from the kicker as my ender, but I was tired and a bmxer had shown up and was hitting the kicker. I did about 53 tricks total so I’d have some to weed out. I got rid of a super slow front 50 and back 50, front 180 over the parking block, pathetic front board the new bench. I left feeling very happy, fortunate to be able to skate even if it’s not as good as I wish. This session was more quantity of tricks over quality though. I was very happy to have landed a treflip. 48!

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 52mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288s size 11.5 maroon no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

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 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!!!)

On what seemed like a warm day I went to Red Hawk to meet Rob and Dave.  We all seemed to arrive the same time and a breeze had kicked in making it feel pretty cool.  We warmed up with some ride on grinds, slappies, manuals, a cruise around the school.  Eventually we started getting into the ledge and things.  I was happy to get slappy crooks on it and continue that stoke from last week.  Dave would of course get it too.  Such a fun trick.  Rob had a bunch of wallie nollies then boardslides through the little kink.  I had a few basic flippers at the top going slow, struggled a bit with front 50s, but would go on to have one of my favorite sessions there.  Dave started trying a line that he would eventually get.  Ollie onto the rock, nollie back 180 off, halfcab noseslide shove, then a boardslide up to fakie 50.  Whoa!  Rob added in some halfcab noseslides, noseslides, crooks I think.  I had switched to my 8.25 briefly, but decided once again it just felt like overkill and went back to the 8″.  I would go on to land a ton of tricks.  Sketchy back 50, front 50, front 50 180, accidental front 5-0, nollie front tail, nollie front tail to fakie, halfcab noseslide to fakie, kickflip back 50 (with some feeble but whatever), crooks, my best crooks shove ever, crooks to fakie, switch noseslide 270 shove out.  Also maybe a couple that kind of count like fakie back nosegrind jib, front tail, frontside halfcab noseslide.  I was definitely hyped.  Dave would get a ton too.  Front 50 nollie front 180 out, back 50 nollie shove out, switch front board to forward, boardslides to fakie, close to switch front crook and ended with a really good switch crook to forward.  

Rob had left.  After Dave and I skated Red Hawk a little longer we ended up checking out this little hip Dave had seen.  We did some shovelling and got a few hits in before the home owner in the background came and gave us the boot.  I had gotten kickflip, Dave had done back 180.  We took one last huck before leaving I got remotely close to front heel and Dave had cab, but we left.  Bummer about getting the boot that spot could be fun.

(setup old 8″ null logo deck, jessup grip, venture 5.2 v-hollow high, bones medium bushings, old bones stf v2 51mm, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, es energy foam insoles)
(pain level 4/10 wind leads to arthritis)

On a super nice day I went out to Mike’s Camera area to meet Dave. I was on call for work so couldn’t go far. I was there first and cruised around the area to check it out. A Jeep was parked and took off when they saw me driving right over a median. It was weird. Ha. I tried to start with a warm up line starting in the narrow walkway, down the 2 then over to the ledge. I had slammed really hard on a nollie shove where I hit a rock. I had moved on to kickflip and then heelflip before getting to the ledge. So the line was heelflip, front 180 the two, turn around, boardslide pop out the ledge then I bailed a front heel. It was a fun feeling line. Dave had shown around then and was warming up with nollie/fakie/switch/regular shoves, nollie 180s, etc. He would go on to get a rad line. Kickflip, nollie back 180, switch ollie off the two stair, turn around, ride on grind, then front noseslide. I then tried another line for a while. Halfcab flip, front shove off the 2 stair, crooks the ledge. I got the line twice, the first time the front shove was great, but the crooks was the tiniest little jib. The second time the front shove was sketchy, but the crooks was good. I was happy to get several halfcab flips though, that trick used to be automatic for me. Then rather then just hitting the ledge I became obsessed with another line. 360 flip, kickflip off the 2 stair, noseslide or something the ledge. It took me awhile to get a 360 flip. The first one was bad and I missed the kickflip. Got the next one and landed on the kickflip, but stepped off. Then a security guy came and told us to leave. Doh, I really wanted to get that line. We had fun on the ledge though. We did a lot of ride on grinds and didn’t skate the tall part so much. Dave did ride on back 50 to nollie shove out followed by back 50 down the end. Ride on back 50 180 out then fakie nosegrind down the end. Switch slappy crook, slappy crook, crooks, front noseslide so many more I’m forgetting now. I had noseslide, noseslide fakie, halfcab noseslide, crooks, front 50 on the low part, switch ride on back 50 and I tried a bunch of switch ride on back 50 to fakie bigspin out. I got pretty close, had a couple fakie shoves that I pivoted to bigspin. But I hit my ankle a couple times and it really hurt.

Then we went to a nearby bank to curb. Well, we pulled the curb up. The rebar was still there and scary. It took me awhile to land anything. I never even got front rock or pivot and went in on hurricane. The clip above is basically in order of tricks we did. Dave did alleyoop pivot first try, then did it to disaster and even a revert out. I had sat for awhile and was super sore and thought I might not skate anymore. So I just started trying the rock to feeble and ended up getting some. That might be a new one. Dave’s nollie back neil was cool. The no comply to tail took me too long. It’s such a small bank so it made it hard. Dave had the front hurricane, but the asphalt was chipping away and he couldn’t get it. I tried kick back axle for a bit and Dave was filming it, but had to leave. He said ‘5 more tries’. About 20 tries later I landed it. Ha ha. It was a fun session. There was a weird tweaker dude that came in and asked for a pen. He disappeared behind some bushes for awhile then came out having drawn all over his face looking like a black eye. It was weird. He almost forgot ‘his bike’ when he left too. Some weird stuff going on back there.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 v-hollows, venom 91a bushings with roadside washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 440 white size 11.5, thin xero insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Waking up early I went to Broomfield before work. With the exception of when I first got there and when I was leaving I had the park to myself. Warming up was alright. I was all over the place for awhile. I tried a few front feebles to fakie on the quartapotty, but never quite got one. I had a few front 50s on the black ledge, bad back 50 stalls on the blue ledge. I was doing alright with flippers, got a halfcab flip followed by backside flip then kickflip and missed a treflip. Then I settled in to trying front nosegrind 180. I would try a flip trick between each try. Got a few heelflips, fakie flips. Failed at treflips. But then out of nowhere got a nollie bigflip! It really cheered me up. It’s scary for me to commit to nosegrinds, it took a long time and I was getting late for work. Luckily I got one. It wasn’t pretty, but it had to do as I needed to leave. I had fun on my skateboard!

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones medium bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, new balance abzorb insole)
(pain level 3/10)

Got to dog park a little before 10. Jake was already there and we did some squeegeeing for a bit and got it mostly dry. Then we played a game of SKATE. I had a new deck, 8.25, 5.6 v-hollows. It felt great. The game of SKATE went decent for me. I avoided heelflips since I’ve been known to break new boards with bad heelflips. It was looking like I was going to pink slip Jake, but he strung together a few tricks that I got letters on. One was 360 shove which I tried twice and got it the second try (not a double or nothing). We both had SKAT and were going for 360 flips. I got a couple super bad ones that didn’t count before getting a decent one to win it. Then we skated the goods. Oh, Sean had shown up and was quickly 50/5-0/nosegrinding everything with ease. I skated mostly pretty bad, but had one line that was okay for me. Fakie 50 the weird pad, halfcab noseslide the tall side of the 2 step ledge, front 50 the new black one. I would go on to not land any more flip tricks even though I hucked a lot. It was frustrating. Hayden, Bo, Peyton and Noe showed up. We basically had the park all to us. Jake did some bluntslides on the elevated parking block. I ollied them. Noe did a million flip tricks and some mannies. Sean and Hayden ollied the fire hydrant and did a million cool tricks. Bo ripped it too, such a good treflip and maybe even feeble on the tall bar.

Then we went to Willville. I didn’t skate much there because I was filming Jack and Sean get buck. I don’t know how they can go so fast and ollie up that curb, but man they rip. Hayden got a cool line with Bo. Noe did some cool manuals.

Then we went to the 6-6. I had gotten kind of lost and looked at some new stuff that looked fun. Upon arriving to the 6-6 I saw Jack looked ready so I went to film him. He bailed one nollie tre, then second try he gets the nollie tre then treflip. WTF! Wow Jack. What a surreal moment. Noe did a line too while the rest of us kind of messed around. I got close to a couple switch flips in cracks. Peyton did some cool wall plants. Jack grinded a sharp metal landscaping divider.

Then we went to the ol’ bank to gap spot in the tech center. I started posing rock kickflips to fakie. Hayden nose manualled down it which is so gnarly. Sean nose manualled up it! Joe was trying to ollie up then ollie out over the cone which would be so sick. Noe did a super good fakie bigflip down the gap. Peyton almost got a cool line of ollie up, rock fakie, switch treflip down. All of this while I was still trying rock kickflip fakie. Bo was kind enough to film. Those dudes were all done and chilling so it was just me skating and I felt pretty dumb. Luckily they all rule and I was able to keep trying. I would get about 5 of them, but struggled with the switch 180 down the gap. I kind of got one. The 180 really sucked, but it’s a funny line. Super fun day. I can’t thank Bo enough for helping with filming.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup, venture 5.6 v-hollows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire F4 101a radial slims, new balance numeric 288s grey/blue size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Kevin, Bo, Hayden, Jack, Joe, Garrent and I arrived at the Cheyenne park around the same time on a hot morning at 11.  There was a stiff Wyoming breeze and it was super bright out.  It was very disorienting at first.  I knew it had been awhile since I had been up there, but it was 8 years!  Yikes.  Anyway I messed around some, but mostly went in on backside flips over the weird metal steep to mellow hip.  Garrett went in with me trying front bigspin.  We got them back to back.  Jack had done a pole jam nollie heel, Joe did pole jam hardflip.  Wowsers.  Everyone was cruising around, it was hard to notice what anyone else did really.  Towards the end I was talking to Rich and most were playing SKATE or just skating flatground.  Jack landed so many tricks.  

Then we went to Johnson middle school as we always do when we’re in Cheyenne.  And somehow it was basically the exact same, except the fun little boardslide wasn’t waxed up.  Bo went right into filming as I had gone across the street looking for other stuff.  There was a fun frontside ledge that started curb height which I did one little 50 on.  And some wavy benches we would come back to later.  I filmed Hayden for a bit.  Matt, Tyreece and Shaun showed up.  Man it was rad seeing them.  Hugging Matt again was so rad.  Those dudes are still ripping.  Shaun was in full tech slaying.  Heelflip manual, heelflip back 50, nollie heel front tail, front 50 back foot flip out.  Matt did back tail, front blunt, nollie flip, still got it.  Jack had a cool line involving two wallie ledge tricks.  Kevin got bummed on his front blunts.  Garrett got a sick fakie nosegrind then switch noseslide shove line.  Hayden came remotely close to the sickest 180 manual.  Bo ruled it filming the whole time.  I had crooks and switch front nose on the ledge.  Joe got a cool line of nosegrind then back tail then heelflip.  

Then we went back to the wavy bench area.  It was harder than expected and not much more than 50s were done.  I didn’t do anything.  Joe tried a gnarly gap.  Kevin did some switch flips off the curbs.  

Next up was the contest.  We arrived in a brief rain shower.  I had done a few crooks and noseslides before the game of SKATE started.  I played Jack so you know how that went.  Rich was hyped on me landing some tricks, but if he only knew how bummed I was on missing treflip yet again.  Still though, it was super fun and playing Jack in SKATE was rad.  I didn’t skate after that really.  Hayden beat Garrett and then Jack, but Joe took Hayden out. Joe made it to the final game and did good, but was two hardflip variations short of a win.  Ha ha.  Gotta learn them hardflip reverts.  Jack won the best trick off the kicker with kickflip late shove.  He also did a first try late 360 shove after sitting for at least 30 minutes.  Then we we went out to eat.  What an awesome day.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 v-hollows, stock bushings no boardside washer, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 51mm v1 83b, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)