Feeling a little better I rolled over to the curb to test out some new bigger wheels.  I was inspired by Max to step up my game.  There were puddles and snow around most of the curbs so I just did a couple little slappies then headed home and put a new 8.5 deck on.  Campus had more snow and puddles than I wanted too.  I ended up at the Earth Sciences building ( I think). The main ledge is knobbed now which is a bummer.  I have felt somewhat sick for a month now and do not have much energy.  It showed.  I skated slow and without any confidence.  I tried lines starting at the ledges and coming around to the same ledge as a manny pad from the other side.  I had a nose stall shove, manual.  My kickflips were way better than normal.  The bigger wheels/higher trucks got me into frontside stalls way easier.  Almost got manual, did a weak front tail stall, actually landed a halfcab flip.  It was pretty blah.  I did get a little nose jib to fakie on the side part of the ledge up the curb.  It was way harder than it should have been for me.  Then I did a couple front 50s on the nearby step ledge and called it a session.

Then I went to Saul’s and really sucked it up. I guess having the risers/bigger wheels messed with me.  I didn’t past carve grinds and axle stalls.  Eric was skating good and playing great music (DJR and Jesus Lizard).  He almost had lipslide to fakie around the corner.  Saul has the best lines.  Eric made a funny joke how Saul just needed to turn left to double his skills.  Ha ha.  Saul almost got back 5-0 to tail.  Peewee showed at the end and was warming up with some switch carves, but I ended up taking off.

(setup 8.5 null collage, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/8″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mount classics with all speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 12, no insoles at all, incrediwear knee sleeve)
(pain level 5/10 skated scared that i would be in more pain than i was)

On a cold night I went into the garage just wanting to do a few kickflips. I wanted to see where the flick hole would form and do a preemptive shoegoo. At first I felt totally worthless and had no desire, but then I did a few kickflips and it was fun. Ollie joined me and tried exactly 10 kickflips and didn’t get too close this time. I added fakie flip, backside flip, nollie front 180 to my list and hucked a few switch flips/heels that felt close.

(setup 8.38 null curby deck, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 51mm bones stf v1 with all speed washers on the outside of the axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 306 foy blue/white size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 2/10 least in awhile!)

Another cool morning, but the clouds gave a fun east coast vibe. I had new shoes ( Adidas City Cups, basically the thinnest cupsole I could find with a wide toe box ) and finally setup a new 8.25 deck. . I rolled around for awhile without much aim or direction, but was trying stuff. I tapped into my inner Eric and tried to front 180 the wallie barrier. I kind of got it, but never clean. I was trying it in a line. Crooks, 180, fakie nosegrind. After awhile I gave up because I’m trying to not spend a whole session on one thing. I tried front tails on the half cinder block ledge, switch front crooks on it. Tried kick back 5-0 on the regular one, never committed, got close to halfcab crook. Ended trying fakie front noseslides on the cinder block bench and got close, but had to leave for work. I had done a few flippers. Halfcab flips both ways, fakie flip, b/s flip.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 v-hollow trucks, 52mm easy street v5 bones wheels, 3 washers outside each axle, bones medium bushings, adidas city cup shoes size 12 burgundy, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a warm day Joe picked me up and we decided to go explore rather than go to the skatepark. We started at Creighton which we haven’t really skated before. First thing we found was the super crusty fountain. It had a lot of potential, but it was super hard. We both did the side rocks, both posed bonelesses over the hip. But we got the boot before we could really get comfy with it. As we were walking off we found an amazing wallride spot. Doh. Then we had a fun mellow hill bomb to a nice 3 stair that we 180’d. My back 180 took too many tries. Then we did a weird little line of ollie a manhole and kickflip into a mini bank with some fun ollies after. I got it first try. We got the boot again and Joe got it on the way out. We hit this huge bank next that Joe does the ollie on. It was way steeper than it looks. I didn’t even try. Next we ended up at Central HS where we spotted a prefect virgin granite ledge! We decided to hit the stairs first. Joe did his real quick. I did mine not so quick and I was definitely still feeling the arthritis pain. It was still fun though. Then we went over to the perfect granite ledge and got fresh tracks. Joe got front 50 pretty quick and I got crooks. We kept playing around, that ledge was not short and the runway was a little downhill and awkward. We each did a few things. Joe looked good getting on them front 50s easily. He also got 180 out. Near the end I forced myself to try front 50. I got closer and closer until I finally landed a super slow one. I was super excited about it and hugged Joe after. Considering how bad my arthritis was it felt pretty epic to get up on one of the taller ledges I’ve done in awhile. And it was granite! We moved on, basically just skating/ walking and eventually ended up back at the car. What a fun day.

(Setup 8..25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 v-lights, 1/16” riser, bones medium bushings, 52mm spitfire tablet f4 99a, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 306 foy black/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 6/10 arthritis sucks)

Feeling pretty sore, but not knowing what else to do I went skating. Ha okay it’s not that bad, I wanted to skate once the wind died down. I went to meet Garrett at the dog park. I was there first, only a couple people were there. I was less into it than I thought I would be. I had a new deck. 8.5 Curby. I was excited to scratch it up so I got to boardslides and noseslides quickly. But overall I didn’t really do much I was excited about. Just continued to maybe improve a little on back 50s on the low step and I managed to finally halfcab noseslide the tall side of the black ledge. That was the highlight, then I pretty much just stopped and watched Garrett. Garrett is smooth, skates fast, looks good on board. He nose manualled the black box like it was nothing. Oh yeah, we played a game of SKATE where I basically landed nothing. I filmed garrett get a couple tricks on the barrier then we split and filmed at Wilville. It was one of the harder lines I’ve filmed in awhile having to run down stairs while hopefully not shaking the camera much. He got a really rad line.

(setup 8.5″ null curby deck, venture 5.8 titanium hanger with cast baseplate, 3 washers inside each axle, 53mm sml og wide wheels, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric foy 306 black/gum size 12, footprint gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 6/10 ugh)

On a cool night I went to Erie’s “Street League” park right after work. I arrived to the typical Erie scene. 30 scooter kids and 2-3 skaters. One of which was Kevin and he was already ripping. I had a new deck, 8.3 this time. Also the huge 54mm wheels I had gotten. We started with a game of SKATE which I was quickly skunked in even though Kevin only did tricks I can do. It was expected since I wasn’t warmed up and had a bigger setup. Young blood Quincy showed up, as well as not so young Kyle. Everyone seemed like they were skating well. Kevin was doing tricks like nosegrind the bump to ledge first try, crooks, back 5-0, almost back 5-0 front shove. I was doing tricks like kickflip from the wedge to the lower wedge. Kyle had a nice front 180 over the middle bump bar. Quincy took like 10 tries to learn front 5-0 back shove on the bump to ledge and had some nice lazy crooks on it too. I really don’t remember much, I ended with a kickflip to fakie on the back bank then a bad halfcab noseslide on the ledge. Gotta get rid of those huge wheels.

(setup 8.3 null collage deck, jessup grip, venture 5.8 trucks regular cast baseplate titanium hanger, 54mm bones stf v5 wheels, venom 88a bushings (no boardside washer), new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 6/10 sore from skating so much)

After work on a gorgeous day I went to dog park fearing I would have another bad session. But when I pulled in I saw Dave F was still there and it really hyped me up. There were a couple other young kids and I got to see Dan ollie the table before he had to leave. Dave was invested in a sick line. Shralp a parking block to manual to boardslide the beam, then front board shove the small square flat bar. He did it! So good. I had done the warm up boardslides and was feeling alright. I tried to get Dave’s back with a halfcab crook, but it didn’t happen. We both tried it for awhile. I got in to quite a few, but never got one. Dave did a cool front wallride on the barrier then a back 50 on the bench and maybe backed it with a pole jam. I almost got a line of boardslide the butter bench, crook the tall bench, front 50 concrete bench, treflip. The front 50s were slow and bad, but at least I didn’t have the fear of trying it that has ruined some sessions lately. Dave did a crazy line of hippy jump the low square bar then nollie shove the tall round bar. So good. He tried to regular shove hot dog it too, but didn’t get it. He had some nice kickflips in there too then had to leave. I continued to have fun. Got a no comply flip over the parking block and also a first try kickflip over it. Also an okay treflip and even closer to halfcab crook. Had some fun halfcab noseslides and switch front noseslides. Tried a line of no comply flip, crooks, heelflip, kick back 50 the box. The only trick of which I landed was the crooks. Ha, but there was a couple great feeling ones. Then I went to celebrate my daughters 20th birthday. I’m old. At least I still skate and have fun with it most of the time.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, Venture 5.6 trucks, venom 88a bushings , spitfire F4 52mm 99a green swirl wheels, 2 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 306 Foy b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After only one callout (ha ha) I got to the dog park around 9am on a cool morning. Warming up was slow. I had setup a new Nolan board and was excited to skate it! I had also put some bigger wheels back on, the 53mm SML wheels. It took awhile before I did anything beyond a boardslide on something low. I started with the whole line approach to get myself going on the lower step. I think I did wallie the little barrier, front 50, kickflip. Kickflip, back 5-0 (was supposed to be a 50) then boardslide to fakie the end of the kinked flat bar. Then wallie, front 50 180, fakie bigspin. Kickflip back 50 then wallie back 180 the barrier. But I never got the wallie back 180. Seems doable though. Then the line got longer. Front 50 the metal ledge, front 50 the hump, kickflip a crack, back 50. Never quite got the back 50 again, but I was getting in at least. I kind of changed it around and hucked a little. Nothing went down, but it was kind of funny that I kind of got into a kick back tail on the ledge I could barely back 50. I had an intentional 5-0 on the metal ledge. At the end I tried a line of 360 flip on flat, ollie the little barrier then boardslide the orange barrier. Only got to the orange barrier twice and never committed. Actually, never got a totally clean ollie over the little barrier either, but it felt good to hop over it.

(setup 8.5 null nolan machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with cast baseplate, sml 53mm og wide wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 212 grey size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After some physical basketball with Ollie I went out to skate well after dark. I intended to find something new, then remembered the new rock hump thing on Valmont. I parked near there and decided to warm up with some flatground or something elsewhere first. I had setup a slightly warped new 8.38 deck as it’s as close to 8.5 as I can get. It felt fine, I wore some old 212s to make things even more weird. I found a new super mellow bank. Did a couple kickturns and stuff, some side rocks. It has some potential for more stuff. I tried a ‘warm up line’ that ended up taking forever. Noseslide the low bar of a down ramp rail, kickflip on the bank, back 180 off a curb cut. The kickflip took forever. Ugh. Then I moved on and found even more new stuff. A brick ledge off a step, and a weird long 3 stair and some good flatground. I tried a line for awhile there too. Noseslide the ledge (it was brick and I didn’t wax it so they were just little jibs), ollie onto the top of the 3 and ride down, then a flatground trick. But I kept bailing the ollie onto the step. Then I did varial flip first and still bailed. Finally did it after a halfcab flip, then followed it all with a bad b/s flip. I was so beat by then, mainly the basketball earlier. I saw a fun looking tiny gap then manny pad on the way back to the car. Pretty rad as I didn’t even make it to the desired spot so I still have more exploring to do.

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 212 grey size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Trying not to nap after work, but not wanting to hit bank park I went to the side of the school to skate flatground.  I wore the Westgates.  They are weird.  But I got into a groove of trying a line.  Little ollie to fakie on the mini bank by the shed, halfcab flip, b/s flip.  For awhile I hit every backside flip, and then they straight up disappeared. Ugh.  I didn’t land much.  Got a bad treflip, heelflip, b/s flip, hucked some random filippers, cracked my tail on a heelflip then finished it off after bailing another halfcab flip.

Then after dinner I met Saul at the curb right as the sprinkler turned on.  Argh.  I had setup a new board.  This time I wore arch support to try and reduce knee pain.  It kinda helped, but felt dangerously high.  I did not skate well.  I was like 2/20 on regular slappys and never got a good frontside one.  Saul on the other hand was playing with slappy front nosegrind.  He kinda popped outta one, but the wheels bonked the curb.  So sick though.  He had some long backside too, but not his longest.  I was hucking flippers.  Switch flip felt close, almost got a treflip, almost fakie 3 shove.  I did have some good feeling slappy crooks both front and back at least.  Saul was trying some kickflips.  He’s got a good flick, it’ll come.

(setup 8.25 null lazer/abstract deck, venture 5.6 v-lights, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric westgate 913 b/w 12 shoes, stock insole/currext runpro insole)
(pain level 5/10)