Today's Tour de parking garages summed up in 60 seconds. With @43shifty and @fullertrron. Can't wait for warmer weather.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on May 1, 2016 at 6:42pm PDT

On another cold and snowy day I met Rob and Dave at the bottom of St Julien. The garage is dark, boring and depressing. Rob and I were over it immediately. But good ol’ Dave brought the hype. Rob mastered wallie nollies. Dave did regular, switch wallies, regular switch no complies and made the parking block death trap look way less scary then it is. My line in the clip above pretty much sums up everything I did, with the exception of getting close to noseslide transfer and a slappy crooks or 5.

We went to another garage where we stayed for awhile (the one with the angled curb). Saw Rob do some proper slappy back 50s all posted on top, slappy crooks, front slappy slash. Dave was doing switch tricks like above. I was kind of in my own world. I was trying to get used to some new shoes and trying a long line I would probably never get. No comply a tiny curb, nollie 360 flip on flat, quick little manual, front 50 the parking block, ollie the little trash can, 360 flip. Yeah, I was dreaming. I never got the nollie 3 flip, but I did get almost every other part of the line (except the one other hard trick – 360 flip). I messed around with some other flippers.

@corpoglenny ripping

A photo posted by Rob Helmstetter (@43shifty) on May 1, 2016 at 4:07pm PDT

Last up was this garage. I did a few slappy crooks, Dave and Rob did some long back 50s. Rob and I were pretty beat. Dave was still going nuts and filmed a banger (saved for The Stubborns).

(setup 8.25 null awkward vector, venture lows, bones medium bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 51mm stf v2, Es Sal black/gum)

Not feeling like skating at all I went over to the school to dork around on the curb in the back. It was totally covered in little rocks. Ugh. I held onto the handrail and posed a couple tricks, but I can’t really do that. I went to the front, did a kickflip and went home. I had some new PJs. These ones seem extra comfortable. This shoe rules.

(setup: 8.125 chocolate mj, venture 5.25 lows with 3 washers inside, venom 91a bushings, 50mm bones stf V1 wheels, nbnumeric pj stratford 533 steel/gum)

Went to Lafayette on a day off of work feeling tired from the late night Longmont session the night before, but not too sore somehow. That park is fun to cruise around in when you’re the only one there. I kind of did the same ol’ thing. Hit the little ledge up top, cruise around the middle section or end up in the snake run or toilet bowl. I didn’t have much energy though and for the most part was just kind of passing the motions. Almost got front 5-0 shove on the little ledge. Did my first every back disaster to fakie on the tiny tiny qp. Also got a crooks on the smaller bump to ledge for the first time ever. It was fun. I was breaking in some new black/gum PJs, they are a little tight, hopefully they stretch out a little.

(setup: 8.25 null awkward deck, venture v-hollows 5.2 hi with 3 washers inside, venom 91a bushings, 50mm spitfire 99a wheels, nbnumeric pj stratford 533 black/gum)

Feeling better I woke up way too early excited to skate. It has snowed a trace overnight and some areas has snow/ice on them. I went to research ledge before 10am and it was dry! I was feeling pretty tired as I tried to skate it though. Noseslides were a battle, but got me warmed up. I had a boardslide popout and then took a long time for crooks. Had a couple bad back 50s before losing them for a long time. It was so frustrating. I hucked some flip tricks, but didn’t land much. It felt good to fall down though. I setup hosercam to try and capture either a front smith grind or crooks bigspin for The Game. Didn’t get either, but got close to both. I tried to skate a little faster which made tricks harder. Oh well.

@boredzinejp the nose manual shove was harder then I remembered, but it was indeed fun. I was thinking halfcab flip on a bank for the next challenge then randomly thought of a fakie sex change. Ha. So here's your challenge sir, fakie sex change on a bank! #theglenandjosholdfartlongdistanceinstagramtricksuperchallenge #anotherdumbandslowfliptrickwithnopopfromglen

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jan 31, 2016 at 11:53am PST

After awhile I packed it up and headed to Valmont area to do a new trick for the challenge. In my head I was thinking halfcab flip, fakie sex change or maybe fakie hardflip. I got the first two. That is the first time I’ve done a fakie sex change on a bank. It was pretty fun.

I was pretty sore and achy, but felt like trying a line. Ollie a little gap over a curb at the very top of the photo, kickflip up the curb, ollie the little gap off the corner of the 3 stair then ollie over the tall curb. The kickflip took awhile because of how rough it is up there, but the line felt great when I got it.

Poor mans kickflip for the boy.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jan 31, 2016 at 6:55pm PST

Later that night I wanted to start breaking in some new PJs as the burgundy ones finally got a hole in the sole. I was doing some kickflips in the garage when Ollie came out! I was so stoked. I messed around with some silly tricks while he was out and we did the poor mans kickflips together. He was hyped on it. Then he went in and I posed nollie flips, treflip and varial heels for awhile. After skating the burgundy PJs beyond how long I normally skate them the new ones feel so stiff and bulky. Oh well, good shoes take awhile to break in.

(setup 8.25 null venture 5.2 hi’s 3 washers inside 52mm spitfire 99a F4 venom 91a bushings nb# pj stratford 533 burgundy/patriot)

Headed out to the garage for a short flip trick session before dinner then swimming with Ollie. I had put the brown/gum PJ’s on originally, but saw that my repair patch on the toe had worn off so I decided to go with the new pair I had been breaking in for awhile. Burgundy. I didn’t really like the brown colorway anyway. I started by posing switch flips for awhile. A couple felt close. Then I did kickflips and b/s flips for a bit. Got the closest I’ve ever gotten to switch heel. It flipped so fast and my back foot was on the board perfect. Just didn’t get the front foot on. So close! Then I tried treflips for awhile which are so hard in the narrow space in the garage. I hucked Janoski flips as well. I finally got a treflip then headed inside to eat.

(setup 8.25 null venture 5.2 hi bones med bushings 3 washers inside 52mm spitfire F4 99a nb# pj stratford 533 burgundy)

Met Rob and Dave at Blue Skies on a warm December day. Like 55 degrees! It was a little breezy at times, but basically perfect. I had a new pair of PJs. I’ve been wearing them for like 6 months so they are more then broken in. I did quite a few kickflips to get them broken in though. Dave and Rob warmed up in their normalish ways too. Fakie shoves on the bank for Dave. Crailtaps for Rob. Boardslides on the flatbar for all. Rob would go on to do crailtaps on the “quarterpipe” too which I thought was gnar. Him and Dave would try them on the big bank as well. I had did both kickflip to fakie attempts so I didn’t have to worry about Dave showing me up again. Dave was trying feebles on the dragon rail. Rob almost crooksing a tall ledge. I was trying a line of crooks up an escalator ledge, b/s flip on the main bank, back 50 up the other escalator ledge. I was struggling with the last two tricks and having confidence issues. Flip tricks were going ok though. I would eventually get the line, but I was hardly even moving on the back 50. It was so scary to me for some reason. I need to start skating faster again, but it’s hard this time of year. Something happens to my confidence. I had a good time with the boys though.

(setup 8.38 null venture wides bones medium bushings 50mm v1 stfs nb# pj stratford 533 brown/gum)

First time trying a #tentricktentryflatgroundfridayfabulousfearsomefunfight in awhile. @boredzinejp gave me a nice list and it was going great until I tried to clean up the heelflip. Should have stuck with the 2nd try make. #doh #itwascold #andnewshoes

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Nov 6, 2015 at 4:33pm PST

I left work a little early with the intention of warming up then doing my first 10×10 in awhile. Josh had written my list of: fs halfcab flip, f/s halfcab heel, varial heel, nollie heel, nollie f/s flip, sw flip, 360 flip, heel flip, backside flip, f/s flip. It was cold, but I managed to get warmed up somewhat quickly and started the game. I was going to go in order of easiest to hardest for me. It was going great until heelflip. I got one 2nd try, but used the rest of my 8 tries to try and get a better one and on the 10th try SNAP went the tail. DOOOHHH. I had new shoes. NB# PJs again. Rad.

(setup 8.25 null venture lows 1/16 riser 4washers bones medium bushings 50mm spitfire f4 101a nb# pj stratford 533 black/white)

After a long and horrible night (get well soon Riley!) I went to Valmont shortly before sunset. I waxed the ledge up good and did some kickflips and no-ollie noseslide variations to get the blood flowing. I had some new Emerica Westgates and some 50mm OJ wheels. My PJ shoes were getting really bald and my Spitfires had huge flatspots after powersliding the day before. I went through a few basics. I just skated the low part of the ledge as I was super exhausted and unmotivated. I didn’t feel like bailing stock tricks so I hucked hard ones. Front smith, “nollie” front tail, kickflip noseslide (technically got one, but it was horrible) and finally my dream trick of halfcab flip noseslide which I got remotely close to. I hucked some flippers too, got close to varial heel, got a bad bs halfcab heel, a couple of bad 360 flips. The new shoes felt ok. It’s weird because they are softer and more flexible then the PJs, but somehow they seem to have less board feel. They seem good enough to keep skating at least.

(setup 8.1 null venture lows 1/16 riser 50mm ojs emerica westgates grey)

Another poor performance this week. 4/10. I blame @mattrief since he wrote most of my list this week 😉. #tentricktentryflatgroundfridayfabulousfearsomefunfight #postingreallyearlyhopingnottoomanypeopleseethis

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Sep 18, 2015 at 5:25am PDT

Went to Valmont on a beautiful evening. There was a couple older guys skating the manny pad area. They seemed to want their session to be theirs so I just went to the ledge to warm up for 10×10. The warm up went better then I expected. Both ledge and flat. Got pretty far into my flatground and ledge list before doing the 10×10. Noseslide, noseslide to fakie, crooks, front 50, back 50, switch front noseslide, a really fun feeling noseslide 270 out, the worst front tail ever. Then I did the 10×10. It went alright. I have missed b/s halfcab heel and fakie treflip two weeks in a row now. Ugh. I was really close on the nollie bigflip. I went home after that and had a blast with Ollie watching the Broncos. Oh, and I had new PJs. Steezy white/gum.

(setup 8.1 null venture lows 52mm stf v3s nb# pj stratford 533 white/gum)

Was challenged by @boredzinejp to learn airwalk to fakie for #theglenandjosholdfartlongdistanceinstagramtricksuperchallenge. So I kind of learned them on flat and then spent several hours trying to fakie on a bank. So much harder! At least there was a curb I could do kickflip back tails on over and over until I landed the worst airwalk ever that somehow meets the minimum requirement of an airwalk. Good luck @the_neviathan, this one is hard! #isuck #airwalksarehard #andnate

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Aug 19, 2015 at 6:25pm PDT

Another day of working from home leaving me feeling tired and run down. Ollie didn’t want to skate or let me go anywhere. It was super nice out so I skated flat in front of the house. I felt horrible initially and the first ollie felt like it almost pulled a muscle in my groin. Ugh. I almost quit immediately, but instead I went on to skate flatground for 2.5 hours and have one of my favorite flatground sessions ever. Kickflips came, then halfcab flips, fakie bigflip and a few more basics before I started with 360 flips. I wanted 5 before I moved on. I got them, took awhile, and they weren’t close, but I would eventually get to 5. Tried a line of f/s halfcab flip then f/s flip. Got it quick. The f/s flip wasn’t great, lots of pivot, but whatever. Then I really started hucking. Lots of nollie inward heel attempts, got a horrible varial heel. Well, it wasn’t all that bad, just slow and I landed it sideways. But it was bolts of course. Ha. I started trying fakie treflips and like 3rd or 4th try rolled away. Whoa. So I turned around, did a front shove, hucked a nollie treflip and landed it. Feeling pretty hyped I went for treflip next (I had to avoid cars for a bit so I was pushing along the sidewalk so I could still count it as one line) and put down one of my best tres ever. I felt so great. I landed all 3 of them good. I wasn’t skating fast, but that’s me. I had put the 3 3flip challenge on my list of things to do by age 40 before the reactive arthritis hit me. Since I would have to wait between cars often I was giving JP the play by play over gchat and he told me I had to do a switch 3 flip too. So I tried. I got really close. Never both feet on, but it seems doable. Also hucked front heels, Rick flips, got a b/s halfcab heel first try, switch varial flip first try, several heelfips, landed both feet on a nollie flip for the first time in a few years, b/s flips. Watched a biker run into my neighbors car. Hucked f/s cab kickfips for awhile and landed 3 that would count on defense because of too much pivoting and not a fluid motion. But I think it could come! I finished after hucking a few flatground airwalks so I could spice up my airwalk post. I am loving the low trucks. Oh yeah, I had new NB# PJ shoes. The brown/gum ones. Clearly they skated awesome and man it’s a good feeling having a PJ Ladd pro model shoe.

(setup 8.1 null venture lows thunder bushings 52mm stf v3 nb# pj stratford 533 brown/gum)