Super tired after a long day of work. Almost didn’t skate, but it was nice out and I felt like I should for a little bit. I went to the research center and wow the view of the craziness in Longmont was pretty awesome. The bright spot in the photo above is actually lightning. Anyways I did a couple noseslide tricks to start. Oh yeah, had some new shoes. NB+ Quincys. I was liking the temp tryout of vulcs with the Es Accents, but they are just too slim and hurt my feet too much. This will be a true test if I can handle going back to vulcs. The board feel compared to the PJs is night and day better. I really didn’t skate long though. I would try a ledge trick and on the way back up try a switch flip. I never got close to the switch flips. On the ledge I good back noseslide, back noseslide fakie, front noseslide, back board pop out, crooks, a few tic tac’y back 50s and a really bad halfcab noseslide.

(setup 8.25 null venture light wides bones medium bushings 51mm stfs nb+ quincy 254)

A photo posted by @newbalancenumeric on May 7, 2015 at 1:39pm PDT

A video posted by @newbalancenumeric on May 7, 2015 at 10:01pm PDT

Yeap, you knew I would get them official PJ Ladd pro shoes as soon as I could. We all knew the dude hypes me up more then any other pro skater and I’m stoked to be able to support the dude in some way. It meant I didn’t have a chance to break them in yet so things were rough initially. The new shoes have a much stiffer sole, are a bit thicker and don’t fit quite as well as the old ones. But with that said the new ones are much grippier and seem more durable. Only time will tell if that’s the case and they seem like they will probably break in pretty nice. Either way I’ve been running the 479s for several months so it was a big change. After a couple noseslides I started trying a run of halfcab flip, ollie up the curb then crooks. But I was really struggling with the crooks. Argh. Got fakie bigflip, varial flip, ollie up the curb, no crooks. Ha. On the way up the hill I started hucking switch heels. For the first time ever I was somewhat consistently flipping the board. Man I would be sooo hyped to get that one. None were real close, but I was getting one foot on so it’s a start. Had a run with no comply 180, fakie flip, the worst f/s halfcab flip in history, 180 up the curb, halfcab noseslide bail. Had some slow and hands down treflips, tried halfcab heelflips. I guess in all my flatground game did ok in the new shoes. I did a back 5-0 first try which was intended to be a back 50. Ha. Tried kickflip front noseslides and got pretty close. Hucked halfcab crooks for awhile and never got close. All things considered it was a decent day for a first go in new shoes.

(setup 8.25 null venture wides bones med bushings stf 51mm nb+ pj startford 533)

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Apr 14, 2015 at 10:27am PDT

Wasn’t planning on Blue Skies, but Dave hit me up saying he was going so I went for it. It was super nice out. I got there after Dave. I tried to warm up quickly, but it just didn’t happen. I had a lot of bails or tricks I didn’t try because I was tired. Doh. Dave was charging the main bank and the dragon bar. He got boardslide and boardslide to fakie on it. Oh yeah, I had new shoes. Another pair of the Stratford 479s in the Broncos colorway. My last pair. So that might be why I was a bit off. I don’t really remember doing much noteworthy until the end when I was trying front 50s on the taller part of the ledge and b/s flips over the low part of the dragon bar. Got a couple front 50s. Both were slow, one had a front 180 out. Never got the b/s flip. Dave was getting into front crooks which is crazy considering how slick that ledge is. Dave did a judo tailblock on the bank and I wanted to learn it. I got a couple, but I think I early grabbed. Either way it was fun. Then we did it fakie. Dave also nollied into the bank.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Apr 14, 2015 at 7:33pm PDT

After work I met Matt at Meta. We went to roll downtown and as soon as I put my feet on the board I knew I didn’t have much for the night. Ugh. Matt did the crazy ollie within minutes of starting. So sick. We goofed around for awhile nearby. Tried some tall noseslides in a nearby alley. Got kicked out of my little warm up spot.

Then ended up here where I skated like complete crap and Matt continued the game of doing any trick I suggested. Nosegrind was first try! He also got front 5-0, front 50 and did some boardslides on the metal bumpy flatbar. I did a weak ass front noseslide. That was it. Oh and posed some kickflip noseslides. Checked out some other stuff, but by then Matt was tired too and we mostly walked back.

(setup 8.38 null venture wides bones med bushings spitfire 50mm f4 101s)

Our macbook died. Well, the hard drive became corrupted and I spent lots of the morning working on it. What a pain. I’m disappointed in Apple for the stupid upgrade path that renders a computer useless. Then Dave and Rob bailed. Carleigh and Jack went to skate parks. I was hoping my body would feel better. As much as I tried to convince myself it was, it wasn’t. I met my old college friend Steve at a bank off Pecos. Upon arriving there I noticed a trailer right in front of the bank. Ugh. You could still skate the mellow part of it so I warmed up with some basics. Oh yeah, I had new Stratfords. Well, not totally new as I’ve skated them before, but I thought 11.5 was too big for me. They felt ok this time around. I did a few variations of kickflips, struggled with varial flips. Steve showed and I was trying 360 flips. I would try them on the steepest part I could fit under the trailer on the approach to. It was pretty fun. I got a couple with my hands down before stomping one that felt amazing. Steve did pop shove to fakie, fakie pop shove and ollies. I added a halfcab flip and we both tried heelflips to fakie. I’ve never done one on a bank. While trying these my legs got stiff and I stopped skating. Then I went to Denver to film Derek. Just pushing to meet him was a chore. He didn’t get his trick. I went home super exhausted and depressed, ate a salad then went to sleep.

(setup 8.25 null venture wides bones medium bushings no washers 52mm null wheels)

So tired from being woken up the night before at work. I forced myself to go skating after making the kids dinner. I ended up at Red Curbs. I did a slappy crook which felt great then bailed trying to ollie into a front 50 on a curb. Yeah. I knew it was bad at that point. So I tried to huck back tails since I have to learn that trick now or get a letter in O-L-D-F-A-R-T. I cannot comprehend that trick. I can rarely do it when I kickflip in which seem so much easier to me. I left after awhile feeling very frustrated. Oh yeah, I had new shoes. The lovely NB+ Stratfords.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers 52mm null wheels)

#TGIFlatgroundFriday calm before the snow. #didntlandshit

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Feb 20, 2015 at 9:49am PST

After skating 4 hours the night before on top of skating 50 days in a row my body was understandably sore. I knew I would haven’t much pop and didn’t feel like bailing tricks I should be able to land. After a few 180s, kickflilps and a few other basics I settled in on some very rare flippers. b/s halfcab heel, f/s halfcab heel, varial heel, nollie flip, switch flip, nollie 360 flip, 360 flip (yes I suck so bad at this trick I now categorize it as a rare trick) I landed on all of those, but never rode away from any. Well, I guess there was a couple nollie tres that could maybe count on over 80 defense and a varial heel that I landed on too. As depressing as this sounds I still had fun. Hucking tricks I can’t land is somehow fun to me. I do wish 360 flips weren’t such a struggle though. Oh yeah, I started a new pair of NB+ Stratfords. Only two left in the stockpile!

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)

A photo posted by carleigh samson (@gnarlycarleigh) on Jan 26, 2015 at 8:15pm PST

On an unseasonably warm evening in the 50s I went to the dimly lit St Julien spot. I was to meet Jack and Carleigh. I started doing laps. Front 50, back 50. I had finally retired my previous pair of Stratfords and was rocking a new pair. Since I’ve skated only this shoe for a long time they felt fine. I added front 50 180 out and a manual on the ledge. Jack and Carleigh had shown. Jack was super sore from the day before. He isn’t 20 anymore. He’s 22. Ha ha! He still did some manuals all easy tailblock slides and front 5-0s. Carleigh mostly skated flatground. Did some nollie shoves, tailblock slides and noseslides. We pushed and walked for awhile. Jack and I ollied a little gap. Ok, Jack ollied it easy. I took a bunch of tries to do a weak stretched out no pop ollie where I landed sideways. Lastly we ended up at the new ledge spot. It’s sick. Jack and Carleigh got cute and did doubles. Jack did front board to manual. Carleigh did boardslide. Then some steezy noseslides. Then tried noseslide shove and front 180 nosegrind. Jack had front 50’d it super easy when we got there. I wanted that. But the shortness of the ledge weirded me out. I had to settle for going in slow and sideways and just doing a little stall. A front noseslide made me feel better at least. Then I had to split to pick up India.

(setup 8″ venture lows bones med bushing ricta crap 51mm wheels)

When I went to work a few hours ago it was cool out, but sunny and no breeze and it felt nice out. So when I skipped out of work to Blue Skies and was met with a very gusty cold wind I got bummed. I still went to the park, but man it was tough to find any motivation. I slammed on a couple ollies over the flat bar, did some super slow front 50s then mostly just skating the banks. I started with a few basics on the main bank. Did a switch ollie to fakie which felt kind of neat. I did some frontside ollies and ollies to fakie on the little qp. I was hyped on the ollies to fakie because I’ve never really done that trick. They weren’t popped at all, but then again nothing I do is. I would do the ollie to fakie then push switch to the main bank and do halfcab or try halfcab flip. That was it. Oh yeah, I started a new pair of Stratfords. Only 4 more pairs left.

After work I went to the Research Center. It was cold and windy still, but not quite as cold somehow. I went through a few warm up basics. Noseslide, switch noseslide (the slappy non ollie kind aka john brandow), etc. Then on to crooks which is really fun there. I only landed a couple though. For how often I skate that spot and try crooks there I should land way more then I do. At least I feel like I’m posting up better then I used to. Got a couple bad back 50s. Tried kick back 50, got kind of close. That ledge would be one of the taller ledge I’ve done that on. Tried to front 50 the tall part of the ledge and struggled so hard. Would fly off my board. In the end I got one and I will blame brand new shoes for the problem (it sounds legit right?). Flatground went ok. Tried a lot of nollie flips, fakie tres. Did a couple b/s flips. Kind of a whatever session, but at least I got out and did some grinding.

Flatground Friday #scenesfromwhereifalldown

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:08am PST

Flatground Friday! This time with some new shoes. Another pair of Stratfords from the stockpile. I feel like I’ve been blowing through shoes, but I’m still getting 3 weeks out of these which is about as good as it gets for me. I started a little slow, but ended up feeling pretty good. Got through a lot of the basics in first or second try (first try nollie varial flip!). Struggled a bit with 360 flips as always. Did the worst nollie tre ever. Slammed hard enough on a fakie treflip that someon walking their dog nearby asked if I was ok. Tried some new trick. Not close on switch flip or nollie f/s flip. Landed on fakie double flip and shot out. Super close to fakie hardflip. Almost some really good f/s halfcab heels. Some really good for me heelflips.

Okay so now that I was down to skate lows again I stopped by Meta to get a new set after work. The hanger’s I had were really worn down and apparently so old that the mold was different (pre-DLX) and they didn’t fit right in my newer baseplate. I traded in a set of trucks that Reed had given me. Then I went to old faithful – the research center. I had about 30 minutes to skate and just hit the ledge. Didn’t skate it too well, but I attribute that mostly to having already skated earlier in the day and being incredibly hungry. I got one good crooks, a sloppy back 50 or two, struggled for front 50s. I forgot how good the low trucks carve. They carve better then the highs. Flip tricks were whatever.

Skated the Sol ramp with @nolancormier this evening. Totally embarrassing. #ripper

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Nov 11, 2014 at 7:48pm PST

Went to the Sol ramp after work to talk bidness with Nolan. I played foosball with Allan for quite awhile first. Then we hit the ramp for a really mellow session. I didn’t do much of anything other then axle stalls. Nolan being mellow is still really good (see above). Oh yeah, I had new shoes, since my experiment with some 11.5 Stratfords proved they were too big. Doh, guess I can’t stockpile all of the 11.5s too. Gotta make 3 pairs of 11s last until April now (yeah right).