On a nice day off work Jake and I rolled to Denver, chilled at Emage and 303 a bit then we were off to Dayton park. There was only one other dude when we started. He sucked. Ha. I mean he was decent at skating, but he was just not pleasant to share a park with. Oh well. I had put smaller axles on in hopes of tricks feeling better. I also had new shoes, NB 379s. Basically a slimmer Foy like I just enjoyed. Except the cold weather apparently brought out my arthritis and I was in quite a bit of pain and the vulcs did not help that. Okay that’s a lot of words with nothing about actual skating yet so here we go. We all skated it different which I think is always neat to see. Jake had crooks, noseslides, 50s, fakie back tail, front tails on the ledges. Back blunts, front tails over the hip and his banger trick was blunt fakie. Cass had new shoes like me, except they looked more comfy (eS Swifts) but that didn’t stop him from ripping flatground with treflips, hardflips, backside flips. Front 5-0s, front tails on the ledge almost with 270 shove out. I had a couple lines on the ledges, halfcab noseslide then crooks, noseslide to fakie then switch front nose. I couldn’t get noseslide 270 shove or hardly 50 a ledge. Something about the 8.3 setup is off. I blamed the big wheels. I was happy to get backside 50 on the qp over the ledge first try and finish with a front 50 that went way past the ledge as my ender.

Then we ended up at a new city park with tons of new ledges and lots of families with kids running around. We did a few boardslides, ollied off a little drop then cruised to look at what else the park offered. To our surprise we found a skatepark! Ha, so random. We had heard about the park, but to find it randomly was funny. Cass had some great front tails, almost ollie up kickflip to fakie on the mj ledge. Jake lined out the rock gap, pivot fakies, front tails, crooks. I thought I was totally sucking, but had a couple things I liked. Fakie 50, some okay crooks, halfcab noseslides. Had fun ollieing the 3 stair, kickflip on flat, heel bruising landing over the little rock gap. Then a bunch of dudes showed up and we lost the motivation so we played a game of SKATE in the basketball court. Except I missed a kickflip, did double or nothing, missed that one too, then triple or nothing missed it too, focused my board and threw it. I seriously think I had landed 20 kickflips in a row throughout the day before that. At least my board was very cracked so it wasn’t as terrible of feeling as normal. I tried not to cry while I watched Jake and Cass battle. I think Cass ended up winning on treflip or hardflip. Mostly a fun day, I was not happy with my level of skating.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 custom hollow baseplate v-hollow axles, stock bushings, 54mm spitfire f4 99a radials red/yellow swirl, new balance numeric 379 grey size 11.5, thin 533 insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On a really hot and smokey day Sean, Jack, Cass, Garrett and I rolled up to the Fort. First stop was Fossil Creek for a Launch event. Some of us warmed up on the top with a game of SKATE after some messing around. I had new shoes. Lakai Atlantics. They felt pretty good, definitely different. Sean smoked us, but it was an okay warm up. I didn’t skate too well, mostly just kind of cruised around, bailing crooks and hating my low trucks. It was great seeing Riley skating. He was ripping. Front 5-0 back shove, fakie shove nose manual, a bunch of tricks up the euro. Jack warmed up by hucking kick back tails across the Carrol gap, did late shove for the Greg Harbour challenge and gap 50. Sean’s ollie over the elevated flat bar was so amazing. As was his front 3 up the euro. Garrett said he wasn’t skating because of knee pain, but still ripped it. Nose manny drop nose manny. Hayden did the gap board to fakie so casually even though he hadn’t done that before. He also almost killed a kid trying nose manual into the euro.

After that we went to a bank to narrow brick ledge. Most people didn’t skate it. Jack and Joe did though. Joe had a nice front 50. Jack did a funny casper stall, pivot and crooks shove.

Next up was this ledge spot. Really hard to skate, but oh so cool looking. Bo was quick with the camera so I tried to skate. I was really not feeling well, my feet felt weird in the new shoes. But since Bo was filming I made myself skate. My setup was driving me nuts too, I had no pop at all. I managed a couple noseslides and almost a crook. Jack went right to work with some back 50s then back nosegrind combos. Joe ripped it with the back 5-0 then back nosegrind 180. Sean came through with a sick 5-0 nosegerind 180 combo. Next was a wood rail that Hayden made quick work of. Then the ol king sooper bank, but we got the boot right away. So we chilled in the shade for awhile until Jack setup a board. But then him and Joe were having so much fun messing around on the little hips that I joined them. Joe was thinking ollie over the rail into the bank and somehow avoid a semi trailer. Jack was doing backside flips and double flips off the kicker. I started trying kickflips onto a little metal slant. Joe joined me, but was going hardflip. We got the boot before putting it down, but it was fun to try for a bit. Then a new bank to curb on campus that was amazing. I tried to skate, but felt nauseous and ended up just sitting. Chris Jones was there! We were so all so stoked to see him. And he was ripping! Manual to kickflip on the bank to switch manual out. Ridiculous! Jack ripped it too with the nose pick shove pivot, back axle to front axle. Cass almost had a hardflip to fakie. Joe had some good ollies in. Hayden had a couple moves. Then we went to eat at Torchys and have a couple margs. These dudes rule.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, lakai atlantic b/w size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)  

On a hot morning I went to Broomfield park and met up with Dave F, Rob and Sean. Rob and I got there first and started the warm up process. After awhile I started trying the Reynolds challenge. Kickflip, treflip, backside flip, halfcab flip. I got the treflip like 5th try, but didn’t get the rest of the line. And then the treflip disappeared. No more. I really only tried that for an hour it seems. I got close to a few nollie big flips. Also some back 50s on the happy edge until the kryptonite dude with the glasses showed up and tried exactly what I was doing. I couldn’t skate after that. Rob had left. He had some moves before leaving. Nose manual up and down the blue bank, crooks, back 50s, front 50s, a lot more I am not remembering. Dave was killing the brick qp with a bunch of tricks I’ve never attempted. Sweepers, fastplants, bonelesses. He also boardslide across and down the little rail. He tried the Reynolds challenge with varial flip instead of treflip for a bit. Sean was ripping. His laps on the black ledge are the best as are his back heels.

Later on I met Dave at Wilville as it rained. We skated flat under a covered area. I had some new shoes. White 440s. They felt very stiff and different. It took me close to 10 tries to get a kickflip. Granted I was very sore and the warm up process was not easy. Dave had kickflip, halfcab flip, varial flips, several sex changes. The rain let up for a bit and we migrated to a bigger dry patch up top. I would get a few flippers, but nothing too special. Dave continued his sex changes and got a rare f/s halfcab flip. He is close on switch heelflip. Then it dried up enough to hit the manny pad area. I was still adjusting to the new shoes and trying a lot of flippers. I had a few heelflips, a f/s halfcab heel, f/s halfcab flip, halfcab flips, but no treflip. I had a few nose manuals into the bank, and struggled to get a kickflip up the 3″ curb. Argh. Dave had some nose manuals too after some sketchy bails. Somewhat close to switch nose manual revert into the bank. Nollies into the bank. Ripping. He had to leave and I tried varial heels for a bit before leaving.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 custom hollow cast baseplate, v-hollow hanger, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire F4 101a radial slims, new balance numeric 288s grey/blue size 11.5, xero thin insoles then white 440s size 11.5 with xero thin insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a nice night I met Dave at Red Hawk with about an hour of sunlight left.  I had new shoes.  Another pair of the cupsole 288s.  They felt alright.  Much less pain than the 306 vulcs, but also less grip.  Anyway the warm up wasn’t too bad for me.  I got into my basics pretty quick and was doing a bit more flippers than normal.  Had a couple good feeling halfcab flips and front 50s.  Dave was doing some long front noseslides, manuals on the rock, etc.  I would land on a few tricks, but not really land anything I was overly happy with.  Got close to nollie varial flip, nollie tre, front 5-0 shove, kick back 50/5-0.  I kind of got a front smith.  Dave had such a good front 50 back 180.  He also got into some front crooks which I haven’t seen him try in awhile. He also ended on such a good line of noseslide shove then back 50 nollie shove.  

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 awake lows, venture yellow bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 1/16″ riser, 51mm spitfire F4 101a radial slims, new balance numeric 288s grey/blue size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Rolled down to Wilville on a hot afternoon after a day of lounging around. I started at the bottom of the two 3 stairs and told myself I had to ollie up the first one before I could move on. I dorked around on the bottom step for a bit doing little stalls. Then I started going for the ollie. I got a couple where the back wheel clipped a little, but counted it. Then I tried a line. Front 180 up the 2, halfcab flip on flat, ollie the 3s. But I never landed a halfacb flip. A halfcab flip! Ugh. And to make things worse I would try 3 flips on the way back and failed at those too until eventually landing another terrible one. This ‘tre a day’ goal seems to be making me worse at treflips. I went over to the middle section and was stoked to see a knob off the low part of the ledge. I hucked for a bit. Switch noseslide kickflip out. Got pretty close actually. I came to a halt, but whatever, I’m starting to lay into the ‘almost 50’ excuse. I also got close to a few varial heels. I also struggled to manual across it. Then I sat for like 30 minutes until I could go to Saul’s. It was Eric, Saul and me. Eric was charging out of the gates. Almost lipslide around the shallow corner. Long grinds, front slashes, ride on grind transfers. I skated okay, had some fun 50s, front slashes, rock ‘n rolls. Saul blessed us with a couple of his quick carve grind runs, close to 5-0 to tail. I got tired real quick and headed home for dinner. Oh yeah, I had a new pair of 288S. Same color and everything.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On the first day of summer, Go Skate Day and Father’s Day my family drove to Denver. We were running late for the #pushforprogress and pulled up right as everyone was skating off. So we went right from the car to pushing a couple miles. I should have rode my cruiser, but instead I had my regular board that I had switched up again and put Venture Lows on. Anyway, I didn’t ollie or anything although did do a fun wallride on a jersey barrier. Ollie and Kevin were in our crew. Man it was cool. I was stoked all the Nullers were there too.

Then after a nice nap Ollie and I went to campus to do our annual Father’s Day skate session. The rain was threatening and we got in a few minutes on the narrow bank before the rain dumped on us. The lightning was so crazy. I had front shove to fakie and kickflip to fakie before doing fakie flips. We were trying to line things out going up a handicap ramp and off a loading dock. I couldn’t commit to the back 180. Ollie had some ollies. Ha. He got pop shove to fakie first try. He was close to front shove to fakie, but at least rode out a couple times turning around. He was popping his tricks way more than he used to.

Then we went to the engineering building to avoid the rain. It poured so much that it quickly limited the options at the spot. We had done a couple lines down the banks. I got close to kickflip into the first one, nollie the second then ollie up the 3. But the rain runoff stopped that. Ollie had back 180 into the first, halfcab into the second. Then we just played on the lower bank. Ollie tried kickflip to fakie for over an hour. He never got it, but he did at least land a kickflip and turn around. It was cool seeing him work so hard. I had the bad 3 flip out, but it felt good to land. The ‘tre a day’ thing is stressful. After that I got a heelflip, close to nollie varial flip and close to front heel. After Ollie landed the kickflip we headed home for dinner. Oh yeah, I had new shoes, my favorite as of late, 288S. They felt good.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture awake 5.2 lows, 1/16″ riser, bones medium bushings, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 51mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288S size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Knowing I wouldn’t have a chance to skate later today I woke up early and felt like a dog park run.  I was there and had done a slappy or two by 7am.  I warmed up much quicker than the last time and went on to have a pretty good session.  Even if by the end of it I was totally exhausted and useless.  I had a new deck.  I started with boardslides, noseslides, slappies and tiny ollies.  I was pretty into trying lines as always there.  I liked how the tiny pad was before the cinder block ledge.  The first warm up line was manual, crooks, kickflip on flat.  Going the other way was something like halfcab noseslide, slappy crook, ollie the little metal ledge.  One that took me awhile was back 5-0 the tiny pad then front 5-0 the cinder block ledge.  The 5-0 was scary to me because I did it near the end having to come off the end rather then the middle like I normally do.  Going the other way I was trying front 50 (or 50 shove), crooks the metal/plastic ledge then ollie the mini cinder block ledge.  Not sure if I actually got that.  I tried a few front nosegrinds on the mini cinder block ledge, got a front tail on the lower step, not close to halfcab crook.  Kinda got a line of fakie flip, fakie 50 the lower step, fakie nosegrind the mini cinder block.  The fakie nosegrind may have been more of a manual.  I tried treflips for a bit and couldn’t get my feet on one.  Ended trying fakie 50 halfcab out on the mini cinder block ledge and got really close, but called it a day and went home to work.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 v-hollows, doh dohs 88a boardside bushing no washer minilogo 94a roadside with flat washer, 53mm purple swirl blank wheels, new balance numeric 288s white/gum size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Had the day off work, did some things then Jake and I rolled to Wilville on a really nice day. We started at the round curb thing. Oh yeah, I had a new setup. 8.25 board and trucks, smaller wheels. It felt good. Oh yeah, and new shoes! 288S. My fav shoe as of late. We both had front and back 50s. Jake was quick to huck some front noseblunts. Out of nowhere I had a really fun line. Front tail stall, kickflip on flat, ollie the 3 stair, noseslide the flagstone bench. Hyped me up. Jake and I also both did a bunch of front smith stalls. I got one in a line with no comply shove, shove the micro bump, but bailed front 180 on the 3 stair. Lame. I got a first try nollie back tail and came kinda close to kick back tail. Jake was sliding back blunts. He was trying a couple lines too. Uphill way – front smith, kickflip, nollie the 3. Never got the nollie. Then ollie or front 180 up the 3, some 180s then back blunt which he never really got either. I didn’t get up to the 3, but to my surprise I did commit and get very close. Which is kind of surprising because I was on a smaller board with smaller wheels.

Next we went to the rock area. There were a couple rippers there ollieing up the two sets of 3 stairs. Pretty sick. I got a fun line of dropin the tall rock, rock ride to fakie, switch ollie the two stair. Sounds like nothing, but the switch ollie was really fun. Then we both did lines to get down the 3s. Jake did a beanplant rock ride, ollie, olllie. I did drop in, really bad boneless rock ride thing, ollie, front 180. It was really fun. I hadn’t ollied those sets yet. Cracks make the first one kinda weird.

Then we went and played a couple games of SKATE near the food court. Jake got to SKAT quickly on a couple double or nothings. I think one was fakie flip. I won it on halfcab flip. The next game was no repeats. My knees had started hurting so it kinda messed with me. I didn’t really land anymore flippers except varial flip which Jake missed double or nothing then went on to get it in about 5 more tries. I got a letter on fs flip, Creepy spin a couple more and lost on fakie 3 shove. Twas fun. I did one nose manual at the end into the bank and we headed out.

As I walked to the house I noticed a bunch of people skating the curbs. Turns out it was Raul, Saul, Dave L (although I just missed him), Eric, Sawyer and Ethan. So I had to go say hi to a rad crew like that. I went with the 8.25 originally, did one slappy crooks then realized I wanted my big board to be lazy and slappy with. Eric did a long manual, some heelflips, a really good back slappy. Sawyer had some insane slams mixed with really good slappies. Ethan had good slappies too. Saul left right when I got there. Raul did some filming and some back 180 50s. I actually ended up not liking the big setup for slappies too much. Oh well. I had done a few of the norms, slappy front crook was the most fun.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate with hollow hanger, 1/16″ riser, 52mm bones easy street stf v5, 3 speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S jack curtain size 11.5, no insoles at all)
(pain level 5/10 knees were borderline in too much pain at times)

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!)

On another snowy night I went into the garage not feeling overly motivated. I made another list, but wasn’t going to really stick to the 10 tries thing. I had new shoes – NB# 288S. The same shoes I had in Nebraska and hurt my ankle right away, but a half size smaller. I ended up skating quite hard and having fun listening to Afghan Whigs and really enjoying it. I had done a few shoves/kickflips to get warmed up then went into the list.
Nollie back heel – sometimes I like to start with a huck to get warmed up. I wasn’t close, but it did feel like it gave me some sense I could do it.
Fs halfcab heel – As you can see in the video I kind of landed it. It’s so hard to get tricks clean with that little speed and space.
Fakie flip – Landed in a couple tries
Nollie flip – Surprisingly not even close
Backside flip – got a couple under rotated ones
Sw varial flip – Didn’t get both feet on, but was close
Treflip – took way over 10 tries to get one. Tried for awhile and only got the two heel drags
Nollie tre – tried quiet awhile, but never got one. Was close a few times.
Varial heel – Finally technically landed one. Was happy with how much I was committing.
Back heel – I have never landed this. I wasn’t close but I think I finally figured out the motion I need to do. I was super tired by this point since the varial heel was such a battle.

(setup 8 null dream machine deck deck, venture 5.2 v-hollow hanger and cast baseplate, old 53mm bones pj v1 wheels, bones medium bushings, mob grip, new balance numeric 288 sport b/w, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10)