Was not gonna skate, but still floating around the idea of going for 365 in 2021 so I went to the curb on a nice afternoon. And it was super fun. Just did a few slappies, kickflips. I’m liking the Thunders. I had a new pair of the 212s. This time in an ugly bright mustard color.

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 HL, venom 88a big bushing, 91a small bushing, spitfire 52mm 99a f4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 mustard size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a cold and snowy night I went into the garage.  The goal was to rotate between 6 different types of tricks.  Kickflips, heelflips, nollie, switch, 360 flip, random trick.  It made for a lot of failing, but at the same time made for some good motivation.  I had a new pair of 212s and they felt a little slippery and stiff.  Good shoes take a minute to break in.  Also my trucks were making so much noise they were driving me nuts.  Maybe it’s time to order better pivot cups.  Basically I was not close to anything other than kickflip tricks and a couple terrible heelflips.  I was not close to treflip at all which was oh so frustrating.  I had gotten halfcab flip kinda quick which was maybe the only joy I had on the 8.5.  At some point I grabbed my 8.25 sitting there and said “8.5 never again”.  I didn’t land a treflip on it, but I actually committed finally.  I got a f/s flip that felt alright.  Some nollie and switch flips were close.  Was not close to casper flips.  I went in after about an hour and a half of flailing around feeling quite depressed.  I guess the one positive is I think I finally found some insoles I really like.

(setup 8.5 then 8.25 both with ventures and 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 2/10!)

After a way-busier-than-it-should-be day of work Jake and I rolled to campus. It has snowed and appears to be sticking around longer than we hoped. Uni Hill was snowed out, we went under the tunnel and ended up behind the UMC to a good section of dry concrete and a couple puddles. I had some new shoes, the NB# 212, aka the one shoe that does not hurt my feet at all. It helpsed, I was able to skate. We did some lines over little puddles. Starting with 180s, switch 180s and moving on to really technical tricks like kickflips and fakie bigspins. Ha. It was fun though. Jake did a bunch of front axle stalls on a tall flagstone ledge to start a line, then nollie back 180 then fakie bigspin over the little puddle. I tried a bunch of front axle’s on it too, but only got one. I did have some front and back axle stalls on the 2nd step, darn near died trying to kickflip a little pile of snow. Then we played SKATE. The first game was kind of a wash as Jake got burned by fakie flip and missed a triple or nothing. I added heelflip and halfcab flip and that one ended. We played another game that was really good with a lot of tricks for both of us. I was up with f/s halfcab heel (hyped on that one 3rd ty), first try varial flip, and f/s halfcab flip. I matched Jake’s fakie flip and f/s flip (maybe my fav trick I did), but he came back with switch shove, nollie bigspin and a creepy spin. After that I got a halfcab heel that didn’t count due to heel drag, but I was still hyped. We battled treflip for awhile and I got one first. Jake almost matched it, but then went down swinging. It was a fun session. One of these days we’ll both have our treflips down good again. After the game I took a few tries and got a sketchy fakie bigflip.

(null 8.25″ spanbauer deck, venture 5.8 trucks (cast baseplate titanium hanger), venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm radial slim f4 101a, 3 speed washers on outside of wheels, new balance numeric 212 blue/gum size 11.5 stock hard rubber insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

I met Rob around 10 at Frederick on another warm and gorgeous day. Cass would show shortly after us. I had setup a new board and shoes. They felt fine, but I had some back pain I haven’t had in a long time. I couldn’t really squat well and everything hurt. I didn’t skate as bad as I felt at least, but nowhere as well as the day before. After some rolling around and warming up we mostly hit the manny pad/ledge for a bit. I took a few tries to get a nose manual, but finally got it. I also got switch front 180 up, nollie front tail off. Front 180 up, switch front nose off. Cass did some really good front noseslides, front noseslide bigspin and maybe manual to front board. Rob had a rad boardslide transfer then 270 off. Also manual to boardslide, manuals, I think nose manual. Cass had some good treflips over the kicker. I had some fun long back 50s down the dumb corner quarterpipe. We hit the bank to curb section. Rob had a nice front tail. Cass had good slappies and treflip flyouts. I didn’t get anything on the curb and couldn’t get b/s flip on the hip again. Rob left. Cass and I played a game of SKATE. It wasn’t great for either of us, but I got letters on tricks I can do like treflip (I was close at least), front shove, b/s flip and I lost on halfcab flip. Argh. I did get a good heelflip and a defensive f/s flip that made me happy. I thought that would get my body going, but it didn’t. I went to the bowls for a bit. But I was in too much pain to run down the transition so I was ultra conservative and went to sit down. Saul had joined and was in lots of pain too. Dang. He was able to get his patented quick scratch grinds until he got warn out. I did a couple attempts at the pull-up loop again and some nollie inward heels. But I was toast and ended up leaving.

(setup null 8″ archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 v-hollow highs on red cast baseplate, venom 88a bushings no boardside washer, old bones stf v2 51mm, new balance numeric 306 foy navy/white size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10 i was able to skate at times, but by the end it was unbearable)

On the way to my mom’s in BV Steve and I hit the Frisco park. He doesn’t skate anymore really. He wanted to check out the bike park, but it was closed and a bit snowy. The moonscape of the skatepark is appealing to people that don’t skate much so he was down to check it out. We did hit the moonscape area some, but there was snow in the shady sides limiting things quite a bit. And most of it was too gnarly for my brother (and me). The skatepark was mostly empty. It was awesome. Steve would take breaks often and I skated quite a bit. I skated my 8.3 setup with the Thunder 151s. I ended up not liking it so much. Argh. It had weird crooks and I still struggled to pop onto ledges. I didn’t get kickflip to fakie on the bank, but did have some fun backside kickflips. I got the down rail first and every try. It’s tiny, but still fun. I did the front shove in a few tries, it was fun. Oh yeah I had new shoes. NB# 288s. They felt decent. Steve was having fun with the little early grabs. He had a couple sketchy bails, almost got a boardslide on the end of the flat bar. He had fun. I was hyped to get to skate. Right after the park Steve had to run some errands so I tried some flippers in the parking lot at Copper. I had locked up with soreness so just hucked back heels and switch bs flips. I wasn’t close to either, but it was fun trying.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 151 hollow light, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a warm day we gathered at dog park. For some reason lately on Saturdays I wake up without much desire to skate. This would be the same. I need to figure out why it keeps happening to me. I had a new pair of 212s, they felt large and weird. Rob and Eric were already there. I saw Rob get a nice back 50 back 180 and Eric heelflip a parking block before I had even stepped on the board. Sean, Bernie, Kevin would join shortly. Kevin and I played a game of SKATE. He had a new board, different trucks and new wheels. I had new shoes. I got him to SKA on kickflip, fakie flip and something else. Then he got his switch flip, nollie flip, janoski flip, switch front shove and something else to get me out. I was so bummed to get a letter on halfcab flip yet again. Shortly after that I would bail a front 50 or something and scream and throw my board. After that I just chilled for the most part did tricks that didn’t involve much ollieing. Jack had shown and tried a bunch of no comply flip 5-0s. Rob front boarded the tall bench and the tall part of the weird obstacle. Kevin did a no push line of back 5-0 the black ledge, front nosegrind the 2 step, back tail the tall part of the weird one. Sean ripped as he does. Eric had lipslides, wallie 180s, maybe a nosegrind, crooks, lots of charging. Bernie was adjusting to some new Venture lows (jealous) and still ripping. Near the end we all started hucking dream tech tricks on the black box. Rob was going kick front board, I was trying halfcab heel noseslide, Jack was trying Rick flip back tail, Kevin switch flip switch front nose, Bernie hardflip front nose, Sean and Eric were in it too, but I forget what they were trying. Jack and Kevin got into their tricks. Bernie and I got close. My mood would have changed drastically had I landed that. It felt good to huck and even commit to a few.

After some spot lurking we ended up at St Julien. Jack couldn’t get his mind into trying his trick. Joe had joined us. Most were trying fakie varial heels on flat. After Jack gave up I went and played Rick flips with Bernie. He got a couple, I kind of got one.

Next we went to Howard Huston. The struggle was real. Jack put an end to his beat deck after an awkward slam. Kevin was motivated to line out to a front blunt, but getting there was a battle. The front 5-0 shoves were sick. Sean had easy 50s, but mostly chilled. Bernie had a couple tails, noseslides, maybe a 50 or two. I couldn’t 50 the ledge to save my life. My legs were so sore from skating so much, but I was too dumb to stop. I did at least have some really fun crooks. Ventures pinch the crooks so well. Joe went off. Front 5-0, heelflip, hardflip front nose. He actually did like 7 hardflip front noses as he was trying to get into front crooks. He would prevail with a really good one. Bernie and I had made the silly decision to play a game of SKATE. It almost ruined me. I couldn’t land much of anything. I was hoping Bernie would land anything to get me out. I got a very defensive fakie heel. But ended up losing on something like cab flip? I don’t even remember. Ha. Long day. Tough day. Skateboarding is not easy. At least we had good company.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows, venom 91a bushings with roadside washer, 51mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

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)