Work late this week.  After dinner and some soccer with Ollie it was dark.  I went to the research area wanting to skate flat in the newer concrete areas.  I started in the area that has the little 2 stair.  Oh yeah, seeing as how the vulcs ended up hurting bad last time and the 868s are just too bulky I tried some new shoes.  PJ 533v2s.  They felt very different when I started and impossible to skate.  It bummed me out.  I would kind of get things going a little bit.  I suck so bad at flatground lately.  Changing shoes almost every time I skate and the bigger setup are not helping.  I got a couple lines with 180s down the stairs and basic kickflip variations.  I got annoyed with the lights shutting off/on and went to the other new area with the wood benches.  After a slam on a fakie flip I went up to the ledge and finally had a little fun.  Noseslides, noseslide to fakie.  I slammed hard on a noseslide to fakie and screamed.  Got up and tried it again and landed it.  It was refreshing to be so upset about not landing a trick. Because lately I seem to not get upset and also not really try hard.  I got several crooks, but they were just little quick jibs. One bad back axle stall. I tried switch varial flip on the way up the hill and kickflips down the hill. It sucked dodging all of the roly polys. I got a decent feeling halfcab noseslide then a better crooks and called it a night.

(setup null perception 8.5 deck, venture 5.8 black icon trucks, venom 88a bushings bones v1 stf 51mm wheels, new balance numeric 533v2 brown/gum size 12, footprint gamechanger low profile insole)
(knee pain 2/10)

Shortly before sun down I went to the research ledge on a nice night. I had some new shoes. NB# 420 runner shoes. They are very stiff so I was kinda doubting I’d have much luck on the skateboard. Oh yeah, speaking of skateboard, I had a different setup. You can thanks Max Garson for getting on my case about changing and not sticking with a bigger setup. I like how 8.5s skate more than 8.3s so I put an old Rabethica deck together. My first noseslide felt sketchy as my foot shot right off the nose. Oh great, do these shoes not have any grip? But after that they felt grippy. I got a fun feeling noseslide to fakie when Saul biked by on his way home from yoga. We chatted for a bit, then it was back to me not landing much. This ledge gets rougher and higher each time I skate it. Ha, okay the higher part isn’t accurate, but I get older and it feels taller. I had an alright session. Got a few crooks, got a terrible back 50, a halfcab noseslide that felt good. The sprinklers had come on making the line potential hard with puddles. I hucked a few flippers, the shoes seem to have good flick. I got into a few front 50s, but never grinded and land one. Maybe by the time I’m 50 I’ll just ollie and throw the board at the ledge and count it.

(setup null rabethica 8.5 deck, venture 5.8 black icon trucks, venom 88a bushings, oj 52mm ez edge wheels, new balance numeric 420 black/white size 11, low profile footprint gamechanger insoles)

New shoes which take awhile to get the flick. But I got an early treflip which relaxed me some. Heelflip took awhile. My board felt small. Got backside flip, halfcab flip, fakie varial flip, fakie flip, a couple treflips and an easy feeling halfcab flip. Didn’t get nollie flip, Nollie varial flip or nollie tre. No fs halfcab flip either. All things considered it was still fun.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.8 lights black icon trucks, bones medium bushings, bones 51mm v1 stf, new balance numeric 212 sea foam/salmon size 11, spenco 3/4 thinsole and stock NB insole)

Fun times with @fullertrron on his 50th last night. @skeleton_canal @gnarlycarleigh @43shifty #over50make

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 27, 2018 at 10:27am PDT

On a hot night we gathered at Broomfield park. I got there around 7:30. Rob and Carleigh were already there. Will and Dave would arrive shortly. I had new shoes again. This time Vans Walkers to try the wafflecup. I was 1/10 on my first kickflips. That isn’t good. Rob was on fire. Back 50 body varial out, back 50 back 180, front 50 to front lip, halfcab noseslide to fakie, first try front nosegrind and apparently a front 50 back 180 which I didn’t see so I’m not sure it counts. Ha. Carleigh did front d quick, back d pretty quick too. Lots of boardslides, kickflips. I had a brief period of skating alright. I had rock ‘n roll on the steep bank up top, kickflip on the hump, crooks, close to noseslide 270 shove. But for the most part I skated like complete garbage. Will got on the grinds and manuals quick. The switch front tail is nuts. Dave came out with a lot of energy, but quickly used it up since he’s old now (hee hee). But really he was ripping. Nose manuals, lots of quick feet stuff, front slash down the hubba bank, axle to fakie on the brick qp. It was cool how few people were at the park. We mostly just did our thing. Near the end we filmed a little. I had fun with the front board transfer thing. I had never done it with the switch 180 off before. Will tried to clean up the back 5-0, but it ended up being a battle. Dave’s quick foot line was way harder than it looks. There was much more skating than described here, but it was a fun one.

(setup 8.25 null dream machine deck, venture 5.2 awake lows, 1/16 riser, old 51mm bones stf v1, 3 washers inside each axle, white venture bushings, vans kyle walker black/gold size 11.5 ,low profile gamechanger insoles)

Happy 50th @fullertrron !!!! Now that you are 50 you can get away with #over50makes like this. 😂 #rippingestripper #kingstubborn #myphonewasblurryfromfilmingsomuchripping

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 26, 2018 at 4:32pm PDT

On Dave’s last day in his 40s we met on a hot afternoon at the rink at Blue Skies. I arrived first. I had a new deck and new shoes. Adidas City Cups. They felt great walking in them. And then I pushed and my heel came out. Tightened them up, same problem. Ugh. But man, they have a great flick. I was like 10/10 on my first kickflip tricks. I had a line pretty early on that felt good. Something like halfcab flip, b/s flip, fakie flip. My foot almost came out of the shoe on the b/s flip. Aki showed a little later and was quickly on the flip game. Dave started slow, but started coming through with several varial flips in a row and lining them out with kickflips, nollie front 180s and getting close to halfcab flip. It took my board for him to land the halfcab flip. That’s a sign Dave. Ha ha. Aki got the Ironman. Heelflip, treflip, kickflip. He had a bunch of treflips that were so solid. I basically didn’t land anything else and started to get really sore. I couldn’t land a heelflip or treflip to save my life and it was annoying. I blame the shoes. We were at it for a couple hours. I felt close to nollie flips at one point.

Then we went down to the skatepark so Dave could feeble the rail. He did it better than this too. Aki had some killer lines with some really locked in crooks. I tried switch no complys on the bank. Dave also did layback boardslide down the hubba, handplant thing, front 50 no comply 180 out, back 50s. He was shredding.

(setup 8.25 null dream machine deck, venture 5.2 awake lows, 1/16 riser, old 51mm bones stf v1, 3 washers inside each axle, white venture bushings, adidas city cup black/white size 11,low profile gamechanger insoles)

Rainy night. Setup a new deck and started some new shoes. I did some warming up that didn’t go anywhere so I just started hucking nollie flips. I got super close to getting both feet on a few, but that was it. Hucked a few nollie back heels and there was one that almost felt like I was going to do it. Tried to end it with a couple quick treflips, but could only land 270 and shoot out so I called it a night.

(setup 8.38 null atomic cowboy deck, venture black icon 5.8 trucks, bones medium bushings, 51mm bones stf v1 wheels, 3 washers outside each axle, new balance numeric 255 size 12 with footprints gamechanger orthotic insoles)

Another lunch break session at Blue Skies with Dave and Aki. They were both there when I arrived in some bright new blue shoes (NB# 255). They immediately felt better than the crappy slippery Busentiz Vulc. But they were still new, so it took some getting used to. Dave had a heck of a firing line right when I got there. Back 180 into the “qp”, switch hippy jump 180, front shove fakie on the bank. I think I’m even missing part of what he did in that line. Aki was rattling off tricks on the flat bar as starts to lines again. He had nollie front 50 on the low ledge and almost backed it up with switch front 50. Whoa. He did a back 50 to back tail. Dave was doing stylee front boards to fakie on the flat bar and getting close to fakie varial flip on the bank. I started with a basic line I stuck to for a bit. Boardslide on the flatbar, no comply 180, switch nose jib, kickflip to fakie on the bank, halfcab noseslide. Never got the halfcab noseslide. Tried for boardslide to fakie on the flatbar for awhile which is so hard for me, kinda got one. I was 2-2 on slow front 50s on the low ledge. Dave was trying front board 270 out and getting kinda close. Aki kept on the lines. His front tails on the low ledge are good. Dave had to leave and Aki and I skated the up ledge. Neither of us had noseslid up it. It was harder than I would have imagined. We both got a couple that weren’t to the top, but still fun. Aki also did crooks, front and back 50. I got a crooks jib and a slow front 50. then we ended by playing a game of SKATE. It started off bad with bailed kickflips and pop shoves, and then I got a double or nothing letter on fakie flip. Argh. He won. He also got me with treflip, switch flip and nollie flip. I had gotten him with halfcab flips and heelflip. New shoes feel okay, still need some breaking in though.

(setup 8.125″ null maze deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 52mm bones stf v5, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 255 blue size 12, custom orthotic insoles)

On a breezy day I went to Broomfield park on a whim after lounging around on a breezy day. I got there around 2pm and was the only person with a skateboard for quite some time. There were a bunch of scooter kids and several bikers. Why don’t kids ride skateboards anymore? Anyway, I was wearing new shoes, another pair of Busenitz vulc. They felt good surprisingly and I warmed up quickly having more pop than I figured I would. I had front 50s on the black box consistently, got front shove out first try, front 180 out first try. Had some lines. That park is fun with the lines. After awhile another skater showed at least. He wore headphones. And then a few more skaters. Two of which were incredibly annoying and wore headphones and never stopped or rotated or cared about anyone else. I just kind of avoided what they were skating. I had a couple terrible back 50s on the blue box, halfcab nose the black box, basic quartapotty tricks, crooks the black box, tried front nosegrind on the blue box for a bit, but never fully committed, did okay with the basic flips, boardslid the flatbar a bunch, actually skated the flow bowl for awhile and was scared dropping in (guess it’s been a long time since I’ve skated tranny other than Saul’s). I ended with a fun line attempt of switch front 180 into the mellow bank then noseslide 270 shove the black box. Never go the 270 shove, but I was close. I left in quite a bit of pain, I don’t think those Gamechangers is cutting it.

(setup 8.125″ null maze deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 52mm bones stf v5, bones medium bushings, adidas busenitz vulc burgundy size 11.5, fp gamechanger insoles)

OCD kicked in a bit and knew I needed some new wheels and shoes before Hawaii in a few days. So I hit 303 since they had the Es Swift. I added in some 52mm Spitfire F4s. I drove around Denver for a bit looking for something dry, but it was still pretty wet. I drove back to Boulder, parked at research center, changed my wheels out and twisted the new shoes around. I started on a new two stair area (not above), but it was pretty wet and boring. I went up near the Max G rail and was hyped to see they redid the concrete so the long two was skateable. I started slow, but ended up trying some hard runs for me. I could tell that the bigger wheels helped me ollie up the 2 stair (my old wheels were probably down to 47 or 48). I didn’t do many flip tricks, I just tried lines. I would start at the crappy ledge, go around a couple corners, ollie up the 2, then turn around and do a trick down them. I did boardslide, front 180 up, front 180 down. Then halfcab noseslide, ollie up, back 180 down. The back 180 down took a few tries so it took awhile. Then I tried halfcab boardslide, back 180 up, switch front 180 down. Man. The back 180 was killing me. I haven’t done a back 180 up anything in awhile and a long two was hard. But I’m stubborn and I stuck with it. Even when the sun went behind the mountains I kept at it. It got cold quick and my bushings froze up making for some funny and awkard switch pushes up the hill to the ledge. I finally got a back 180 up and of course missed the switch 180 due to some awkward pushing. About 10 tries later i got the back 180 again and the switch front 180 came easy. I was quite hyped on that line. Exhausted with sweat freezing I headed home.

(setup 8.25″ clutch sample deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 52mm spitfire F4 101a classic shape, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, white venture bushings, es swift 1.5 black/white size 11, custom orthotic insole)

Tried to motivate to skate early since I knew I’d be a filmer later on. I tried to go to the bikepath ledge/hip, but couldn’t find parking near it so ended up at the research ledge. It was pretty nice out, but I was feeling pretty sore and unmotivated. I was just kind of forcing it so I’d be more content filming later. I also had new shoes. Es Accel SQs. They seemed good, not as grippy as the Arto’s, but way comfier. I struggled pretty hard. The first basic line was pop shove, front 180 up the curb, fakie flip on flat, switch front nose. The switch front nose was soooo bad, but I had been trying for long enough that I didn’t care. And I wasn’t filming or anything so who cares. I did manage a few slow and sketchy back 50s. I took a brief detour for some wallie nollies up top (photo). I had tried a bunch of the straight 4 that I can’t do and never committed. Saul biked by and we chatted for a bit. Then I just kind of tried ledge tricks for awhile. Crooks are still fun there. I got a couple halfcab noseslide jibs. The funnest part was trying noseslide 270 shoves out. I have never done it without going off the end of a ledge, but there were a couple that felt close. Then I left. I didn’t really skate later as I was so sore. I did a couple axle stalls at stonehenge, but I was more content pointing the phone/camera.

(setup 8.1″ clutch sample deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 50mm bones stf v1, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, white venture bushings, es accel sq burgundy/gum size 11, custom orthotic insole)