On a bright and somewhat cooler morning met up with quite a few people at Broomfield. Salty, Bratcher, Rob, Sean, Eric, Paul, Will. On top of that quite a few others showed and it was quite busy at times. I had a new setup based on some new trucks I’ve been waiting on a long time – Slappy Lows. I would like them and they skated pretty well out of the gates. Rob bounced first so I’ll start there. He wasn’t feeling too good, but tried to get it going with some manuals and I saw a really long g turn that was pretty amazing. Sean was the next to bounce. He had a good amount of excuses lined up, but still ripped. High speed grinds on the black ledge including a line of crooks followed by fakie back 50 180 out. Sean, Paul and I played a game of SKATE. I was the first out, but it was fun. Salty learned boardslides to fakie on the mini bank to curb and almost got blunts on the “bigger” bank to curb. Bratcher took his multitude of boardslides to various obstacles. Switch front board up to back 50 on the bank to ledge was cool as was nollie back lip on the blue ledge. Eric good tailslides, heelflips over the parking block, crooks, charging. Paul did back 50 to front 180 on the bank to ledge, back 5-0 180s on the black ledge, landed a lot of flippers in the game of SKATE. Pretty early on I had a line I liked of halfcab noseslide, noseslide to fakie the bank to ledge then fakie bigfilp. My board was popping really well, I got several front 50s on the ledge into the bank that felt great. Close to noseslide 270 shove, close to kickflip 50 on the bank to ledge. Was happy to get a crooks on the bank to ledge finally. Will showed around the time we were winding down. He had some really good nollie noseslides on the black ledge.

After chilling and talking to India I picked up Cass and met up with the 98% dudes at York St Skatepark. There are even more little qps now and they are fun. Jack filmed a couple of amazing clips for Scotty with a trefip and a noseblunt. Cass and I messed around with an easy roll in to small qp. I got my first front pivot to fakie in a long time. I might have even grinded a little. Joe came along and made it not so easy by ollieing onto the ledge before the roll in. I struggled a bit and kind of hurt my shoulder trying to ollie up as well. Donnie and Cass had no problem with it.

Then we went to the nearby bank to ledge. My accidental training at Broomfield payed off and I would get noseslide to fakie and crooks. The crooks felt really cool, but I’m sure it only grinded an inch or so. Jack rattled off some tricks that were so fun to watch. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him just skating and it was great. I didn’t know Jason and John very well but they skated a long time and Jason’s front tail kickflip out was so good. Donnie came close to a banger, but had to give up and it started raining. It was really fun being in the streets with a crew.

(setup 7/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25 deck, null grip, slappy low profile 8.5 trucks, 53mm bones stf pj 103a wheels, new balance numeric 440v2 white size 11.5 half 574 insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

After work on a breezy afternoon I met up with Dave at the old TF stomping ground Honey’s Hole. To our surprise there was a lot of water there, like a lot a lot. Dave would prove this pretty quickly when doing a pivot early on and he took a dip, feet first! I can’t believe we didn’t film that! I asked him to recreate it, but for some reason he refused haha. Luckily he had a different pair of shoes in his car and it didn’t slow him down. Pretty early on I did a kickflip on the narrow strip up top which started Dave’s ‘My War’. The questionable b/s flip was fun. Dave’s pivots on the qp were nuts. I did make myself drop in on at least which was a lot scarier than I had thought it would be. My calf was hurting, so pushing lines was not all that fun, especially after hanging up on a tree root. I would halfpipe it quite a bit. Was happy to get some front slashes, front disaster and a hurricane. Dave lined out front pivots, front tails, nollies, wallies, he was shredding. Fun session.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, spitfire 52mm classic 99a yellow, new balance numeric 440v2 white size 11.5 wide with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10 darn calf pain)

Somehow slept really well and after a banging breakfast at our hotel we went out to see some sights. Swiss Air had lost my luggage so one of the first things on the agenda was to get me a new board and shoes because I didn’t want to delay and then not have a board. So we went to the big mall store Titus and I walked out with a an 8.25 of some Flower brand, some hollow ventures and the smallest wheels they had. The family and I were walking nearby at a city park that has a fountain dedicated to the Grimm fairy tales. I did a quick search in maps and it turned out there was a skatepark like 500 feet away so I of course had to go check it out. I had it all to myself so after a couple of laps around and trying to figure out my new setup I kind of just filmed everything. It was quite a fun session surprisingly except how I couldn’t lock into crooks. I thought I’d only have like 5 minutes, but the family ended up being gone for like 40 minutes so I got a decent little session in. Especially considering my complete and shoes were like 1 hour old. The kickflip flyouts were pretty fun as were the back 50s down the steep little escalator qp.

(setup 8.25 flower, mob grip, venture 5.6 shake junt v-hollows, spitfire 51mm f4 99a classic, new balance numeric 288 b/w no insoles size 11.5 (they didn’t have 12s))
(pain level 3/10)

On a cloudy and cool morning I went to dog park feeling excited to skate. For one, it wasn’t too windy and for another I was woke again. Venture finally came out with hollow cast plates and the timing was too good to not add in a christmas complete. Anyway, warming up wasn’t too bad except I kept seeming to get in everyones way. Rob showed up basically the same time as me, Cass was later, Jack B later. Dennis and crew were there as well as some other older skaters and it was a good vibe. I skated okay and had energy. Personal highlights were front 180 off the grate kicker to really bad switch front board on a parking block, halfcab flip first try, how much pop my board had, boardslides on everything felt good as did crooks. Cass was over at the skatepark for a while. Rob had first try shove lipslide! Also close to nose manual shove. Jack B front 50’d the bench, dude got pop! Cass, Rob and I played a game of SKATE featuring the worst f/s halfcab ever (by me of course, actually I ended up not counting it because it was so bad), a lot of bailed flip tricks by me, no comply back 360 by Rob and he won it on that fakie bigspin no comply.

After that Cass and I kickflipped a parking block a few times, we did it in a train. I was happy to kickflip it, it’s been a while. I couldn’t get a clean no comply flip though.

After a very filling burger Cass and I went to Douglass. We did a lap around the school since Cass hadn’t seen it all. We ended up in the back and have no idea why we haven’t skated there more. The little ledge was fun, but we didn’t have wax. We both imagined noseslides dropping down to noseslide. I posed some switch front noses. Then we went to the front and struggled. I was happy how my setup popped up the curb easily, but I really struggled with kickflips. I posed some other flippers, but landed nothing. In the end I think Cass had done some good back 180s up the curb, halfcabs on flat then couldn’t get a noseslide. I did ollie up the curb, kickflip, some type of noseslide that was supposed to be a crook. I also got switch 180 up the curb, pop shove on flat, noseslide to fakie, almost fakie flip.

(setup null mc hesher 8.25, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-cast with bones medium bushings, 51mm bones pj 103a v1, new balance numeric 440 blue size 12 half insole)
(pain level 3/10)

Feeling pretty exhausted still but wanting to skate with Carleigh before she left Paul picked me up and we met up with Dave, Darin and others. I had a Christmas complete. My reward for finishing Something. It was an 8.5 with 51mm PJ wheels and hollow Ace 55s. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Popping was hard. I got close to noseslide 270 shoves and did a sloppy fakie bigflip out of the bank, but other than that was pretty lackluster for me. Carleigh was lofting ollies into the bank and doing front and back disasters on the brick qp, boardslides, kickflips. Ripping. Paul is really good, was back 50’ing the black ledge before I had even pushed. He went on to do a lot more tricks like back 50 front 180, fakie tails both ways. Dave had some poppy nollies into the bank, nollie front 180s out of it, almost nose manual the black box, there’s a lot more, but I’m forgetting. Darin, Justin, Kyler, other Tuesday night locals were there charging it. Pretty fun session.

(setup 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 51mm pj bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 440 size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10 some good ol’ cupsole knee sharp pain)

After being sick for the better part of a week I went across the street to the school on a hot afternoon to reacquaint myself with my skateboard. Well, my new skateboard that is. Ha ha, had a new deck and hollow axles, but it skated basically the same. I had very little energy but it felt good to ride my skateboard. I would get a few kickflips and lined out a slappy crooks with a b/s flip. Then I sat in the heat and enjoyed being outside for a while before cruising home.

(setup null 8.1 all you need deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows hollow hanger royal bushings flat top washer, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic shape, 440 white/red size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10)

On a limited time frame I went to dog park to meet Rob, Cass, Sean and Paul. We started in the park. I was adjusting to a couple changes. Vulc 212s and a smaller deck. The shoes were too big and with the smaller board felt super odd. I tried to do 5 flippers on the bank. But I only got kickflip fakie, b/s flip and kind of a big flip. I couldn’t make the board to a varial flip. Oh and Sean and I both got no comply pole jams 2nd try.

At the dog park it was a decent session. Rob was in demo mode when I got there. Back 50 no comply back shove out, halfcab back 50 back 180 out (trusting him on this one hee hee), manuals, nose manuals, halfcab board the tall bench, front board it. I filmed Cass do a front board on old piece of junk flat bar so I remember him doing that, but can’t think of other tricks right now. He was doing some filming with his super 8 which was cool. Sean was doing Sean things. Basically everything looking perfect at high speeds. The back 5-0 front 180 was my favorite. Paul had a bunch of cool slappies in all directions. Oh Cass and Paul were learning fakie back 50s then Paul learned fakie crooks like it was nothing. I skated pretty average. Did a new trick on the little ledge. Nollie front tail front shove out. Totally perfect ha. Near the end I the little Natas stall on the cone and got two shoves on it.

After lunch with my mom and some lounging I went up to Lyons to meet Dave and Billy on the Rampitheater. I had a new christmas complete. 8.3/5.8/51. It felt alright, but my shoes still felt too large. The ramp was crazy. There was a super small section then a taller section with different heights. I took forever to do a f/s halfcab rock. Then lined it out with front tail which I haven’t done in forever. Couldn’t get a kickflip on the transition. Dave beat Billy’s son Brook in a game of SKATE. It was pretty funny. Brook is young and super motivated and was trying hard and isn’t afraid to ask a lot of questions. It’s cool. It’s funny actually both his kids were into old school skating like Billy. And all decked out in full safety gear. Billy ripped it. He would throw in some tricks out of nowhere like a little invert, blunt fakie yank in, front d, 5-0s. Dave had lots of fakie/nollie/switch pops and almost got a nollie bigspin. Good times and a fun adventure seeing some elk and deer on the way home.

(setups UGH 8.25/8.3 5.8 cast/titanium 51mm, new balance numeric 212 size 12 272 insole)
(pain level 3/10)

After some OCD obsessing over the new Ace AF1 lows I went to 303, got them, set them up, then went to the empty tennis court spot and gave them a whirl.  And my first impression was excellent.  Even though they are lows they seemed to turn similar to AF1s, but a much lighter pop.  I went on to have a decent session even though I started hating the new 425s and all the heel lift I was getting.  Flip tricks worked well and heelflips felt surprisingly good.  I skated the ledge alright for me.  Crooks and slow front 50s, noseslides, switch noseslides.  Slappies felt good.  Decent first session on new trucks, shoes , wheels.

(setup 8.38 smoke valley null, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 425 black/gum size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Woke up early on a Friday and I like skating early on Fridays so I’m less sore on Saturday.  I had another setup change and I liked it.  But man the first couple pushes I thought my knee may give out.  Ugh.  I would go on to skate pretty well for a bit and felt agile.  Had some fun warm ups and little pops over the hips.  Had a couple warm up lines going.  West I did noseslide to fakie then fakie big the hump.  Then crooks followed by kickflip over the front hump which I did not do well.  East I tried a line of front disaster, kickflip the back hump, front 50 shove.  Never got the kickflip.  I had put tablets on, I blame them and their dumb square non-flipping shape.  Pain started to kick in pretty fierce.  Argh.  I was trying front 50 back 180 the bank to ledge and front 50 shove the bench.  Was close, but got neither.  After a while I slammed on a noseslide on the bank to ledge and slammed way harder than I should and decided to call it.  Argh.  Skated terrible again.  I did mostly like my setup though.

(setup null smoke valley 8.3, jessup ultragrip, royal 149 lights, 52mm spitfire f4 99a tablets, 288s grey 11.5 no insoles)
(pain 6/10)

Another cold feeling night.  I went to the school armed with a different setup and something quite different.  Royal trucks!   I had a good first day on them.  Slappies worked.  Had a great slam from a tree twig to the curb. Then I went to the ledge area.   Had a couple basics, but the shadows and crack make it really hard.  Couldn’t lock into crooks.   The few flip tricks I did went alright.  

(setup 8.25 null vhs , jessup pj ultragrip, royal 144, boardycakes roundups, new balance numeric 440H b/w size 12)(Pain level 4/10)