Kinda nice night I had setup a new complete. Ugh. Yes. 8″ venture lows and 50mm wheels. Went to the curb to warm up, it didn’t feel great. Left after a few basics that weren’t good. Behind the school I got some warm up lines quickly like 180 then fakie shoves. Pop shove took a few tries, but kickflip felt good. Fakie flips felt great too, but halfcab flips took a bit. I skated for a little over 30 minutes and would get kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, fakie big flip and b/s flip. Still couldn’t get heelflip. Hucked some other tricks like switch flips which were close. Near the end I was tired and hucked a couple kickflips and landed them way easier than I thought. Made me happy to try flippers on a smaller board again.

(setup null 8″ burnout stumpy, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows bones medium bushings, boardycakes 49.99mm round ups 2 washers inside, new balance numeric 272 black size 12 half fp elite insole)
(pain level 3/10)

On a nice night I went out to Frederick for the first time in months to meet Dave and Garrett. I had a new Christmas Complete. And I hated it the entire time. I had mostly enjoyed my last stint on Indy mids, but they were too heavy. I thought maybe the hollow version would help. Nope, they felt no lighter. Add in a new 8.3 deck and 52mm Spitfire classic shapes. Patrick was there too happy to skate after his knee injury. We were in the back mellow bank/curb area for awhile. Dave did amazing front nose to fakie then fakie tail. He also started with some crazy step off trick on the bank that I couldn’t grasp, but Garrett got second try. I took too many tries to get a kickflip fakie then couldn’t quite get a front heel. Garrett did cool fakie tre out of the bank then fakie flip into the next one. Then it was all over for awhile. I was able to push pretty well so that was nice. I couldn’t quite get up the taller ledge, struggled to noseslide anything, flip tricks were impossible. Ugh. Dave and I did the 180 then switch front noses. Garrett did the manual tricks like it was nothing. Dave did switch front shove on the bank after a cool wallride to fakie. I dragged a lot of heel on a b/s flip on the attempt in between posing hardflip variations. Eventually we all got tired and called it a night.

(setup null smoke valley 8.3, jessup ultragrip, indy hollow mids, spitfire f4 99a 52mm classic shape, splay freestyle shoes size 12 custom thin nb# abzorb insole and naboso activation insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

My ankle was still hurting, but it was Go Skate Day and I thought I could handle some slappies.  I had my new setup and was blown away by how sharp the Aces could turn.  There was a big puddle from the sprinklers right in front of the main spot which would get much worse after the sprinklers turned on once again.  UGH!  I did a few front slappies, few slappy crooks and that’s about it.  I didn’t want to pop with my ankle feeling the way it did and the sprinklers kinda ruined it anyway.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a really nice morning I met up with Rob, Kevin, Mike, Eric, Dave F and eventually Sean at dog park.  I was on my 3rd setup change of 2021 already.  Well, just a truck swap out, but that’s pretty huge.  I want flips to be easier so I’m going with some Thunder 148s.   And boy did they flip good at first for me.   After some rolling around to warm up I would have several first try flippers.  Kickflip, heelflip, halfcab flip, b/s flip and some others that came in a few tries.  Front 50s felt good on low stuff, but I struggled with the taller ledge for a reason I don’t know.  Crooks felt extra good.  I had a fun line of front 180 the parking block, halfcab flip on flat, front 50 back 180 the little guy.  Everyone seemed to be skating well.  I saw Rob get some halfcab noseslides on the taller ledges.  He also had two really bad slams in a row.  One on a back 50 body varial out that was looking so good until the last second when he hung and slammed so hard.  I haven’t seen him bounce off the ground like that in a long time.  Then on the next attempt he hit a stop rock and went down hard again.  Argh!  He kept skating though, front 50s, first try kickflip, much more.  Dave was in demo mode.  Everytime I’d see him he was landing something crazy.  Front crooks to fakie, switch crooks to forward, front 50 back 180 transfer the beam, halfcab back 50 back 180 out, halfcab boardslide several parking blocks to fakie and much more I’m forgetting right now.  Kevin and Mike were ripping the ledges.  Nosegrinds, nollie nosegrinds, back tails, back smiths.  Kevin did back smith the tall bench then back 180 nosegrind the cinder block I think.  Wowsers.  Kevin and Mike did back to back back smiths on the tall bench at one point and I got their back with a tiny crook jib.  I couldn’t get a fakie nosegrind to save my life.  I’m not sure why.  I tried some switch front crooks and failed, was close to rick flips and nollie varial flips.  My last trick was a front 50 kickflip out on the little guy.  It was fun as I haven’t done that trick in forever.  Dave got my back, but I forget what the trick was.  I think switch crook.  Eric had been ripping.  Got a few back 180 heels, 5-0s, tails, lipslides, ollies over stuff easily, back 50s on taller ledges now.  Sean ollied over one of the angled crossbeams all crazy and of course had nosegrinds, 5-0s like they were nothing.  

Some people stopped skating, Dave, Sean and I went to Basemar.  Sean wanted to ollie the bump to parking lot, but there was a truck parked half into the landing.  So we ended up dorking around.  We hit the little flat gap to manny.  Well, those guys did.  I was tired and sore.  I was stoked Dave ollied it.  Sean did manual, 180s to halfcab and fakie bigspin out, 180 nose manual.  Then we skated the bump as a bank doing lots of side rock variations.  Dave was going hammer though and going for sex change.  He ended up focusing his very old board, going to his car and getting out his 7.75 putter then doing it first try.  Ha.  He would also go on to get a really cool trick that I filmed for Stubborns 2.  I don’t know what to call it so I’ll just say it’s a nollie shove into a fingerflip.  Sounds awesome right?  Then Matt showed up to sell a calendar and we chatted for a while as the sun finally came out again.  

(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 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 4/10 probably from feeling a slight cold or something)

On a cold night I drove out and met Dave at Frederick.  The park had more snow and ice than we had thought.  The manny pads weren’t an option.  The bump to ledge/hump and curb areas were about it.  And the two weird benches by the dumb sculpture.  We basically had the park to ourselves except when shoveler Patrick showed up for awhile.  We skated the hump and curb area the most.  We skated for over a couple hours so it’s hard to remember all that went down.  Warming up wasn’t as bad as you would think.  Dave did a lot of curb stalls/transfers/grinds.  All of which were made harder by limited run up.  Front hurricane, boardslides, noseslides, nose stall reverts and the amazing back axle to rock to revert transfer.  Wow.  He also had some incredible lines that had switch shoves on the hump to quick wallrides.  I mostly posed flip tricks and got used to my new trucks.  Yes, new trucks again.  This time Indy Mids.  Had to try them, they felt great before the bushings totally froze up.  I had a line of caveman grind then b/s flip the hip.  I couldn’t get a regular kickflip over the hip.  I posed hardflips for awhile on the little bank and got kind of close. I took too long to get a varial flip over the hip.  I lost interest when Pat stole my trick.  Then after he left I tried again and got a couple weird feeling ones.   I tried a line of fakie flip on the little bank then f/s halfcab flip over the hip, but was really struggling.  Dave’s lines were pretty amazing.  It’s hard to describe the crazy curb transfers then switch shoves on the hump to quick wallrides and the smoothness.  We ended on the weird sculpture benches.  I was unable to switch noseslide either way.  I guess the Indys might not be so good for ledges.  But I had some alright crooks and a fun noseslide shove.  Dave had a good line of front noseslide to fakie, fakie flip on the tiny bank, noseslide to fakie.  Oh yeah then we hit the bank for a bit.  Dave did some great fakie ollies.  I did some weak ollies to fakie.  

(setup 303 8.25 deck, jessup ultragrip, 144 indy mids, bones medium bushings,  spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

So I had gotten some new trucks at 303. Some Thunder 151s. I meant to get some 149s, but they didn’t have them and well I wanted something different. I have to admit to myself that I like bigger boards, but the bigger Ventures require lot of heft to pop them. I wanted a lower and lighter bigger truck for 8.3 or 8.5. So I put them on an almost new 8.3 I had in my garage. I arrived to an almost empty Broomfield park. I started on the quartapotty and it was really fun. Also a few basics on the blue ledge. My setup was feeling great with the exception of flip tricks, but I kind of blame these Es Accel slims for that. Sean showed. We started with a game of SKATE. He pink slipped me again. I had the excuse of new trucks. I mean even though it’s my own fault it’s a decent excuse right? I did get a defensive f/s halfcab heel, but other then that it wasn’t so good. Then we mostly skated the black ledge. Sean methodically went through his routine landing so many tricks first try. 5-0 180s, nosegrind 180s, tailslides, nollie/fakie 5-0s and nosegrinds. I had more pop than normal and was able to 50 the ledge several times. It was fun. Got one shove out, front 180 out, didn’t do any accidental 5-0s. Had halfcab noseslide and noticed the lack of the baseplate Thunder problem. Did some okay crooks, switch front noseslides. After a while I got really tired and chilled. Sean did a line first try of nollie back nosegrind 180 then fakie back 5-0 180. Wow. Then we played a game of SKATE and I finally got a letter on him. Yes, only one letter. Ha ha. And I forget which trick it was on. He was on fire and landed tricks like nollie back heel in one or two tries. After the game I tried treflips until I got a super bad one, got a halfcab flip and could not get fakie bigflip. Sean did the tricks above in a few tries. Man he was ripping.

(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, es accel slims tricolor grey size 12, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After an insanely busy day at work I went to an old spot with a new complete on a really hot day. I put some wax on the ledge, but it just melted. So I kind of avoided the melted area and did stalls. I should have rub bricked it. But stalls were fun and I noticed the bigger wheels helping me get up on it. I had done some axle stalls and went in on some more. Front tails felt cool and since it was a stall why not shove out. Kickflip axle stalls didn’t really work, but still felt cool. Flip tricks went okay, nothing special though.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 92 custom hollow baseplate, stock bushings, 54mm spitfire f4 99a radials red/yellow swirl, new balance numeric 306 foy b/w size 12, thin 533 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On an insanely windy day I went downtown hoping the trees would block some wind. They did, and on top of that the wind almost stopped for a couple hours. I was pretty sore so I wore some Westgates I had gotten from Tytus. They felt pretty good initially, but I eventually got that cupsole knee pain that reminds me not to wear cupsoles. I want to explore more and since I was in pain that’s mainly what I did. Just kinda wandering in allies and behind buildings I haven’t looked at before. I had a really embarrassing slam on an ollie off a curb into a parking garage driveway. I almost stopped at that point. Did a fun wallie nollie behind the Boulder Theater. Took a long time to do a really lame manual down a sidewalk then forced myself to kickflip. Right next to it was a new mini bank to curb that I took too long to slappy. Ended up at Casey and took awhile to do a bad line of front 180 the little stage gap, switch front 180 on flat, get into noseslide on the kinked hubba. I had thought of falling off the first part to grass ride, but it was too wet to ride. Went down near Ideal. Did a tiny crook on the plastic bench in the back. Man I was sore and lacking pop. So I walked some more. I went to go home, but right as I got to my car Dave called and said he was on his way. So we skated Wells Fargo for a bit. To our surprise they had taken out a tree and made a new miniramp. Ha, it is so hard to skate. I took forever to get a front slash. Then we started trying lines. Dave had some good slams, but would get the 3 trick line for the win. Then he ended it with the 3 continuous slashes for the MVP award. So sick. Not the best start to a new year, but I was ultra timid on my ankle still.

(2020 setup 8..25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 v-hollows, 1/16” riser, bones medium bushings, 52mm spitfire green swirl classics f4 99a, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 913 black/yellow size 12, stock insoles)
(Pain level 7/10)

Last Monday I didn’t skate because I was so sick of the heat. I did however play basketball with Ollie. I felt fine after, but woke up later in the night with an intense pain below my left butt cheek. I think I strained the hamstring. Ugh. Anyway, it still hurts. I skated, but I basically just did a few slappies and several slappy crooks. Saul said he was feeling arthritic, but he looked good. He was hitting the slappies front and back. Alley oop slappy, layback. We didn’t last long. I had bought a set of Mini Logo trucks to try. Yes, Powell Mini Logo trucks. This is because I really love Venture lows, but I wanted a wider truck. These are the same height as Venture lows, but wider (8.38). They felt great. They have a very small wheelbase, even less than Indy. They turn good. They just look pretty bad. Oh well, I had told myself awhile ago I should try them after reading some glowing reviews on the slap truck thread.

(setup 8.25 null abstract #6 deck, Mini Logo 8.38 trucks, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 2 washers inside each axle, stock mini logo bushings, new balance numeric 913 Westgates b/w, stock insoles)
(pain level 9/10)

Kevin and I showed up with Christmas completes and had someone take a photo of us.  We were thinking it would be funny to just leave after that. Ha. Kevin had some Venture lows instead of his normal thunders.  I sized down to 8.3 with the new venture 8.25 trucks.  I had huge new wheels. 53mm SML wheels.  I was super hyped to support that company, but should have gotten smaller wheels as I really struggled for awhile.  Kevin on the other hand was totally shredding rattling off ledge tricks.  Nosegrinds, back smith, 5-0s.  Carleigh showed up and pretty quickly joined Kevin on the bump to barrier.  He did different tricks until she landed the boardslide.  The nosegrind was sick. Carleigh did the boardslide pretty quick.  There was almost no one skating so we told Rob to come back.  He did. Rad. Of course the crowds had reformed unfortunately.  The only thing I did that I was hyped on was the line Kevin filmed.  I did it a couple times before filming.  Way better of course (Just joking, but since there is no footage in my head it was better). Ollie the flat bar (hyped that this seemed easier on the smaller setup), wallie the barrier, nollie back tail the small narrow ledge, crook the black ledge.  Carleigh and Rob jumped on similar lines. Rob with the ollie then front 180 over the barrier.  Rob gots pop.  But it’s funny because he can’t wallie it.  Carleigh did ollie, wallie, front 50. 

Later on we met up with Jack at his wood spot.  It was so hot.  That spot is so hard. Well, not for Jack and Kevin. They were ollieing up the weird corner like it was nothing.  Both doing manuals. I think jack ollied the big two out of manual. Kevin did manual drop down to quick back 180.  Kevin ollied the flat gap easily.  Jack did a bunch of tricks over it. One of the steeziest backside bigspins I’ve ever seen, backside flip, impossible some more I’m forgetting.  Carleigh and I were struggling to get up the corner ledge. It was frustrating. I was posing ollies over the flat gap.  I eventually got the ollie up the ledge. Did a boneless down a level, then somehow made it over the flat gap. I say ‘somehow’ because what I did was not technically an ollie.  It was some weird awkward momentum that got me over the gap. It stoked me out regardless.  It also showed Carleigh that if she actually ollied she could do the gap. She tried that while I tried another line to clean up the ollie.  I tried ollie up the ledge, kickflip on the narrow ledge, ollie the gap. I got it and ended it with a back 180 off. It felt awesome.  Carleigh got the ollie too. Jack did a rad quick foot line. Ollie up, gap ollie, half impossible.  Wow. It inspired Kevin to switch flip the gap.  Unfortunately an hour and a half later he gave up after landing on several. Doh.  Fun long day of skating though. I like my new setup so far. 

(setup 8.38 null event horizon deck, venture 5.6 trucks, doh doh bushings (88a boardside, 92a roadside), 53mm sml og wide wheels, 3 bearings inside each axle, mob grip, new balance numeric 533v2 pj grey size 13, currex run pro insoles)