On a hot and sunny afternoon I met up with Rob and then Dave right after work at a very bright dog park. The park was mostly empty, the shadows were intense. It took a while to get going, but we did. Rob had lots of back 50s on the curb to get going, manuals, almost manual over to boardslide, boardslides, back 180 fakie 50 180 on the curb, nollie lips. Dave got gnar quickly and after warming up on the sad ledge got some switch ollies up the lurb. Then he did f/s halfcabs off and nose manuals after and then lipslide full metal jacket. He also did an insanely proper front crook on the lurb. I tried to get his back with halfcab crook, but didn’t. I skated alright for me. Had a fun line of front 50 180 the lurb, switch front nose the bench, fakie 50 the curb. Kind of did a front smith on the lurb, but I guess I was in lipslide first. Either way my front wheels were on the ground. Got a second try nose manual the curb, almost kickflip up the lurb and ended by taking wayyyyyy too long to do a halfcab noseslide on the bench. My legs were toast, had some bad knee pain at the end. Argh.

(setup 8.5/14.25 null 20 year, jessup null ultragrip, royal 149 ultralights, 52mm spitfire f4 99a yellow classic shape, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10)

Warm evening, went to the school still feeling worn out after skating so much during Neil’s visit. After sucking so bad on the ledge last session I wanted a more stable and wider board. I went Ventures. And initially I loved them. Would get a few slappies, feel pretty confident, some basic flippers. But went in on 360 flips and it took forever to get a terrible 270 flip. Argh. Went behind the school and did some rock stalls and tried to ollie onto the main rock unsuccessfully.

(setup 8.5/14.25 null 20 year, venture v-cast 5.8 royal bushings, spitfire 52mm yellow classic 99a, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 currex run pro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On Neil’s last day we rolled to Golden park on warm day a little after noon.  It was Neil, Rob and I meeting Cass and then Dave.  We cruised around a bit then skated the little plaza area for a bit.  People did some basics.  It’s a fun area.  I was happy to get halfcab noseslide in a try or two rather than spending way too long.  Those guys left and I spent way too long to do a slow front 50 on one of the ledges.  Then I came out and managed to ollie onto the taller stand alone ledge.  Those dudes were sitting.  I did a few crooks and noeslides.  Cass may have ollied onto it too actually.  Dave arrived and ollied on right away.  Dave lined out a kickflip off a little bump, pivot on a tight qp, boardslide the long mellow hubba.  Cass boardsid it too, then me.

Off to the long ledge we went.  None of us had been there, and were happily greeted by a lowish ledge that slid and grinded well while being in the shade.  Neil and Cass were on 50s right away.  Noseslides were had.  People started feeling things out.  Rob would do halfcab noseslide then crooks.  Dave did front 50 nollie back 180 then switch crooks!  I got a few super slow front 50s that grinded at least an inch, several switch noseslide 270 shoves and a couple barely slappy crooks.  Cass had front noseslide shove and close to fakie back tail.  Neil’s knee was hurting but that didn’t stop him from getting his lines as soon as the camera came out.  Front 50s, halfcab noseslides, crooks shove, noseslide shove, front shoves.  Dave also got back 50 back 180 out.  Definitely want to go back to that spot, it was cool.  Then we had a nice dinner, chilled  a while and celebrated a week+ of shredding.  Miss you already Neil!

(setup 5/10 8.25 null spanbauer dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, 52mm spitfire 99a tablets, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

After a day off Rob and Neil showed up and we went up to Evergreen to meet Cass, Jake and Mike.  Solid crew!  The pre-skate warmups were real.  Neil probably had it popping the quickest, but it’s all a blur a few days later.  Actually now I remember Jake was doing qp tricks right away like it was nothing.  I know I started slow and was never overly happy with my skating which puts me in the mode of trying tricks over and over and not paying attention much.  I did get a ‘warm up’ line that took too long of ollie a parking block, kickflip to fakie the wedge, halfcab noseslide the ledge.   Neil joined for a bit and did some beautiful shoves over the parking block to start, no comply 180 on the bank then crooks the ledge.  Early on we were blessed with a bean plant over the hip by Rob.  Also some back 50s and he went in heavy on halfcab noseslide to manual which he never quite got.  Cass got multiple kickflips then a b/s flip over the hip.  I hurt my calf trying a line of noseslide to fakie, switch 180 off the curb, quick pushes to b/s flip the hip.  The quick pushes got me.  Doh.  It would be okay though, just had to lay off pushing hard.  I would get a b/s flip over the hip, a sloppy fakie bigflip over the hip, then a while to get a front heel which made me pretty happy.  I was able to get some slow f/s 50s on the ledges, but never a shove out.  I was happy with how poppy my board felt.  Jake did a cool line nollie 270 over the hip, pivot fakie, f/s cab.  Neil got some lines with cab the hip, kickflip the hip, front 50 shove and a lot more.  Mike had some good back 180s and cabs over the hips, front noseslides the curbs, ollies the hip.  That’s all I’m remembering right now, I’ll add a clip to this when we get it done.

(setup 5/10 8.25 null spanbauer dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, 52mm spitfire 99a tablets, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 calf)

After a really fun night having some drinks and bowling with the bros we met up with Dave somewhat early at Gypsum park.  Dave had the fresh leg / new park hype and was immediately tearing it up.  Impossible to remember all what he did, but luckily there are clips to help tell the story.  Kickflips over the hip, a million grinds on/into/over the bank to curb, pivot to rock the big qp, front board the bank to bar, grind over the rainbow, etc.  Neil got in on the grind over the rainbow bar too and lined it out with manuals.  Also got a couple flatground tricks and almost a wallie on the light pole.  I initially thought I wouldn’t be able to skate I was so sore,  but forced myself to keep trying.  Had a fun warm up of noseslide the bump to ledge, kickflip to fakie the mellow bank, switch nose jib, noseslide to fakie the low ledge.  Then I started hucking bs 270 flip over a mellow hip after f/s ollies the hip.  I kind of got one, it felt rad regardless.  Cass had more kickflips and back 50s on the pyramid.  I had a fun line of fakie flip the mellow bank, grind the side of the a-frame, kickflip to fakie the bank, switch front nose the ledge.  Then I tried kf to fakie with switch nose shove and couldn’t get the shove.  Thanks for filming that Neil.  Rob got going at some point and had some nice crooks, back 50s, front tails on the bank to curb.  Cass had some front tails and 50s on it too.  I took to long to do a halfcab flip on the mellow bank.  Man I know so much more went down, but it’s been a few days and I’m exhausted from so much skating and fun with friends.  

After some tacos we went to Edwards park.  I’m not sure the last time I was there, but it’s before I started my journal in 2008 so it’s a really long time!  My body was toast, I didn’t think anything would happen.  But Dave back 180’d up the euro right away and Rob was on the ledge and back 180’ing off right away.  Neil would get that too.  I couldn’t ollie onto the ledge with my sore legs.  Rob would go on to nose manual it!  Dave was 50’ing around the rounded part and did no comply shove out.  Rob got up the euro.  I got front 180 up the euro, switch front nose the ledge, fakie flip on flat.  The dudes chilled while I tried a line that took way too long.  Halfcab noseslide the concrete barrier ledge by the bowl up top then kickflip up the euro.  I was bummed on how badly I struggled with halfcab noseslides, but man the line felt good when I did finally get it.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null spanbauer dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, 52mm spitfire 99a tablets, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 so tough to get the body working)

After a pleasant drive we ended up at a very windy new skatepark none of us had been to before, Gypsum.  And man it looked awesome and was indeed really fun.  Oh actually Cass has been there before.  It was pretty chill, not a lot of people.  An old guy crew from Telluride that stuck mostly to the bowl.  A couple road tripping from Utah and the dude was slaying the park.  Out of the gates Rob had slappy crook and back 50s on the bank to curb.  I got a few noseslides on the pyramid that were really fun, one of which almost went the distance.  I got a couple crooks that were no where near the whole ledge.  I couldn’t get a b/s flip after though.  Jeff arrived.  He started doing really good b/s ollies over the hip and followed with nollie b/s flip.   Neil had tried to get it going, but the body wasn’t working.  Cass got a back 50 over the pyramid, I think kickflip over the f/s hip.  We skated the basketball court section for a bit.  Cass did kickflip to fakie first try, I got it second try which felt good after the battle the day before.  I also got b/s flip on it.  Jeff got nollie front heel.  I think people chilled a lot, I was kind of just going non-stop, just doing basics and having fun lining them out.  One of my fav lines was something like bump to noseslide the low area, kickflip to fakie the mellow bank, switch nose jib the ledge, quick up to little boardslide, turn around then crooks the ledge.  I tried to manual the deck of the qp in the basketball court section for way too long and came up empty handed.  Jeff on the other hand did kickflip nose manual!  Rob had a second wind and did several crail/no comply related tricks on the bank.  Cass did a really good front blunt on the loaf curb which I missed, but he got another good one.  

(setup 5/10 8.25 null spanbauer dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, 52mm spitfire 99a tablets, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Nice day, pretty warm.  Picked up Neil, Rob and Dave and we rolled to the plaza park in Greeley.  We would meet Sean, Joe, Garrett, hardflip Joe, Donnie and Richard!  With this line up it is obviously impossible to remember everything.  I’ll say Rob quickly did manual followed by back 50 180 and did a really cool drop down 50 to bank ride.  Joe boardslide the long downhill rail, did all his tricks on the ledges.  Garrett 270 flip the hip, treflips up the euro.  Hardflip Joe did barefoot hardflips and fakie barefoot skiers.  Donnie some cool wallrides on the sculptures.  Neil was doing his thing quickly, manuals, nose manuals, no comply up the 2, wallie the barrier.  Dave back 180’d up the euro so easily and would go on to switch front shove it up it too, as well as destroy the park in general, kickflips to fakie, fakie ollie the bank to ride on grind the bench.  I got overly frustrated and I don’t even remember why.  I think taking too long to kickflip up the euro.  Had some noseslides on the upper part of the ledge, 180 up switch front nose off going ultra slow, one accidental front 5-0 on the main ledge, couldn’t do a slow treflip.  Sean shut the park down with some fast 5-0 combos and kickflip up to nollie back nosegrind 180 that was nuts.  

Then we ended up at Peak View which was unexpectedly chill and we almost had it to ourselves.  We were beat, lost most of the crew.  It was Joe, Donnie, Neil, Rob, Dave and I.  Dave skated some of his best I’ve ever seen.  Feeble transfers the spine, sweepers the qp, 5-0s the diamond cut hip, b/s flip the hip, nollies into the bank, stalefish boneless.  Donnie did more crazy high speed lines to metal sculpture rides.  After a second try bigflip on the bank I thought I was in for a good session.  Instead I spent an hour trying kickflips to fakie on the bank and almost lost my shit trying.  I stuck with it and somehow my board handled all the cry baby throwing and ended on a good note getting noseslide 270 shove, a slow front 50 on the bench and a flatground treflip. Rob had frontside grinds the diamond cut, no complies on the bank, some ledge moves.  Neil ollied onto the bench and back 180 off, I’m blanking.  Joe admitted he was tired, but still did a lot of his tricks on the bench, kickflip to fakie the bank, halfcab flip on the bank. 

(setup 8.5 w/thunders first park then switched to 8.25/slaces at 2nd park new 440v2 black/gum shoes)
(pain level 6/10)

Out on a nice but breezy day we met at dog food park.  It was Joe, Neil, Rob and I meeting Garrett, Cass and Kyle.  Kyle was going in on huge wallride yank ins and got frontside and to fakie.  Cass casually front 50 to fakie the qp ledge gap.  Neil was popping on the the ledge and riding into tailslide, boardslides, a bunch of stuff.  Joe went in on a line to kickflip on the bank that took him forever, but he won the battle.  I kept it mellow just kind of dorking around.  Had a little nosejib to fakie the ledge into a bank, a tiny switch front board in honor of the Jam shirt I was wearing.  Rob put in some good boardslides, b/s ollies on the bank.  Garrett had some good front noseslides.  

Then we went to the nearby bank to ledge which was much harder to skate than it looks.  Rob kicked it off with a noseslide.  Kyle was flying over it and slamming hard.  Cass did several front noseslide shoves.  Garrett had kickflip over, wallie over, slappy crooks to fakie and slappy crook transfer.  I took forever to get a noseslide to fakie that felt so easy and mostly unrewarding when I did it.  Joe battled front rock even longer and would win.  Neil had a super sick boardslide transfer and the funniest fall of the session on a no comply to tail.  

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Then we went to a nearby plaza.  I did the little boardslide to fakie then switch front noseslide which was fun, but when I tried to line it out with an ollie down a 2 stair I snapped my tail.  Doh!  Kyle did kickflip up a ledge to nollie bigspin over a trash can whoa.  Garrett did some good crook jibs, back tail, halfcab noseslides and halfcab crooks.  Joe had some of his basics on the ledges.  

Then we went to a nearby abandoned warehouse.  Cops rolled in and were like “Oh, you’re just skating, no worries then have fun”.  Awesome!  Kyle front 50d a death gap a million times and had a ride on 5-0 kickflip out.  Joe worked the ledge game and then battled front lip to 50 to shove and took a bad slam in the process.  Neil was popping up and down and around and manualling, kickflipping over a hole in the ground, one foots down the gap, so good.  Cass did a ride on grind and then front noseslide shove that was amazing.  Rob had some no comply shoves and ride on grinds as well as some boardslides and noseslides I think.  I had a terrible slam on a flatground fakie flip which I blame on inadvertently changing my setup due to the broken tail.  Had some fun switch ollies over the little hole and switch ride on grinds halfcab out, some fun crooks, couldn’t front 50, tried several kickflip 50s that were somewhat close and a few treflip noseslides which were not even remotely close.  Garret did some kickflip manuals and manual to switch crooks.  Fun session even if we all slammed hard.

(setups 8.5 with thunder which broke then 8.25 with slaces)
(pain level 4/10)

After Jake earned the new nickname “Generous Jake” buying us breakfast we went to dog park and got the skating started.  Neil hadn’t slept on his overnight flight, but that didn’t stop him from totally shredding.  Pop shove up, front shove off the pad, cabs over parking blocks, one foots off the grate kicker, front 50s, noseslides, nose manuals, 180s all in long lines that were amazing.  Rob had nose manual then no comply manual.  Jake skated the ledges for a while and then went in on front smith the barrier then tried to back it with blunt fakie but never got it. Jake also had an early on ‘Joe Hamilton’ that hyped the session.  I had some struggles, but got a few kickflips onto the pad and a questionable ollie over the orange cone off the grate.  Cass did a front shove back 50 which he had never done before amongst many good front noseslides, back 50s, 5-0s.  I know I am missing a ton, but it was a fun session.

Then we went to the wood research area which took some figuring out before we got going.  Neil was of course first to get up on it and would get some really good lines.  Up, up, ollie.  Up, noseslide fakie, cab off.  Up, front 50.  Joe got some splinters bailing ollies up which kind of set him back.  I was surprised I was getting up the ledge at all.  Had some fun noseslides and a couple kickflips off, a crooks with a 180 off.  Then we went around the corner to the tall area where Joe battled a boardslide transfer up then switch ride on grind halfcab out.  Sounds cool huh?  It was.  Then we got food, did a little hike and called it a session.

(setup 4/10 8.25 null jack dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, 52mm yellow f4 99a spitfire classics, new balance numeric 440v2 wide grey size 11.5 currex run pro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After Joe drove 8+ hours we chilled for all of 15 minutes before heading to skate.  We chose campus First spot was the new ledge where Joe did a front 50 and I did a switch front nose.  Then we went down to the business area and ended up having a good time for quite a while.  I don’t really remember the sequence of things well, but we started with some rock ‘n rolls on the wood to metal bank which is not in the best of shape anymore.  Then down to some boardslides and checking things out mostly settled in on lines with stalls on the 3 stair.  Joe had front 50s, front 50 shove on the ledge.  My best line was noseslide going uphill, kickflip axle stall lunch break, front nose jib to fakie.  Joe worked for front board a wood bench then wallride the slightly banked wall.  I worked up to boardslide the wood bench and didn’t land a treflip.  Then some lines to boardslide the curb.  I did fakie bigflip and halfcab flip into the slight downhill.  The halfcab flip I followed it with boardslide the curb then randomly went up to noseslide the wood bench and it was a really fun line.  Joe would get shoves and kickflip in.  Oh, and he one downed me with a fakie bigspin.  Then we went to the new ledge again.  Joe went to work on 50s then front smiths.  I for some reason thought it would be a good idea to ride off a tall ledge which took some painful bails.  Then I watched Joe try front smith 180 until a CU police lady walked right into Joe grinding and me pointing the phone at him.  Ha ha.  She was cool though.  We called it a night after I showed Joe the flagstone ledge and he quick 50’d it.

( setup 4/10 8.25 null jack dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.25, 52mm yellow f4 99a spitfire classics, new balance numeric 440v2 wide grey size 11.5 currex run pro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)