Feeling kind of out of it I went out to the garage remotely thinking about varial heels and nollie varial flips.  I did a few warm up kickflips, slammed on a fakie flip, did a few other tricks then went in on varial heels.  I tried for 25 minutes.  I landed the one other one, but put the hand down and didn’t want to count it.  I was so close so often, but to actually land it was hard.  And when it finally did it felt kind of lucky.  I was hyped though.  I listened to Dinosaur Jr Give A Glimpse yet again.  That album seriously rules. 

(setup 8″ null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 high red cast baseplate v-hollow hanger, venom 91a bushings flat roadside washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint elite mid insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

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!)

On a pretty nice day I had enough of work and went for a lunch break. After 3 days off I felt like going with the 8.5 setup. Maybe my goal will be to skate less and have the energy and pop to skate the bigger board. Or just not skate much at all because it’s so darn painful during the winter. Even when it’s warm up. Anyway, I felt rusty and less motivated than I had hoped after a few days off. I blame work mostly, it’s been way too stressful. I had an alright time though. Did some slappies, slappy crooks. A few slow flippers. Kickflip, fakie flip, b/s flip, heelflip, a f/s flip that was maybe legit and an incredibly slow 360 flip that made me happy. I also did a switch front 50 on the curb.

(setup null 8.5 plant life, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8, venom 88a bushings, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 blue/gum size 11.5, nb# abzorb insoles)
(pain level 5/10 knees don’t like me)

Another beautiful day so I skipped out for a very short lunch break to get some slappies in.  I hadn’t done a lot of exercises so I was kind of stiff.  Slamming into the curbs helped to get the legs moving.  I was on the 8.25 setup.  It wasn’t the best slappy session, but still fun.  Had some fun front and back slappies, took a bit to get front crook.  Tried switch front 50s and got into a few, but didn’t land it.  Got on switch slappy crook.  Ended with a front slappy.

Then after dinner I met up with Mike and Skelly then Garrett at Broomfield park.  It was pretty nice out and the park wasn’t very crowded.  Warming up was tougher than I thought it would be.  I had done lots of exercises.  Skating earlier I had worn the 288s and for this I went back to the 306s.  They hurt as the shoes and Nike insoles have gotten really thin.  Anyway, Mike and Skelly were mostly hitting the blue wedge area.  Skelly had a pretty good slam right away hanging up on the edge.  Ouch.  He would go on to get front shove to fakie also a quick ollie on then ollie off the side.  Mike was slappying the bottom curb somehow even though it’s oververt.  I was kind of all over.  I 180’d up the black ledge which made me kind of happy.  That was about the time Garrett showed up.  He had a line pretty quickly that was amazing.  Front 50 up the escalator ledge, back tail black ledge,front tail 270 shove the black ledge.  Also treflip into the bank.  I struggled with front 50s and it made me mad.  I switched to my 8″ setup because I couldn’t get the halfcab flip on the bank.  I still struggled with it, but would end up landing it.  I did several of the switch noseslide shoves.  I had some alright crooks on the 8″ setup, but not so much the 8.25.  Mike had some good front noseslides on the black ledge.  Skelly did some little front slashes on the brick qp, but they were really rad.  I slammed boardsliding the little rail, but would go on to get it a few times.  I got really close to a halfcab heel noseslide.  Flip tricks weren’t going very well.  I think mostly because my shoes were so thin I was afraid to commit.  Which of course just hurts more.  Justin was there ripping.  As Garrett tried the manual combo I hucked flip tricks.  Couldn’t get a treflip.  Decent night, I tried hard. Fun crew.  

(setup 8.25/8 nulls / ventures 288s/306s blah not worth all the details since I switch all the time)
(pain level 4/10)

On a cold night I went to Frederick around 7.  There weren’t a whole lot of people when I arrived and it would thin out quickly.  But to my surprise Skelly was there!  I haven’t seen him in forever and it was great seeing him.  Also Fuller, Big Mike and after a while Garrett and a surprise Derek Yale sighting!  That was awesome too.  Warming up wasn’t so easy in the cold.  Dave was going in on the yellow curb.  I was kind of all over initially.  I really like how you can push at this park.  I had some okay stuff somewhat quickly.  Noseslide the bump to box, kickflip over the hump frontside, kickflip on the bank, b/s flip the upper hip.  Mike had a cool boardslide around the yellow curb.  Skelly with steezy ollies and halfcab board transfer.  Dave did a first try slappy front crooks to fakie and then switch slappy crooks too!  Wowsers.  I got a weak slappy front crook.  I was riding the 8.3, the bushings in it quickly froze making for a weird skate.  I hucked tricks over the hump, but didn’t land much.  At one point I was going near the qp and someone yelled Glen!  I recognized the voice immediately, but didn’t see who it was and turned around and it was Derek!  So stoked.  Caught up with him then we fought off the cold by skating.  He still has his quick light footed manual style and it was great to see.  I would get a fun line for me.  Front 180 into the bank by the yellow curb, switch front 180 fly out, noseslide the narrow ledge, finally ollie up the euro (can’t believe it took me so many tries because it was so easy when I finally committed).  After that I didn’t really land much.  Garrett made some hard tricks look really easy, but he didn’t get the front nose.  Ha.  Front smith on the box was sick.  Garrett and I played a frozen game of SKATE to end it.  I would only land front shove, kickflip, fakie flip, heel flip and fakie big flip.  At least I got one letter on him with fakie bigflip.  He get me with nollie flip, janoski flip, switch flip, halfcab flip and ended me with switch heel.  I was close though!  Fun night.  I didn’t get as tech as I wanted, but I did at least do a few new things and it was a really fun crew.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium hanger with cast baseplate, venom 90a bushings no boardside washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 306 navy size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Went out to the street on a lunch break around 3 on a gorgeous day.   After some recent issues flipping into back 50s or sketchy heelflips I decided to skate my 8″ setup.  It took a little getting used to, but it is crazy how quickly my body remembers 10 years of skating 8s.  It was probably 10 minutes before I started trying flip tricks.  Kickflip and fakie flip were quick.  The next trick I landed was fs halfcab heel.  Then halfcab flip, heelflip.  Took a bit for fakie bigflip, but it was the first one I’ve got in awhile.  I did two halfcab heels in a row at one point.  I’ve been trying to get that trick better in hopes of getting it to noseslide.  I got a third one too and landed a treflip after that!  Almost got nollie tre after that which would have made for my techest line ever.  Got b/s flip.  Was not close to switch or nollie flip.  Close to nollie varial and fakie varial flips.  Then I needed to get back into work and was getting pretty sore anyway.  I liked the 8″.  After how bad I’ve been skating ledges lately anyway I kind of don’t want to pretend anymore the bigger board helps with ledges.  

(setup old 8″ null logo deck, jessup grip, venture 5.2 v-hollow, bones medium bushings, old bones stf v2 51mm, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, es energy foam insoles)
(pain level 3/10 i’ve been realizing that as much as i love those nike insoles they have gotten too thin to use with the 212s)

On the way home from my mom’s I stopped at the Leadville park. There was only one other dude there, but he had his wife and 3 kids and they managed to hog the park well. Like the wife would sit on a ledge to film him, the youngest kids would climb on something and then an older one would scooter or skate around. I thought they were nice at least, until the dude literally started trying whatever I was trying. That’s when I got annoyed. Well I guess I was already annoyed. I had felt good playing disk golf with my brother earlier in the morning, but as soon as I stepped out of the car to skate my right knee felt terrible. It’s that lovely arthritic pain that comes with wind and cold. Ugh. I had changed my setup on the road too. I swapped out the Thunder 151s for Venture 6.1s. Not necessarily by choice, but I wasn’t feeling the Thunders and I used some old 5.8 Ventures as completes for my brothers kids. The first few ollies felt so solid it was crazy the difference in pop. That didn’t equate to good skating though. I had a couple kickflips on the hump, noseslide and noseslide to fakie the bump to ledge, almost nose manual the curb. Was trying a line of ollie to fakie on a bank, halfcab noseslide the little ledge then crooks the bump to ledge. But I never got the crook. I may have settled for noseslide. The 6.1s felt very heavy. I tried to do switch 180 down the drop up top then ollie up, but couldn’t get the ollie up. This is when daddy hero came over and did halfcabs down it. I suggested he had to get the ollie up to make it count so of course he did that first try and looked at me confused that I couldn’t do it. Sorry dude I’m 20 years older and my arthritis has my knee all locked up. This session was one of those ‘maybe I don’t really like this park that much after all’ sessions. I rolled around aimlessly for awhile then got back on the road.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 6.1 stock bushings, 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 5/10 arthritis sucks and takes away any confidence)

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)

In my head for quite some time I’ve thought I wanted an 8.5 with a smaller wheelbase. I can’t change the board dimensions, but I do have control over which trucks I skate. I put some old Ace 44s on a 8.5 Lazer deck. The board was shot, cracked and very old so I don’t know how accurate this test was. I started with slappies. They didn’t go so well except for front slappies felt great. After taking several tries to kickflip I went to the side of the school for flatground. It was a different experience to say the least. I could tell the wheelbase was smaller, but it didn’t equate to easier flip tricks. In fact I didn’t really land much of anything. I went up to the rock in the back and could barely frontside axle stall on it. I really thought I was going to like this setup. I was able to kickflip and fakie flip well, had a first try heelflip but then could not do another one. I think I was 0-20 on halfcab flips although I didn’t have the normal problem I do with them. Not close to treflips either which was the main reason I tried this setup. At the time I was optimistic about the setup, but as I write this and digest the session it makes me want to go back to a smaller board and low trucks. Argh.

(setup 8.5″ old null lazer deck, ace 44s with doh doh/venom bushings, old 51mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10 although i got tired quickly)

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)