After work on a very hot Tuesday I stopped by the dog park with about an hour to skate. When I first got there only a couple people were skating. Withing a few minutes though another 10 or so people showed and all were skating hard. It was the first time I was annoyed with the crowds. Everyone there was around 20. The bigger board felt big, but it felt right. I struggled with lots of basics. About the only positives were that I had some okay back 50s on the low part of the black box, nollie back tails the little narrow ledge. I struggled with front 50 on the bench, halfcab noseslide the bench, crooks the tall part of the black box. I ended by finally ollieing over the wallie barrier without any wheel bonk. Then I went home for dinner and saw my friends were skating Glenn Close. 🙁

(setup 8.5 Null Lazer deck, venture trucks 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger , venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones 52mm stf sidecuts wheels, new balance numeric 379 b/w size 12, currex runpro medium arch insole )
(pain level 5/10 all of a sudden my right knee hurts bad again ugh)

After some basketball and hanging with my brothers family Ollie and I hit the skatepark. No one else was there.  The park is mostly terrible, but it’s surrounded by ledges. This makes it better than most parks. I was feeling somewhat hungover from partying with my brother and I had a new smaller setup. A new 8.25 board and old small ventures. Yes, I brought extra stuff with me on vacation because I anticipated this change. I couldn’t halfcab noseslide the long ledge. Settled on a line of kickflip to fakie, halfcab flip, noseslide, sweeper. Took a bit. Ollie filmed it. I was very happy with how easily the board was flipping. I had messed around with other stuff too, but not much. Did the ol’ boneless rail transfer too. Ollie did the fakie shove. That was about all he did.

(setup 8.25 Null Lazer deck, venture 5.2 v-hollow trucks , venom 91a bushings, bones stf v1 53mm wheels, 2 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

After a long day of work I got out to the curbs with about 10 minutes of sunlight left. I had put that 8.75″ deck back on. The reasoning is that I really did like it before, but I blamed it for my sucking rather than the arthritis flare up. I still felt sore. I did a few slappies, slappy crooks, enjoyed how much easier switch 180 was off the curb cut, one front 5-0, that was about it. Oh yeah, I had a new pair of 212s. This time in size 12. They felt pretty large, but comfy.

(setup 8.75″ null event horizon deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels with 3 speed washers on the inside axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 5/10 knees)

After a 5 hour drive from Pagosa then a quick nap I went right to skating. Oh, well I mean after a setup change of course since the previous session was so bad. I put an old 8.25″ deck on and lower forged baseplates. I got to a dry Southern Hills around 6 and skated for a little over an hour. I had very little confidence and skated poorly the whole time. A warm up run felt okay. Noseslide a bench, kickflip on flat, front 50 the low stair, boardslide another bench. Also did some crooks, noseslide to fakie, back 50s the step. Oh yeah, I had worn some 212s as my 379s had a hole I didn’t have time to fix. They felt good. Then it was time to try front 50. Never got one. Not even close really. I got onto the ledge a couple times, but it was pretty miserable. I did get a halfcab noseslide at least, maybe a quick switch crook turn around on the step. I focused my old board and left.

(setup 8.25″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s v-lights, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10 still some sharp knee pain and no confidence whatsoever)

On a cold night I headed out around 7:30 to skate. Seeing as how I had switched between 8.25 and 8.5 I put an old 8.38 deck on. I had also taken off the bottom washer on my trucks to loosen them up a little. So once again everything felt different, but it was in a good way. I started out on the top area at the bottom of the Max G rail. I skated it different than I have before. I ollied up one set then tried a stall trick on the next curb. I got a front 50 pretty quick, but going up backside was hard. I must say the Sour video is incredibly motivating and making me want to try new stuff. I got a really sketchy line of ollie up, nollie back tail, then no comply 270 to tail on the next set of stairs, then wallie nollie, then a wee little ollie over the sidewalk bump, ollie up the curb, kind of did a crooks, but I ran back into the ledge and sat on it. Pretty fun line. Then I skated the ledge area for awhile trying lines. Ollie up the curb, kickflip, terrible back 50 (but still a back 50 and I really want to get that trick back) go across the road and ollie up onto the manhole thing to quick ollie the tiny gap to the sidewalk then front 180 off. Sounds like a long run, but luckily there is no documentation of it. I got quite a few crooks. Got a line of front 180 up the curb, fakie shove, halfcab noseslide then bailed a flip trick. Going uphill is hard there. I got a front 50 pretty quick, but could never quite get another one. My legs had gotten tired. I couldn’t heelflip. I ended with a crooks like I always do there.

(setup 8.38 null atomic cowboy deck, venture ftc 5.8s, venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels with all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 379 tan size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Went to Squarehouse on a cold and snowy night. It was adult night, but there were a couple kids still skating and would throughout the night. They were cool at least. Saul showed up right after me. So did hardflip Joe which was cool. We mostly had the park to us for awhile until later when some college kids showed. I had put together a bigger setup again. Sigh. The trucks were so loose. My first run on the minramp was terrible, I bailed an axle stall. I would have thought the bigger setup would feel better than that. Saul was getting some long grinds in. I messed around with some ledge warmups for a bit. The bigger board felt good for noseslides and crooks, bad for front 50s. I managed crooks, switch noseslide shove, front 50 shove. All going super slow and feeling awkward. Saul was doing sick slappies. I slipped out and slammed into the wall. Argh. We skated the euro for a bit. Saul got ollie up. So rad. I got a kickflip which was fun, somewhat close to a first try bs flip. Joe was doing quick up to ledge tricks right behind were Saul goes. He got back tail and back nosegrind 180. So sick. I almost sacked trying to noseslide the second one. Argh. It was fun trying though. I kind of got a front nosegrind on the little black ledge, but it had the outro bonk. I couldn’t get kickflip to fakie on the mellow bank, but I did get b/s flip first try. That was about it for me. I left quite tired and depressed. I don’t skate how I wish I could and it seems to be getting worse lately. Maybe it’s winter, maybe it’s just me.

(setup 8.38 null atomic cowboy deck, venture ftc 5.8s v-lights, venom 88a bushings, no washers inside the axles, 51mm bones sft pj v1 wheels, lakai sheffield grey size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

I took 3 days off of skating! Unbelievable right? My cold had gotten worse and I wasn’t up for it. But I got the urge and was feeling better. I went in the garage not wanting to ollie much or try flippers. I just kind of started posing front shove nosegrinds on the plastic 2×10. I got into a bunch but they wouldn’t grind. It was still fun. Maybe someday I’ll try it moving on a real ledge. I had put Venture lows back on. It felt great. Like a return to the one truck I actually do really enjoy. Maybe I’ll just stay there for awhile and forget about the big board trend.

(setup 8.25 null lazer deck, venture awake 5.2 lows with forged baseplate, 92a doh doh bushings, 3 speed washers on the inside of each axle, 51mm bones stf v1 pj wheels, adidas 3st.003 navy size 12 stock insoles)
(pain level 0/10 from not skating for 3 days .. hmm .. maybe i should do that more)

On a cool day I went to Rocky Mtn Elem to meet up with Dave and maybe others. Riley ended up staying at Longmont park, but Sean joined us. I got there first and wow warming up was not easy. I was on the smaller setup and stayed on it. Dave showed next and the temperature was getting warmer in the sun. I was feeling energetic and hucking a lot. It brought me back to 10 or so years ago when I skated there with an 8″ deck. But it ended up not really translating to me landing tricks. I had a front 50 and a crooks on the ledge, that was about it. I hucked a few of the kickflips over the little brick median which I haven’t done in like 12 years. As you can see I got close, but no cigar. I had a really bad slam on a rock before ollieing up a curb. It hurt so bad. I was 1/3 on halfcab flips so struggling there too. Dave was ripping doing lines, lots of tricks on the banks. Boneless, 270 manuals, nollie 270 onto it, pop shoves, boardslides on the rock. Sean was rips. His line took him awhile, but man it’s so sick. He also said he couldn’t slappy then did several perfectly and told us he’d never really do it before. We all skated the bank to slide thing for awhile. I was struggling with the ollie up. All I got was a couple boardslides down and some nose/tail jibs. Dave had the sick pivot, was trying front 50s, 180 up the curb to fakie tailslide, front boards down. Sean had the super casual ollie up, front board down, front board to fakie, back tail stall, back tail to manual for the ender! Then we played a game of SKATE. I like ending on a game of SKATE, but about half way through my legs shut down. I remember Sean doing a good fakie 3 shove. Dave got out first and had to leave. Sean ended me with a cab bigspin. Fun day. I didn’t land much, but man we skated hard and man I was so sore afterwards.

(setup old 8″ null, venture 5.2 v-hollow high trucks, 50mm bones stf, 3 speed washers on the inside of each axle to make it feel a little wider, bones medium bushings, lakai sheffield gray size 12, thinnish lakai rubbery insoles from bristols)
(pain level 6/10)

After a chill drive down from mountains I met up with Dave and Jake at the dog park. It was a cold day, not even 30 degrees. Dave was there before Jake and I. Dave was already doing front boards to fakie on the shorter ledge and front shoves. I was wearing the City Cups again and as comfy as they are the board feel is pretty bad. I didn’t feel comfy with kickflips. Jake and I got in a mode of trying flip trick then ollie the bench. It took Jake 3 tries to ollie it so that tells me it’s kind hard. I was really struggling with a flip trick so it took me longer to get there. I was rotating between heelflip, halfcab flip and maybe a couple others. I did finally get a sketchy ollie over it after a halfcab flip. I either kinda wallied it or manualled it, I’m not sure, but I made it over and it was cold out so I counted it. Oh yeah, I had setup an 8.25 since I had focused my 8.5 the last time I skated. Dave was trying front 50 body varial out. He was going fast when he did it. He had a front 180 out too that looked good. We changed the ledge to face the other way. Dave got the front 50 body varial. Jake was doing front 5-0, front tail, died on a fakie back tail. I got a treflip on flat, couldn’t do halfcab crooks. I’m not feeling these big wheels. Dave did the crazy board transfer then fakie sex change 2nd try. So sick! Jake left. Dave and I played a game of SKATE. It took awhile. I landed on Dave’s pop shove body varial, but didn’t ride out. I forget a lot of the other tricks right now, but it was SKAT-SKAT. I think I won, but I can’t even remember what the last trick was. I blame the cold as it had dropped as it was getting dark. Fun day though, I was super hyped on ollieing the bench and getting a treflip.

(setup null 8.25 lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel bottom one, yellow 92a small top one), no washers inside each axle, spitfire f4 99a radial 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels, adidas city cup b/w size 11, stock insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

On a cool night in the low 30s I hit campus for a bit. I started with slappy crooks on the meetup curb then moved over to this area I’ve skated a couple times. I had put a bigger board on again. I went for a line that took awhile. Ollie up the first step (oval area in the back middle of the photo), then ollie up the next step, come around front 50 the 2nd stair on the leftish stairs, ollie up a curb, then down a 3. It took a long time, but I did get the 3 stair ollie the first time I got there. I took a few tries to ollie the long two. Then I spent way too long trying a front tail on the ledge in the front left. See how dark it is? Yeah, it was hard to see.

(setup null 8.5 perception deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel bottom one, yellow 92a small top one), no washers inside each axle, spitfire f4 99a radial 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels, new balance numeric 345 black/white size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10 feet are begging for a cupsole)