On a nice Saturday morning I went to dog park. I haven’t been too motivated by dog park lately but I think now that I can ollie more again it maybe I will again. It ended up being a really fun session, some of the best I’ve felt on my board in months. I took way too long to write this entry though and forget a lot of it. I was happy to get a few kickflips off the kicker and a front 50 front 180 out on the little ledge. I had some more dog park traditional moves like crooks and stuff. I couldn’t get a treflip or kickflip up onto the pad though. Bratcher, Jesse, Dan, Ferg, Scotty, Paul, everyone was ripping. Jesse first try pop shove tailgrab over the grate was nuts. Haven’t seen Paul skate in a while, he’s still got lots of moves. Watching Dan skate is always a treat. Radley was there ripping too. Bratcher had some cool pole rides, slappies and a lot more. It was a really fun session, best I’ve felt on my board in a while. Would have liked to have gotten a treflip though. I was trying them in lines after kickflips off the side of the grate. Oh I also had some halfcab noseslides on the bench which might not seem like anything, but they are hard for me.

(setup 6/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow bones medium bushings, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic, es swift b/w size 12 with spenco 3/4 thinsole orthotics)
(pain level 3/10!)

Before dinner I went over to the school hoping the side was clear of snow. It kind of was, but I had to clear some out and it would dry quick. I had a slight setup change, ace lows instead of highs. It flipped rather nicely but I can’t say I was totally sold. I would get several kickflips, some fakie flips, couple halfcab and b/s flips, couple slow f/s halfcab flips, a floppy varial flip. Couldn’t quite get f/s halfcab heel, heelflip or treflip. Argh. At the end I went up and saw this snow pile which I ollied in a few tries. It’s been so long since I ollied over anything, I do love having some random snow piles to ollie in winter.

(setup 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, ace 44 lows hard bushings, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12 remind medic insoles)
(pain level 5/10 probably should have taken a day off skating though)

Met up with Cass at Broomfield, did some shoveling/squeegeeing for a while, then went to look at this bank spot but it was covered in snow. Some driving later we ended up back at Broomfield which had dried up quite a bit. We put in a little more effort then were able to skate the lower part without issue really. Darin showed up as we were getting warmed up. Cass was kind of ripping. Back 50s, hardflips, fakie back tail. Darin had his moves and made himself do a treflip pretty quickly. I didn’t land much of anything other than a halfcab noseslide and fakie 50 for quite a while. I was getting quite upset, but then had to reset and just make myself do more basics. Ollied up on the black box then did some accidental 5-0s on the blue. Got a crooks and a 5-0. Switch front nose then switch back nose shove. So it didn’t end up being the worst session, but I definitely wasn’t happy. Especially with how I couldn’t do flip tricks to save my life even on a smaller setup.

(setup 3/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, ace 44, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12 remind cush impact insole)
(pain level 5/10 pretty sore)

On an incredibly nice afternoon I ran a couple errands and then went in search of dry spots. I ended up at the double micro hip. The f/s hip is steeper than it looks on video, but still a glorified crack hip. I had put together a new setup with ventures and loved it at this spot. I think I did my first 5 kickflips so easily. Also had some solid feeling stalls on the curb. Again, it doesn’t look like a slant but I came somewhat close to a front tail to back 270 shove to fakie out. Then I went in on the wallride nollie which took way longer than it should. Then I took a while to fakie bigspin the hip before a few b/s flips that didn’t take too long or look too good. Then the halfcab flip which took like 30 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. The setup was a little weird having to curve around, but still, ridiculous and yet somewhat rewarding. I guess it just feels good to try hard again even if it’s tricks I used to have on lock.

Then I went to Platte middle school. The good flatground on the side of the school was still snowed in, but the manny pads were dry. I forgot how much I hate those pads, the cracks kill me. Initially I could barely ollie onto the pads and I was so angry and hating my setup. Eventually I would get a nose manual and then much later a regular manual or two which may have had some tilts. Pathetic. I went over to the 3 stair which luckily had some runoff preventing me from trying to ollie up it. I really wanted to ollie down it first try, but instead it took like 8 tries and I once again was annoyed with my lack of confidence and how massive my setup felt. I was happy that I skated as hard as I did though.

(setup 4/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, null grip, venture 5.8 v-cast/titanium with bones medium bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, es swift b/s size 12 with spenco 3/4 thinsoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After the snow stopped falling there were some dry patches where it had been plowed so I went searching. Ended up out on Arapahoe and had some good decent flatground a curb and a wet ledge. I hadn’t setup a new 8.5/14.25 board so instead I just brought a couple setups with Aces on them. Meh. I compared the two but mostly skated the 8.25. Did a few stalls on the curbs and managed one fakie back tail. I tried a line of halfcab flip, treflip, b/s flip. Never got the treflip. Wasn’t even really close or fully committed. Did some axle stalls. Would end up getting a few halfcab flips, close to fakie front heel. For the most part though flip tricks seem impossible these days. Kickflipping up the curb was mental battle. Also, ace trucks with 53mm wheels do not flip well. But the wheels did ride through the huge cracks before the bump to ledge pretty well. Kinda weird calling it a setup change because had I known it was going to dry up I would have setup a new board.

(setup 2/10 8.25 pmg ace 44s 53mm pjs es swift 12 with spenco 3/4 thinsoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After a cold morning doing PT I met up with Cass and Jake at a crowded Cushing skatepark. Jake’s back was hurting so we mostly just skated the micro halfpipe. Jake did his front and back blunts, switch blunt, almost sugarcane and more I’m forgetting. Cass and I had similar front 50s. He had some front 5-0s, tail. I had some disasters and the little revert tricks. It’s a really fun area. Did a couple of noseslides on the ledge. It’s funny to me how the switch front nose still gets love from others. Got a crooks that didn’t come easy. Cass may have gotten kickflip up the hip or b/s flip the hip.

Then we went to Merrill school which I hadn’t been to in a few years. The asphalt has taken a beating, but it was still run. Initially I was really sore and lacking confidence and didn’t think I would do anything. Cass got a good kickflip over the hip and I eventually got a really slow kickflip that didn’t go over the mound. Cass then did a really good hardflip which we are saving. I setup the cam for my b/s flip and tried to add fakie bigflip but didn’t really get it. Cass came really close to treflip. Then I started lining it out and it was really fun. The line is just a few basic tricks, but after not being able to really try tricks the last couple of months it felt so great to try hard and link a few tricks. Really fun session.

(setup 9/10 generator 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, thunder team hollow 149 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, vans wayvee white size 12 spenco 3/4 thinsole orthotic and 272 insoles)
(pain level 4/10 started slow from all the ollies the day before but really it feels amazing to try real tricks again)

After getting lots of ghost pop lately I tried a different setup. Indys. It was below freezing and the slappy curb was wet. So I ended up at the rock area. I did a very easy feeling front axle stall on the rock first try and though wow this board has pop. But then I tried kickflips and ollieing onto the rock for quite a while. I did a slow kickflip before everyone of these ollies. I may look bummed, but I was pretty happy that my knee was letting me try so hard. I would never quite get the ollie up onto the rock, but I did get like 30 kickflips.

(setup generator blank 8.5/14.25, indy forged hollow 149 with royal bushings, orange spitfire f4 53mm 99a classics, vans wayvee white size 12 with spenco 3/4 thinsole orthotic and 272 insole)
(pain level 3/10)

After a very long work week I went over to the school. I had gone to PT and she said it would be okay if I started jumping a little. I started at the oval curb area and really struggled to even axle stall. Yikes. Ended up on the side of the school and took about 20 tries to do a slappy crook then kickflip. Yikes. I was happy to kickflip, but unhappy about how hard it was. I went home feeling very saddened by how hard skateboarding was and wondering if I’ll get anything back.

(setup 5/10 8.5 generator 14.25, jessup ultra, venture 5.8 titanium with bones medium bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 600 knox black/gum size 12 spenco orthotic thinsole)
(pain level 6/10 of course my knee seemed to hurt more now that I was cleared to skate)

After working in the office I went to Valmont park after and met Dave. Well, he was at dog park initially and needed very little convincing to go over to Valmont. It wasn’t crowded. I had a big board that felt ridiculous, but was kind of fun to cruise on. Dave was shredding. Front tail the volcano, manuals, front rock the weird rainbow qp, grinds over it, nollie back 180 over the hip, blunt to pivot the volcano, so much more. I randomly found a hip on a mound we had never hit before. I disobeyed doctors orders and popped the worlds smallest ollie over it. Like literally nothing happened when I ollied. Man it’s gonna be a tough road to recovery. Dave had a nice ollie or two on it. We’re gonna stack some tricks on it! I had some fun riding grinds off the edge of the wedge, a slow grind over the rainbow, some nollie shoves although I couldn’t get the little nollie bigspin on the bank. Dave left and tested my knee with a line of axle stall the pond then noseslide the bump to ledge. Felt good to try a couple of actual tricks and the really good news is I don’t think my knee was upset about it. I can’t wait to really skate again.

(setup 1/10 null vhs 8.5, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.5 trucks, 53mm orange spitfire f4 99a classic, new balance numeric knox 600 black/gum size 12 with spenco thinsole orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a long day of work there was a little sunlight so I went across the street to get some slappy crooks in. I have been changing my setup basically every day because why not. I’m only doing slappys so maybe I’ll have some luck figuring out a setup I really like. And I very quickly reminded myself that I absolutely hate Thunders. I somehow could barely even push. Even worse I couldn’t slappy crook. What the heck!

(setup 0/10 8.5 sample 14.25, thunder 149 hl, bones v1 52mm 103a, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insoles with spenco 3/4 orthotic insoles)
(pain level 6/10 I guess even just pushing in vulcs hurts these days)