After a mellow day of work I went out to Douglass on a humid day after some rain. I started on the side of the school. First warm up line was pivot on a curb, nollie front 180 the micro hip, fakie flip on flat, switch noseslide the ledge, switch 180 out of the bump. Was trying the next line when a father/son joined the session. Seen them at dog park a few times. It was kind of weird because I was trying my next line and couldn’t tell if they were going or not. I was trying kickflip the micro hip, front 50 the ledge, treflip out of the bump. Never got the treflip. Got a couple smith stalls that were fun. Other flip tricks were not working. I was on my 8.5/14.25/thunder setup and it felt entirely too big. I went out to the front of the school. Tried to line out ollie up the curb, flipper, ledge trick. But I couldn’t get a treflip or heelflip and my knee pain became too much. I had done some fun noseslides and a first try crook that made me happy. But man those ledges felt incredibly tall, front 50 didn’t even seem remotely possible.

(setup null 20 year 8.5/14.25, null grip, thunder 149 hollow lights royal bushings, spitfire f4 99a 52mm classic yellow, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 half insole plus currex run pro insoles)
(setup 3/10)

Didn’t really feel like skating most of the day but was in the office and the clouds were out on the way home so I went to dog park. Only a couple of people there. One of which was the super slow guy that kind of makes me laugh. Didn’t think it was possible to skate slower than me, but sometimes I can’t even tell if he is moving. Anyway, somehow I felt better than expected. Maybe it was because I was trying my Thunder setup. I had a line of front 50 the lurb, crooks the bench, back 50 the curb. 3 basics, but it was fun. I also got up on the bench with front 50s a few times. All of which were slow, but I managed a shove out once that I haven’t done in forever. Also got a crooks on the upper deck. Came really close to kick back 50 on the lurb, even got into 5-0 a couple times. Couldn’t get a treflip. Decent session even if it ended on a frustrating note not getting a treflip or kick back 50.

(setup 6/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 team hollow royal bushings, 51mm bones stf v1 pj, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 with half insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

After working from home with Nate we went to campus and started out at the curb cut meetup spot. We were having fun trying tricks out, manuals, etc. Dave joined after a while and then Jack and Joe showed up when their bowling game was cancelled due to a private event. Nate and Dave had done the nollies into the first one then back 180s out of the next one when Jack and Joe showed. Jack rolled on his cruiser board and did a second try treflip out of the kicker and several no comply flips and then no comply double flips just messing around. Joe had a hardflip or two. All on Jack’s cruiser board. Nate kept losing his wheel on treflip attempts. Dave got the kickflip out pretty quick. Nate got the treflip. I took forever to get the b/s flip and followed it up with two equally ugly and tic tac riddled flippers. Dave had a bunch of back 360 manuals, I had some front 3 ones. Dave almost did switch tre! We went into campus for a bit, ended up at the business building. Dave had some good kickflips, front boards and nollie lips on the curb. Nate’s little window ride were so cool. We both got noseslides to fakie on the ledge which is way taller than it appears. Dave got the wallie and drop in thing which resulted in a good laugh all around and perfect ender for the session. Then some yummy Pete’s after that!

(setup 4/10 8.5/14.25 null 20 year, jessup null ultragrip, 8.5 slace, 52mm spitfire f4 99a tablet shape, new balance numeric 440v2 black/gum size 11.5 pinnacle prostep insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

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)

After work went to campus, started at the dreadful tall flagstone ledge and ended up staying there for most of my session. The flatground in the nearby hallway is so good. I had another setup change that I liked quite a bit. 8.25 with slace 8.5 trucks. I would get quite a few slow flippers in between flails at the ledge. Flippers were kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, heelflip, f/s halfcab flip, f/s halfcab heelflip and a nollie tre! It’s seriously been years on the nollie tre! I was so hyped even if it was terrible and I put a hand down. It didn’t carry over to being able to front 50 the ledge though. I did ollie onto the ledge at least, had some noseslides, a couple crooks that felt good. Then to the nearby tiny rusted metal ledge to show I can 50 6″ tall ledges. Then around the corner to a dirty loading dock that I wanted to ollie onto. I saw a long piece of angle iron and decided I should line it out. Firecracker a 2, slappy the angle iron, ollie very badly up the loading dock, front 180 off it, almost fakie flip. My knees were sore so I called it.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null dead spots, jessup ultragrip, slace 8.5, bones 52mm v1 stf, new balance numeric 440v2 white size 11.5 wide with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10 some calf and knee pain)

On a super nice night I met Dave and then Nate at dog park. Dave and I had been warming up before Nate showed. At the dog park I saw Dave try fakie 50 halfcabs and was surprisingly struggling with them, fakie back nosegrind, ollie up then nollie back 180 off the c pad. Nate casually front nosegrind the c lurb, front smith it, back and front 5-0s, casual killing. I tried some nosegrind 180s on the c lurb but never quite went fast enough or committed enough. I struggled to kickflip over a parking block which was supposed to set me up to front 50 the bench which I never did. I had on front 50 shove on the c lurb. All this while some some alpha male had to show us how fast he could skate and do the same 2 tricks over and over.

Dave’s back was hurting so we went over to the low impact zone with the scooter kids. Nate had a really good first try ollie the euro. We were treated to some Dave magic although I forget the trick that stood out to make me think that. Kickflips over the hip both ways, solid f/s halfcab over the hip. I pretty much only tried to b/s flip the euro hip and would eventually get it and was quite happy about it. Dave had left. Nate and I did some boardslides into the bank as the wind kicked in. I couldn’t quite get a kickflip to fakie on the shark fin.

(setup 4/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder team hollow 148 royal bushings, 52mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 440v2 11.5 wide with currex runpro insoles and half 440 insole)
(pain level 3/10 calf pain went away as I was skating it was crazy!)

On a super nice night Dave and I met on campus near the infamous Baker ledge. Dave did a gap to manual on the nearby pad as I kind of just jibbed around trying to get warmed up and used to my setup change. Then we hit the manny pad to grind area. The ledge had cars so couldn’t skate it. I somehow did a couple manual to back 50s pretty quickly. Dave went in on ollie up to ride on front tail then shove out. He never quite got the shove out. He had some back 50s transfer up onto the pad. I would get some front 50s, accidental and intentional 5-0s up onto the pad. One followed with a sketchy b/s flip up the curb, a couple followed by slow and questionable treflips. Either way I was happy. Dave got manual to front 5-0. Front 180 up to ride on switch crook! I got kickflip up then ride on crooks for my fav thing of the day. Came close to nollie tres, kind of close to kickflip manual too. Then we went over to the newly deknobbed ledge both feeling exhausted and sore. I started out by slamming a lot. We did some ride on grinds, Dave even did switch backside. As well as pretty easily getting a solid front 50 and some switch noseslides. I was happy to get a couple slow front 50 jibs. Then we ended with the little kid ride on grinds to nollie shove out. They were fun. One of my better sessions in a while. Really liked my setup too. Which probably means I’ll dislike it next session, but I really liked it today at least.

(setup 9/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 149 royal bushings, spitfire 52mm 99a tablet, new balance numeric 440v2 wide size 11.5 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 at times my calf was so bad but I kept skating and it eventually loosened up)

After working at the office I met up with Dave on a nice afternoon with rain threatening. I had two changes. Aces and back to the 540 vulcs. I felt much better on my skateboard than the night before. Dave was going in on the hip. He did a really nice back 180 noseslide on the edge of the hip. I took a bit to get warmed up and used to my setup changes. Then as Dave went in on switch back bigs over the hip I tried a line of frontside ollie a hip then b/s flip the next one. Dave would get an amazing switch back big. It was rad. Even the younger crew “was that switch .. damn”. He would go on to also 5-0 the rainbow and f/s flip the other hip. I went through a phase were I couldn’t ollie the hip to save my life and it was driving me mad. Eventually they came back and I would get the line a couple times, but with toe drag. Dave had left, I went over to dog park. I was pretty sore and didn’t do a whole lot, but a few things were rewarding like a couple crooks on the bench, some slow front 50 variations on the lurb. Front 50 shove felt really good and then a switch front nose on the bench. Had a good feeling halfcab flip, didn’t commit to treflip though. I tried to front 50 the bench a few times and could not get it. One squat hurt my knee too much and I called it a session.

(setup 5/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 44, bones stf v1 52mm, new balance numeric 574 vulc size 11.5 with half insole and footprints gamechanger lite insole)
(pain level 6/10)

On my daughter’s last day in CO I escaped for a little session while she ran errands. I waited too long to write this entry, but I remember Dave was shredding and I didn’t land much even though I was close to some good ones. I had some fun nollie shoves on the bank, a fun crooks on the ledge, kickflip up the curb, slappy crooks. Flip tricks were tough. I was close to some harder ones for me like varial heel, treflip but couldn’t get them. I tried like a million front 50s on the ledge and could not get one. Dave on the other hand was ripping. Fakie back nosegrind, fakie back nosegrind 180 on the curb. Manuals on the median. A lot more I’m forgetting, but he ended it off with a banger with several front 5-0s to switch crooks. Incredible. There is a lot I’m missing, it was a fun session, we skated hard.

(setup 5/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 team holllow royal bushings, spitfire f4 99a 51mm classic, es swift 1.5 size 12 custom orthotic insole)
(pain level 5/10)