On the way to BV on a Friday afternoon we stopped by Leadville skatepark so I could get a little session in. For some reason I was excited for the park, but when I saw a large group of scooter/bike kids my excitement left. I should have probably not even skated, but I’m stubborn. I was really sore from the very long Frederick session the night before. Like incredibly sore. Like never wearing vulcs again sore. Pretty early on I was trying to get into the flow and wanting to axle stall on weird banks there and the scooter kids kept putting their scooters in the way. What started as me saying ‘come on man pay attention’ turned into these little brats laying down some great quotes. Scooter dork #1, “You cut me off, I was going to drop in”. Scooter dork #2, “Do you know who I am? My dad owns the skatepark.” I was pretty blown away and laughed it off. I mean they really want to get into it with a 50 year old man? Idiots. So I tried my best to just avoid them. Only did a few of things I was remotely proud of. Some okay bump to noseslides, first try front 50 the little qp, a line of front 50 180 out the little ledge then switch front board the tiny round bar. Lastly I was trying to noseslide the bottom of the 3 tier ledges which was quite tall and I would get one to fakie that was long enough I went into the bank and it was fun.

(setup 2/10 8.25 null beatles, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 with royal bushing flat top washer, spitfire f4 99a classic shape yellow wheels, new balance numeric 440v2 wide white size 11.5 half insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10 mostly from the night before)

After work on a really nice evening I ate a quick meal then bolted to meet Rob and Dave at Frederick skatepark. Somehow I got there in a little over 30 minutes which is the least amount of time it’s ever taken me to get there. The park was not crowded and was surprisingly chill all night. Warm ups were kind of whatever. We mostly skated the bank to curb area for what seemed like the whole night. Dave was working on slappy crooks shove to board transfer. Never saw him get it. But he did get a kickflip to fakie on the bank followed by f/s halfcab flip into the little bank. And it was funny because of how sketchy it was he looked like he was going down a huge hill. Rob had a couple kickflips on the bank. A line of front shove to fakie on the bank, halfcab out of the smaller bank, shove into the tiny bank. I took way too long to get kickflip to fakie then halfcab flip. I also couldn’t get a treflip out of the bank. At some point I rattled off a 8 trick line of axle stall the bank to curb, kickflip out of the smaller bank, noseslide the ledge, front disaster the lowest part of the qp, maybe a slash the other side, ollie up the euro, 180 off, switch front nose the ledge. This started more attempts to do long lines in what would be an incredibly fun session with lots of falling and laughing. Dave had a few full pulls around the whole park, I had one. I don’t remember all of the tricks. Rob had some ollies the hip, bean plant the hump, slappys on the bank to curb, slappy back smith, slappy crooks, I think manual or nose manual the pad. Rob left and Dave and I kept at it til the lights shut off. I was happy to have tried a couple kickflips off the ledge and landed on both, but fell down. Also a first try front 180 up the tall pad felt cool, crooks the ledge. Was trying back heels on the hump and kind of did a heelflip toe drag to fakie instead. Dave had several ollies up the euro, 50s the manny pad, good ollies the steep hip, f/s flips the upper tight hip, back tail the parking block from the top and from the bank, so much more that are a blur at this point. I tried to start a line with noseslide the bump to ledge then b/s flip the upper tight hip, but never really got beyond it. This was one of my fav sessions in a while. It’s rare I feel good enough to try this hard and can fall this much without pain. Although a day later as I write this the pain is real. Either way, super fun time.

(setup 4/10 8.25 null beatles, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 with royal bushing flat top washer, spitfire f4 99a classic shape yellow wheels, new balance numeric 574 vulc blue size 11.5 with half 272 insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10 but started to get some bad knee pain at the end)

Met up with Paul, Rob, Will at a hot dog park after work. Initially it was pretty chill. I had one line I really liked. Front 180 off the grate, fakie flip, switch front board the little rail. Had some okay crooks, but other than that it was a total struggle and my knee was in a lot of pain. I also got annoyed with some of the youth which is just a self reflection wishing I was skating better. Paul also got annoyed, he had done some of his normal routine and was more on the flatground tip than normal. Rob on the other hand was shredding. Manual and nose manual around the c pad, front 50 the bench all casual, nollie front lipslide, two kickflips in a row, almost front shove 50 on the curb. Will was later, I didn’t see much. But after Rob and I talked to Saul for a bit Will and I went over to Valmont and had a fun session in the pond area. I struggled with axle stalls initially and was about to lose my mind, but ended up having some fun and linking a few things together. I was trying front smiths and I think I got one and it felt really cool. Glad we had the pond ender because the dog park was depressing and annoying.

(setup 5/10 8.25 null beatles, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 with royal bushing flat top washer, spitfire f4 99a classic shape yellow wheels, new balance numeric 574 vulc blue size 11.5 with half 272 insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 left knee is getting real bad again)

Took it easy, did some exercises earlier, napped, did some chores, played basketball with Ollie and then finally got some spark to go skate. Some cloud cover had moved in so the timing was nice. I stuck to the front and tried to line some lines from the curb to the ledge. After some putzing around to warm up the first warm up line which took too long was ollie up the curb, kickflip on flat, noseslide to fakie, fakie flip. I don’t even know if I got the fakie flip cleanly. Then kickflip up the curb, heelflip, noseslide. The goal was kickflip then nollie treflip, noseslide (or crooks) then treflip. But that would prove way too ambitious. I did get kickflip up and very close to treflip. In between tries I got a really good feeling crooks that I couldn’t do again. I did about 10 kickflips up the curb and wanted to change it up. Did back 180 up, halfcab flip on flat, noseslide to fakie. Switch 180 up the curb, backside flip, tiny switch front nose jib. I had hucked a few more flippers. But the full sprint layup drills with Ollie earlier while playing basketball had me worn out quickly. I liked how the vulc shoes skated.

(setup 8/10 8.25 null beatles, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 with royal bushing flat top washer, spitfire f4 99a classic shape yellow wheels, new balance numeric 574 vulc blue size 11.5 with half 272 insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On another very hot day I met up with Cass and Kyle at the warehouse where things were once again arranged completely different. Cass was doing flatground then a qp trick and did one of the best b/s flips. Kyle was nosesliding the huge table from flat and got 270 shove and 270 out. I had a smaller woke setup, 8.25 with ventures and it felt good. I had done a little flatground and was happy to get a first try halfcab flip which have been a struggle lately. Then I mostly just skated the long metal ledge while the Cass filmed Kyle. I rattled off quite a few warm up tricks. Crooks to fakie and switch noseslide 270 shove being my fav. I struggled with frontside grind unfortunately. I was also starting to ahte the Tiago shoes and was getting some knee pain.

We left for the nearby jersey barrier spot where I didn’t land anything, Kyle showed his front blunt expertise and Cass tried an acrobatic maneuver for an hour.

Then we went to a nearby little gap spot. It’s funny I had skated the big Tiago’s earlier, but had some vulcs on for the gap which felt way more comfortable. I did a few flatground kickflips, the ollie took about 10 tries and I could not do it more than once. Doh. I had wanted to ollie the gap then do a flipper off the curb. Cass would ollie it, back 180 it and get a banger bigspin for stubborns 2. Kyle did a couple mirror lines interchanging switch heels and switch front shoves. Also a fakie flip. Felt fun hucking down that gap and made me miss street skating and filming.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null beatles, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 with royal bushing flat top washer, spitfire f4 99a classic shape yellow wheels, new balance numeric 1010 / 574 vulc with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10 earlier on with the 1010s and would get less with the 574s)

On a hot day I picked up Paul and we met Rob and Dave in Lyons and drove up to the new skatepark in Estes Park. Upon arriving to the park we saw Fort Collins OG Adam and his friend Noah totally shredding. Noah’s kickflip was insane. They both had mega pop and classic street skater style. Dave had skated there a couple of times, but the rest of us hadn’t been there before. It took some getting used, but had some really fun stuff. My setup was getting really annoying as the bushings were falling apart while skating and my front truck was loose I could barely push. I had the most fun doing lines starting with the tiny qp in the back then a noseslide and bank trick. Got the front feeble, noseslide, kickflip fakie. Also front slash, noseslide to fakie, halfcab flip on the bank (with half my foot on the ground). Paul had front rock then back 50 the whole top section popped into the bank. Dave had manualed across the stairs on the bank and battled nose manual, but wouldn’t get that until the end. Dave and Paul had some nice grind and slides on the little china bank, noseslides and grind on the bank to ledge. In between pointing out the flaws of the middle upper section Rob had lots of manuals across it, back 50s on the little ledges. He also had some good ones on the lower manny pad. Paul had some really cool ollies off the qps onto the stallion, easily gap to back 50 the top euro, he was ripping. I didn’t really land anything else other than a boneless over the rail which was scarier than I wanted it to be. Dave had a million lines, crooks the china bank, switch front nose the bank to ledge, manual the bank to pad, kickflip on the bank, nollie shove hippy jump! It was a fun session followed by a nice dinner in Lyons. Good times folks.

FWIW my initial take is to give the skatepark a 7/10 rating, but would like to skate there again and get more of the tricks I wanted before my legs gave out.

(setup 2/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, slappy lights 8.5, 51mm bones stf v1 pj 103a, new balance numeric tiago 1010 phantom size 12 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 felt good initially but the pain really crept in and prevented me from keeping at it)

Earlier in the day I had gone on a decent run for me, then after work I went to the climbing gym for the first time in over a decade with Ollie. After that I met up with Rob, Will, Dave, Mike, Eric at dog park. It was really nice out. I am really not remembering much from the session unfortunately. I know a Rob nose manual around the corner, boardslide the tallest bench, noseslide and crooks the main bench. Eric heelflip over the parking block, tailsides, 180 over the narrow bench. Mike slappies galore. Will some really solid ledge fundamentals, the back tail being the highlight. Saw Dave nosegrind the lurb, fakie varial flip, switch crooks. I had nosegrind 180 the curb, a little switch crook jib the lurb, a few crooks, I don’t remember much else. It was a fun session until I started sitting and the mosquitos came out.

(setup 5/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, slappy lights 8.5, 51mm bones stf v1 pj 103a, new balance numeric tiago 1010 phantom size 12 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Had a long day of work filled with some bad news and didn’t have the motivation to do a real session. But I did get out shortly before sunset to the school for about 30 minutes. I had some new Tiago 1010s to try and reduce knee pain. Last time I tried them I hated them, but this time around I had arch support in them and they seemed better for now. I started on the side doing some slappys and trying kickflips. Oh, speaking of Slappy’s, I had put Slappy trucks back on. Ha. They felt surprisingly good this time around. Well, for ollies at least, not for flippers, but that might be the new shoes. I had some fun ollies over the manhole and posed a couple treflips over it. Then I went to the side and did several axle stalls. It was surprising how easy they were compared to normal. The shove out took a bit, but it was pretty rewarding. I went home after that.

(setup 6/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, slappy lights 8.5, 51mm bones stf v1 pj 103a, new balance numeric tiago 1010 phantom size 12 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10 really enjoyed that midsole)

Got stuck working later than expected and missed Will. Paul did show though. Upon my initial pushes I knew I was in a lot of pain and did not have any juice. I think I did a couple crooks, almost a fakie nosegrind the bench, a bad kickflip that took way too much effort. Paul on the other hand was shredding way more than normal. He was doing flippers, grinds and manuals I don’t normally see him bang out. Eric N was there and was trying nollie back overcrooks on the little flat bar and they looked really cool. But I left after about 15 minutes of “skating”.

(setup 2/10 null 8.5/14.25 20 year deck, null grip, thunder team hollow 149 with bones medium bushings, bones 51mm stf v1 pj 103a wheels, new balance numeric 440v2 wide white size 11.5 footprint gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 8/10)

Before work I went by Howard Hueston for a 10 minute roll. It was kind of whatever, but fun and I did a few axle stalls and rock ‘n rolls.

After work on a warm sunny day I went to dog park. Rob, Ed, Paul would show after a while. I had around 30 minutes before they showed. It was a tough warm up coming right from work being so tired. Kind of early on I made myself jump on the bench. I thought of a new combo for me and would somehow get it kind of quickly. Front 50 front 180 out the bench then fakie nosegrind the lurb. The front 50 180 out was incredibly slow and garbage, but I haven’t done that trick there in a long time. I also haven’t done a fake nosegrind in forever and got it first try so that was cool. I had a good slam on a halfcab noseslide on the bench. Rob showed with his christmas complete and seemed to like it. He had manuals, boardslides, noseslides and a poppy first try kickflip. Paul was a little less poppy and a bit more slappy than normal. Ed came! We were all kind of playing with no comply flips and couldn’t seem to get one. Paul and Rob played with switch no complies. They all talked bikes for a while and I flailed around trying nollie tres unsuccessfully, got the smallest crooks on the medium flat bar, boardslid it a few times. I couldn’t commit to kickflip over the parking block until Paul said if I didn’t do it I owed him a board. And of course I’m cheap so I landed it, and it felt really good and I left on a good note.

(setup 6/10 null 8.5/14.25 20 year deck, null grip, thunder team hollow 149 with bones medium bushings, bones 51mm stf v1 pj 103a wheels, new balance numeric 440v2 wide white size 11.5 footprint gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 6/10)