So day one brought in a lot of knee pain which I partially blame on the Swifts being too small. An emergency trip to a shoe store and I came away with some Buz vulcs. They felt good out of the gate, but not too grippy. We went to a spot that had a few ledges and a lot of flatground and it looked great. But we got the boot right away. I had to try at least one noseslide first. Well, one turned into 3 or 4 and I got a really bad one. I would have liked to skate that ledge and try more stuff on it. Oh well.

Goofing around. @neilsoffire @tattoodvo #sunburntandstubborn #stubbornwithaloha

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Feb 17, 2018 at 8:43am PST

So we went to campus. Neil and I started out on a two stair area. It was rad. I was struggling, but getting hyped watching Neil line out so much. There were 3 stairs nearby too. Neil had shove up, shove down, back 180 up/down, ollied the 3, manuals, funny nose manual bail. I had switch ollie down, back 180 down, front 180 up, tried to line some stuff out, but it didn’t really work much. Then we went to look at the red curb which was stickier than it looks and crowded with people. When I do the dropin then boardslide line you can see the Japanese student filming me. So funny. Then Neil did the triple ollie to wallride. Then Neil’s friends Debo and Eric showed up. We hit the bank area for awhile. It was fun. Going up the 3 stair was way harder than I thought it would be. Neil and Debo did double wallrides. Eric broke his board ollieing a 5 stair. Doh.

Road trips get harder every year. #thestruggleisreal #stubbornwithaloha #sunburntandstubborn #cannottrefliptosavemylife

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Feb 16, 2018 at 7:16pm PST

Then we went to a spot called Courts. I was wrecked again. Argh. I really tried to get it going, but my legs were just not working. Go all the way to Hawaii and have to just look at amazing spots like this. I had some switch noseslides, a few slow basic flippers, but had to call it. Neil was trying to piece lines together too, but like me he ended up sitting. Quite a few people shoed up and it was fun watching game of SKATE, Eric rip nollie tailslides and halfcab noseslides (I think). We had a couple drinks and watched. It was fun.

(setup 8.25″ clutch sample deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 52mm spitfire F4 101a classic shape, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, white venture bushings, adidas busenitz vulc white/blue size 11.5, custom orthotic insole)

Friends visit an smiles happen!! #stubbornwithaloha #sunburntandstubborn #neilsdailyvid jake totally had it but got hurt… 🌴🤙🏻😎😎

A post shared by Neil Thurman (@neilsoffire) on Feb 16, 2018 at 8:56pm PST

And we’re off! #sunburntandstubborn / #stubbornwithaloha day 1. Jake, Neil and I showed up at this skatepark called AMR (I think) on an absolutely gorgeous day. We had the park to ourselves. We warmed up in our own ways. Some group attempts at treflips (only Jake got one), but mostly doing our thing. Jake ollied onto the table. Neil bonked a bench so easy. I had a crooks on the bench, slam on front 50. Neil had some sick lipslides on the lower ledge with long lines including nollie back neil’s, hip ollies, kickflip fakie. After awhile we all kind of settled into stuff. I was trying various lines into the kicklfip to fakie from high to low. Noseslides on the pyramid were fun, but I was doing them terribly. Neil got the kickflip to fakie from high to low first. Jake was trying the disaster 360 transfer and getting close and had some pain shoot through his calf. The pain was too much to keep skating. Seriously? First spot of the trip!?!?! No!!! Jake chilled as I struggled to get my line. Dropping in on the metal edge was scary at first, but ended up being the catalyst to get me hyped enough to commit to the kickflip fakie. What a fun line.

Then we went to this spot. Jake was still hurting. We weren’t sure if it was a really bad cramp or a torn muscle or something else. So he chilled. Neil and I played around a little. I knew this would be the only time I skated this spot so I settled on trying kickflip onto the barrier. I got really close, but never got it. I was a sweaty mess and my knees were killing me. There are cracks and rough sections all over that spot making it so hard to get to where you want to go.

Then we went to this spot. My legs were toast. Jake was hurting. But it was fun filming Neil and watching him shred it. Then we went swimming in the ocean as the sun set. Wow.

(setup 8.25″ clutch sample deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 52mm spitfire F4 101a classic shape, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, white venture bushings, es swift 1.5 black/white size 11, custom orthotic insole)

After work then the chiropractor I went to Saul’s. I was hyped on the crew. Saul, Jake, josh, Ed, Jake. The environment at Saul’s rules. It’s just fun. Saul was ripping and trying new stuff. I saw him get into back smith, front slash the shallow and almost the deep. Ed got tail blocks on lock, back disasters, front slashes. Josh was riding a board with a longer wheelbase and it was throwing off his back d’s. He still got ‘em though. Jake was trying feebles to fakie in the deep. I skated alright. Had some fun grinds in the shallow corner. My knees were really hurting though and it messed with me. I had little front slashes in the shallow then deep that were fun. Good little session before Hawaii.

(setup 8.25″ clutch sample deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, 52mm spitfire F4 101a classic shape, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, white venture bushings, es swift 1.5 black/white size 11, custom orthotic insole)