skate journal: dog park before work trying the basics (sept 27, 2019)

Posted in New Deck, Skate Journal on September 27th, 2019 by corpo

After only one callout (ha ha) I got to the dog park around 9am on a cool morning. Warming up was slow. I had setup a new Nolan board and was excited to skate it! I had also put some bigger wheels back on, the 53mm SML wheels. It took awhile before I did anything beyond a boardslide on something low. I started with the whole line approach to get myself going on the lower step. I think I did wallie the little barrier, front 50, kickflip. Kickflip, back 5-0 (was supposed to be a 50) then boardslide to fakie the end of the kinked flat bar. Then wallie, front 50 180, fakie bigspin. Kickflip back 50 then wallie back 180 the barrier. But I never got the wallie back 180. Seems doable though. Then the line got longer. Front 50 the metal ledge, front 50 the hump, kickflip a crack, back 50. Never quite got the back 50 again, but I was getting in at least. I kind of changed it around and hucked a little. Nothing went down, but it was kind of funny that I kind of got into a kick back tail on the ledge I could barely back 50. I had an intentional 5-0 on the metal ledge. At the end I tried a line of 360 flip on flat, ollie the little barrier then boardslide the orange barrier. Only got to the orange barrier twice and never committed. Actually, never got a totally clean ollie over the little barrier either, but it felt good to hop over it.

(setup 8.5 null nolan machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with cast baseplate, sml 53mm og wide wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 212 grey size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

skate journal: lunch break old guy session (sept 26, 2019)

Posted in Skate Journal on September 27th, 2019 by corpo

After multiple callouts for work I stayed at home. I took off for a lunch break to meet the crew. It was Dave F, Dave L, Rob and Eric at the end. I hadn’t skated in a few days due to hamstring/glute pain. But since it seemed to be getting worse not skating I decided I might as well test the waters and skate. It seemed to make it feel better, but I definitely started slow and was cautious. They had removed all the 303 obstacles and a couple more including Rob’s favorite manny pad. I’m not sure if that was why Rob couldn’t get into the session, but he bounced pretty quickly. Dave L was on the parking block tip, doing nollie 180s over it and lining some stuff out. He can so casually back 50 and manual the cement benches. Dave F had some rad front 50 to front crook fakie combos. He said they should be good for learning front crooks. He also ollied into the manhole cover which was propped up on a curb. We were both surprised that worked out. I really didn’t do much of anything noteworthy. I was happy to ollie the tiny flat bar first try. I saw Dave F back 50 one of the concrete benches, I was impressed. Near the end this guy came and put his dog in the dog park and skated back and forth with his dog barking at him. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but I seriously couldn’t handle it and used it as my cue to leave. I had some butt pain, but it wasn’t overwhelming.

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 99a 52mm blue/yellow radial wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 212 grey size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

skate journal: new valmont street spots with a fun crew (sept 21, 2019)

Posted in Favorite, Skate Journal on September 23rd, 2019 by corpo

After a million texts I met up with Rob, Dave L, Eric and Garrett at the new manny pad spot I found the other night. The pad itself was even better than I thought it would be, the gap however was way harder. Garrett was way later than us. We all did our warming up. I felt surprisingly good out of the gate, but I did feel a tweak to the glute/hamstring tendon I seemed to have injured. I was able to skate fine though. Manuals were had, nose manuals, kickflips, heelflips. I was the only one hitting the little gap, I found it so cool to line out. Front 180s over it were really fun. I may have gotten a switch 180 manual back 180 after, but probably touched or something. Rob went in on kickflip manuals. He was committing every try, but getting toe drag or touching normally. He would get a clean one and it was solid. Eric had some nice heeflips up onto the curb. Dave was manualling up and around all over everything. We did a little filming. I completely lost the ability to switch 180 manual once the camera came out. It was a bummer. Dave L got a cool line. Rob got that kickflip manual, one foot manual and a back 360. Eric got those heelflips, but I don’t think he got one to manual. Garrett had shown. He did some treflips on flat and some nollie nose manuals. We looked at a weird bank/ledge thing on the other side. Garrett almost tried a cool ollie up to something, but never really got the ollie up. I had nothing more than some rides down the slanted ledge.

Then we went across the street to this other spot i had looked at. The dream was a noseslide on the little two stair rail. Somehow it looked totally possible. Garrett tried some front 5-0s, I tried noseslides. We would slowly get closer. Rob suggested I go for crook which I thought I was doing, but I got it in a couple tries. It was one of the coolest feeling tricks I’ve done. Then Dave filmed me try it in a line and magically I got it with a fakie bigflip in just a few tries. I was on cloud 9. After that I filmed Garrett keep battling the 5-0 which he would get. Rob and Dave messed around on the bank. I saw Dave pop an ollie over the hip that looked fun. Rob had some cool 540 spins on his front wheels. That was the end of the day. Pretty much one of my fav days in awhile. Street skating is the best.

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 379 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger low profile insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

skate journal: dog park fun with rob and dan then some saulside (sept 20, 2019)

Posted in Skate Journal on September 21st, 2019 by corpo

After another night of insomnia and a busy day at work I met Rob at Dog Park after work. There was almost no one there. It was great for awhile. I had wore my old 379s and immediately liked them. Rob got on the picnic table pretty quick and I knew he wanted the manual. After a good slam/hangup he did it in a few tries. That got the session firing. I tried to get his back, but alas I wouldn’t get the manual even after several more tries. I got close, but most importantly didn’t let it get me down. A bunch of youth showed up. It was still fun though. Rob and I were going in pretty heavy on the 2 bench lines. He was doing front board then nollie front lip. He had a good slam on one of those too, but ended up getting a great one. Also some front 50s, front tail, crooks, halfcab boardslides. I was happy to get a front 50 shove in a couple tries. The halfcab noseslide to fakie took a few tries this time. Dan showed. Rob was trying kick front boards at that point. I missed the one he got unfortunately. Dan and I were hyped he was flipping in. Dan rips so hard. He started with some solid 50s then worked up into some long lines with his patented style. Such a treat to watch. Then we hucked off the kiddie kicker. I had gotten a bad kickflip and was trying to clean it up. Dan kicked off the train with nollie cab, rob back 180, then me with a terrible kickflip. It was fun. Dan and I hucked nollie inward heels for a bit. He was close. I wasn’t. Then Rob and I went to Saul’s. It was a pretty mellow session. My chipped wheel was way worse than I ever imagined and it definitely made me not want to skate much. But I had a few fun scratch grinds and several bailed axle stalls. Rob had some rad laps below coping and a few carve grinds. Saul did Saul. Super rad lines with quick grinds and turns. Also the best stand up back 50 I’ve seen him do. Dave showed at the end and killed it before we went to Dave Ls for the Shredder Orpheus premiere. That was a good time!

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 379 b/w size 12, currex run pro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

skate journal: dog park after work with rob and dave l (sept 19, 2019)

Posted in Skate Journal on September 21st, 2019 by corpo

After work and another bad night of sleep I went to Dog Park and met Rob and Dave L. There weren’t many people there initially. It was nice. It’s hard writing these entries when I’ve been there multiple times since. Anyway, I remember having an okay start. Some fun slappy crooks, kickflipped the parking block, back 5-0 the tiny pad, ollied the 2″ gap onto the picnic table. It hyped up Rob to do the same. Max H was there destroying. He is such a ripper and nice dude. Halfcab nosegrind 180 was nuts. Fakie shove board break over the barrier was sick too. Dave L was on his normal program of several tricks over the parking block and manuals. He has a nice causal back 50 on the benches. I finally got to show Rob I learned one of his tricks, halfcab noseslide to fakie. I was hyped on how hyped he was on it. Rob is always a great hype man. He had some long lines, several 3 shoves. I forget the trick he was going for on the bench, front tail? I bailed a couple front 50s on the bench and it kind of ruined my session. Argh. Then about 50 people showed up and we tried to play a game off to the side, but at that time the biker lessons came in. So we played in the middle and it was total chaos. Rob set a backside flip and both Dave and I got them. That was the highlight. The lowlight was probably me missing several heelfilps then getting a letter when Rob did one perfectly first try. That also took out Dave. Rob took me out with a b/s shifty one foot. I stuck around until I got a 360 flip which took quite awhile even though I was committing pretty much every try. It was depressing. I was pretty over the grandpa shoes. I went home and didn’t sleep because my mind was wondering why I never progress and my knees hurt really bad. Argh. I think it’s because I change stuff way too much. Gonna try and stick with things that have worked. ~8.5 and vulcs with arch support insoles.

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, dc legacy 98 slim b/w shoes size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

skate journal: 9 clubs at street league (sept 17, 2019)

Posted in New Shoes, Skate Journal on September 19th, 2019 by corpo

Feeling incredibly sore on an absolutely beautiful night I met Dave at Erie Park. It was kind of crowded when I showed, but lots of youth that would leave soon. Eric showed around then. There were a couple other dudes that were fun to skate with. We were getting our warmups on. I had new shoes, DC Legacy 98 slims. They felt surprisingly good, but still different so took some getting used to. I had done a few flippers on the top area. Actually got the ‘easy straight 4’ aka no switch/nollie. I somehow beat heelflip master Eric to fakie heel. I was happy to also get a treflip. Eric was trying heelflips off the top 2 stair. He was getting close and slamming a lot. Good to see him charging like that. Dave was ripping the qp and bank to ledge. I tried a line for awhile of beanplant from the wedge to kicker followed by f/s flip, but never got the f/s flip on the bank. Dave was trying front 50 on the qp going fast to yank into the bank. Eric did back d on the qp. A big crew showed up. They made the park a less fun, but we still had a good time. I had done a few slow crooks and stuff on the ledges. Eric got the heelflip down the 2. I had posed a few treflips down, but never committed. Seemed doable though. I should have really tried, but having new shoes took away a little confidence. Eric was trying heelflip front noseslides on the lower step. I posed treflips noseslide for a bit, maybe making some progress (gotta got in with more angle). I got a first try kickflip to fakie front the wedge to kicker. I was really sore and started to sit for awhile. Dave was trying front nose to fakie on the bank to ledge. He got one then followed it with the front 50 yank off the qp that was so smooth. I had gotten back up with the goal of 10 tricks on the mini bank. The first few were some basic shoves, no comply shove, etc, but the last five were all flip tricks. Kickflip fakie, b/s flip, f/s flip, halfcab flip. Dave had started joining and gained on me quick as the halfcab flip took awhile. He did back tail shove, varial flip fakie, fakie flip, tech Dave in effect. Dave made me end with treflip fakie. I mean it was the logical choice for sure. Eric was doing heelflips and got a fakie heelflip. It took me a long time, but I got a ‘hands down’ treflip fakie. Oh well.

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, dc legacy 98 slim b/w shoes size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

skate journal: random street spots out on valmont at night (sept 16, 2019)

Posted in New Deck, setup change, Skate Journal on September 17th, 2019 by corpo

After some physical basketball with Ollie I went out to skate well after dark. I intended to find something new, then remembered the new rock hump thing on Valmont. I parked near there and decided to warm up with some flatground or something elsewhere first. I had setup a slightly warped new 8.38 deck as it’s as close to 8.5 as I can get. It felt fine, I wore some old 212s to make things even more weird. I found a new super mellow bank. Did a couple kickturns and stuff, some side rocks. It has some potential for more stuff. I tried a ‘warm up line’ that ended up taking forever. Noseslide the low bar of a down ramp rail, kickflip on the bank, back 180 off a curb cut. The kickflip took forever. Ugh. Then I moved on and found even more new stuff. A brick ledge off a step, and a weird long 3 stair and some good flatground. I tried a line for awhile there too. Noseslide the ledge (it was brick and I didn’t wax it so they were just little jibs), ollie onto the top of the 3 and ride down, then a flatground trick. But I kept bailing the ollie onto the step. Then I did varial flip first and still bailed. Finally did it after a halfcab flip, then followed it all with a bad b/s flip. I was so beat by then, mainly the basketball earlier. I saw a fun looking tiny gap then manny pad on the way back to the car. Pretty rad as I didn’t even make it to the desired spot so I still have more exploring to do.

(setup 8.38 null dream machine deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers inside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 212 grey size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

skate journal: broomfield then filmer glen (sept 15, 2019)

Posted in setup change, Skate Journal on September 17th, 2019 by corpo

On a hot morning I met up with Rob, Kevin, then Dave L and Sean. I had put my 8.75 board on because I wanted an 8.5, but have none and thought it would feel close than 8.25. It felt great for the first couple hours. I warmed up on the quartapotty/blue pad. Rob and Kevin were on the banked blue pad. It was nice cruising around the park without a bunch of beetles everywhere. Dave L was the next to show. I don’t remember much before settling in on a couple lines starting from the top. Had a fun rock ‘n roll on the steep bank, then nollie to fakie in the hump, halfcab noseslide the black ledge. Rob and Kevin joined in on line time. I took awhile to get close to a full pull. Kickflip on the hump, crook the black ledge, front 50 the black ledge, treflip out of the bank. Never got the treflip, the 50s were a pain too. Rob did some kickflips and one foots on the hump. Kevin was doing switch flips and ending with nollie tre out. Kevin had also skated the doubleset rail and did a few tricks. There was a crew of bowl dudes playing some typical skate rock that sounded pretty good. Next thing I remember was the blue pad. Kevin trying kickflip nose manual, Rob doing bigspin front noses, me trying fakie 50 switch front shove out. Sean had joined us and kickflip nose manual pretty quick. Kevin tried to say “oh yeah, you can’t do this” and tried switch flip manny and slammed. That’s quality entertainment. Dave L was hanging in the shadows for the most part, but would come out with some serious bangers. Nollie front 180 the parking block then switch manual the blue pad. Nose manual 270 on the banked brown pad. I had pretty much started hating the huge board. Then it was time to go film. Sean made a gnarly 5-0 shove look oh so casual. Jack did a couple incredibly nollie tres and destroyed himself skating so hard. Then we ended up at Jack’s spot. I didn’t really skate. Sean did a 180 nose manual at rocket speed. Pushing that fast on my filming board was scary.

(setup 8.75 null event horizon deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers insie each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 868 black/gum size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

skate journal: stubborns working at douglass (sept 14, 2019)

Posted in Skate Journal on September 17th, 2019 by corpo

Moving slow on a Saturday morning I went to Douglass to meet the Dave’s, Rob, Kevin and maybe more. I think I got there around the same time as Rob on a warm, but not too hot day. The Dave’s were already putting in work. Dave L was trying a line of kickflip then manual the long narrow ledge. He got it, then tried again, but with a treflip. He got that too, but I think he must be a perfectionist because he kept going at it. Didn’t really get to skate with Dave F since he was filming it all. The rest of us started our warm up process. I haven’t been there in awhile, it’s such a fun spot. I was having fun on the tiny hip in the back that I love doing nollie back bigspins over it. Some “nollie” front tails, super slow 50. Rob was getting the wallie nollies really good. Kevin was setting up a new board, then went right into a line with young kid pop legs. Nosebonk, ollie, wallie. He wanted it filmed, added a back tail and a nollie tre and did it first try. He tried to clean it up a little, but we settled for the first as it was so good. Rob and I had been trying our normal pattern of lines. Something up the curb, something on flat, some ledge action. Rob as crooking the short side of the benches, which was really sick. Also noseslide to fakie. I had started in on a 5 trick line just having fun cruising. Cali grind up the curb, heelflip, curve around to noseslide to fakie the bench, switch front 180 off the curb, nollie shove manual on the speed bump. I think I actually did this before we started filming. Once we started filming I tried it all the same, but with a 180 out of the manual. I would never get it. I tried a lot. Rob got a couple lines to work with too. Back 180, halfcab, crook, noseslide to fakie, shove/no comply shove and a backside flip. I came incredibly close to getting the line. Kevin and Dave L had taken turns filming me. I just missed the 180 out. I was struggling with heelflips too much, so rarely getting far in the line. After all this we called it a day. I thought. Kevin did a cool hippy jump. Dave L tried and did a 360 flip off the narrow ledge after curving around the corner. Pretty crazy. Fun day working hard, I wish I would have gotten the full line. Maybe some other time.

(setup 8.25 null abstract #6 deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers outside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w, stock insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

skate journal: no confidence, awkward slams, rad crew at dog park (sept 13, 2019)

Posted in Skate Journal on September 14th, 2019 by corpo

Feeling super exhausted after working early at work I went to the dog park with a couple hours before date night. It was super nice out. I was gonna take a nap in the car until Dave showed, but when I arrived I saw Jack and a fun crew there. So I didn’t nap. I had put Ventures back on. They were super loose. People say they don’t turn, but wow, they turn incredibly sharp compared to Mini Logos. I guess Jack had just done a kick back noseblunt on the ledge:

Man he’s good! Collin, Blake, Dan, Joe. All ripping. Joe 50’d the 2nd tallest flatbar. Jack got into nollie back tail and front noseslide 270 shoves. Collin was trying nollie tres. Blake almost kickflipped the black manny pad. Then they all started trying tricks over it. I was kind of hiding as I was not feeling good on my skateboard. Not good at all. I did at least get a crook on the bench which I wasn’t able to do on mini logos. Dave showed and we just skated the little spine wedge thing. I had a really awkward wilson slam on a pop shove on flat. Then another bad slam off the side of the wedge trying a dump truck. I’m sure some of it is to blame on the truck change, but I blame most of it on exhaustion. Dave had done a rad fakie dump truck first try. Then a steezy pivoted regular dump truck transfer. I kind of did one too, but ended more in disaster. We did some nosepick 180s. I got a kickflip feeble transfer. Sounds way cooler than it was, but it felt fun. Then died on the next try as a screw holding the metal in place fell out. Argh. Dave did a pivot shove transfer. Then we left.

(setup 8.25 null abstract #6 deck, Venture 5.8 titanium trucks with regular stock baseplate, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 3 washers outside each axle, bones medium bushings, new balance numeric 212 grey size 12, gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)