My ankle was still hurting, but it was Go Skate Day and I thought I could handle some slappies.  I had my new setup and was blown away by how sharp the Aces could turn.  There was a big puddle from the sprinklers right in front of the main spot which would get much worse after the sprinklers turned on once again.  UGH!  I did a few front slappies, few slappy crooks and that’s about it.  I didn’t want to pop with my ankle feeling the way it did and the sprinklers kinda ruined it anyway.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a really nice morning I met up with Rob, Kevin, Mike, Eric, Dave F and eventually Sean at dog park.  I was on my 3rd setup change of 2021 already.  Well, just a truck swap out, but that’s pretty huge.  I want flips to be easier so I’m going with some Thunder 148s.   And boy did they flip good at first for me.   After some rolling around to warm up I would have several first try flippers.  Kickflip, heelflip, halfcab flip, b/s flip and some others that came in a few tries.  Front 50s felt good on low stuff, but I struggled with the taller ledge for a reason I don’t know.  Crooks felt extra good.  I had a fun line of front 180 the parking block, halfcab flip on flat, front 50 back 180 the little guy.  Everyone seemed to be skating well.  I saw Rob get some halfcab noseslides on the taller ledges.  He also had two really bad slams in a row.  One on a back 50 body varial out that was looking so good until the last second when he hung and slammed so hard.  I haven’t seen him bounce off the ground like that in a long time.  Then on the next attempt he hit a stop rock and went down hard again.  Argh!  He kept skating though, front 50s, first try kickflip, much more.  Dave was in demo mode.  Everytime I’d see him he was landing something crazy.  Front crooks to fakie, switch crooks to forward, front 50 back 180 transfer the beam, halfcab back 50 back 180 out, halfcab boardslide several parking blocks to fakie and much more I’m forgetting right now.  Kevin and Mike were ripping the ledges.  Nosegrinds, nollie nosegrinds, back tails, back smiths.  Kevin did back smith the tall bench then back 180 nosegrind the cinder block I think.  Wowsers.  Kevin and Mike did back to back back smiths on the tall bench at one point and I got their back with a tiny crook jib.  I couldn’t get a fakie nosegrind to save my life.  I’m not sure why.  I tried some switch front crooks and failed, was close to rick flips and nollie varial flips.  My last trick was a front 50 kickflip out on the little guy.  It was fun as I haven’t done that trick in forever.  Dave got my back, but I forget what the trick was.  I think switch crook.  Eric had been ripping.  Got a few back 180 heels, 5-0s, tails, lipslides, ollies over stuff easily, back 50s on taller ledges now.  Sean ollied over one of the angled crossbeams all crazy and of course had nosegrinds, 5-0s like they were nothing.  

Some people stopped skating, Dave, Sean and I went to Basemar.  Sean wanted to ollie the bump to parking lot, but there was a truck parked half into the landing.  So we ended up dorking around.  We hit the little flat gap to manny.  Well, those guys did.  I was tired and sore.  I was stoked Dave ollied it.  Sean did manual, 180s to halfcab and fakie bigspin out, 180 nose manual.  Then we skated the bump as a bank doing lots of side rock variations.  Dave was going hammer though and going for sex change.  He ended up focusing his very old board, going to his car and getting out his 7.75 putter then doing it first try.  Ha.  He would also go on to get a really cool trick that I filmed for Stubborns 2.  I don’t know what to call it so I’ll just say it’s a nollie shove into a fingerflip.  Sounds awesome right?  Then Matt showed up to sell a calendar and we chatted for a while as the sun finally came out again.  

(setup 8.25 303 deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 148 HL, venom 88a big bushing, 91a small bushing, spitfire 52mm 99a f4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 4/10 probably from feeling a slight cold or something)

On a cold night I drove out and met Dave at Frederick.  The park had more snow and ice than we had thought.  The manny pads weren’t an option.  The bump to ledge/hump and curb areas were about it.  And the two weird benches by the dumb sculpture.  We basically had the park to ourselves except when shoveler Patrick showed up for awhile.  We skated the hump and curb area the most.  We skated for over a couple hours so it’s hard to remember all that went down.  Warming up wasn’t as bad as you would think.  Dave did a lot of curb stalls/transfers/grinds.  All of which were made harder by limited run up.  Front hurricane, boardslides, noseslides, nose stall reverts and the amazing back axle to rock to revert transfer.  Wow.  He also had some incredible lines that had switch shoves on the hump to quick wallrides.  I mostly posed flip tricks and got used to my new trucks.  Yes, new trucks again.  This time Indy Mids.  Had to try them, they felt great before the bushings totally froze up.  I had a line of caveman grind then b/s flip the hip.  I couldn’t get a regular kickflip over the hip.  I posed hardflips for awhile on the little bank and got kind of close. I took too long to get a varial flip over the hip.  I lost interest when Pat stole my trick.  Then after he left I tried again and got a couple weird feeling ones.   I tried a line of fakie flip on the little bank then f/s halfcab flip over the hip, but was really struggling.  Dave’s lines were pretty amazing.  It’s hard to describe the crazy curb transfers then switch shoves on the hump to quick wallrides and the smoothness.  We ended on the weird sculpture benches.  I was unable to switch noseslide either way.  I guess the Indys might not be so good for ledges.  But I had some alright crooks and a fun noseslide shove.  Dave had a good line of front noseslide to fakie, fakie flip on the tiny bank, noseslide to fakie.  Oh yeah then we hit the bank for a bit.  Dave did some great fakie ollies.  I did some weak ollies to fakie.  

(setup 303 8.25 deck, jessup ultragrip, 144 indy mids, bones medium bushings,  spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 212 black/pink size 11.5, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

So I had gotten some new trucks at 303. Some Thunder 151s. I meant to get some 149s, but they didn’t have them and well I wanted something different. I have to admit to myself that I like bigger boards, but the bigger Ventures require lot of heft to pop them. I wanted a lower and lighter bigger truck for 8.3 or 8.5. So I put them on an almost new 8.3 I had in my garage. I arrived to an almost empty Broomfield park. I started on the quartapotty and it was really fun. Also a few basics on the blue ledge. My setup was feeling great with the exception of flip tricks, but I kind of blame these Es Accel slims for that. Sean showed. We started with a game of SKATE. He pink slipped me again. I had the excuse of new trucks. I mean even though it’s my own fault it’s a decent excuse right? I did get a defensive f/s halfcab heel, but other then that it wasn’t so good. Then we mostly skated the black ledge. Sean methodically went through his routine landing so many tricks first try. 5-0 180s, nosegrind 180s, tailslides, nollie/fakie 5-0s and nosegrinds. I had more pop than normal and was able to 50 the ledge several times. It was fun. Got one shove out, front 180 out, didn’t do any accidental 5-0s. Had halfcab noseslide and noticed the lack of the baseplate Thunder problem. Did some okay crooks, switch front noseslides. After a while I got really tired and chilled. Sean did a line first try of nollie back nosegrind 180 then fakie back 5-0 180. Wow. Then we played a game of SKATE and I finally got a letter on him. Yes, only one letter. Ha ha. And I forget which trick it was on. He was on fire and landed tricks like nollie back heel in one or two tries. After the game I tried treflips until I got a super bad one, got a halfcab flip and could not get fakie bigflip. Sean did the tricks above in a few tries. Man he was ripping.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 151 hollow light, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, es accel slims tricolor grey size 12, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After an insanely busy day at work I went to an old spot with a new complete on a really hot day. I put some wax on the ledge, but it just melted. So I kind of avoided the melted area and did stalls. I should have rub bricked it. But stalls were fun and I noticed the bigger wheels helping me get up on it. I had done some axle stalls and went in on some more. Front tails felt cool and since it was a stall why not shove out. Kickflip axle stalls didn’t really work, but still felt cool. Flip tricks went okay, nothing special though.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 92 custom hollow baseplate, stock bushings, 54mm spitfire f4 99a radials red/yellow swirl, new balance numeric 306 foy b/w size 12, thin 533 insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On an insanely windy day I went downtown hoping the trees would block some wind. They did, and on top of that the wind almost stopped for a couple hours. I was pretty sore so I wore some Westgates I had gotten from Tytus. They felt pretty good initially, but I eventually got that cupsole knee pain that reminds me not to wear cupsoles. I want to explore more and since I was in pain that’s mainly what I did. Just kinda wandering in allies and behind buildings I haven’t looked at before. I had a really embarrassing slam on an ollie off a curb into a parking garage driveway. I almost stopped at that point. Did a fun wallie nollie behind the Boulder Theater. Took a long time to do a really lame manual down a sidewalk then forced myself to kickflip. Right next to it was a new mini bank to curb that I took too long to slappy. Ended up at Casey and took awhile to do a bad line of front 180 the little stage gap, switch front 180 on flat, get into noseslide on the kinked hubba. I had thought of falling off the first part to grass ride, but it was too wet to ride. Went down near Ideal. Did a tiny crook on the plastic bench in the back. Man I was sore and lacking pop. So I walked some more. I went to go home, but right as I got to my car Dave called and said he was on his way. So we skated Wells Fargo for a bit. To our surprise they had taken out a tree and made a new miniramp. Ha, it is so hard to skate. I took forever to get a front slash. Then we started trying lines. Dave had some good slams, but would get the 3 trick line for the win. Then he ended it with the 3 continuous slashes for the MVP award. So sick. Not the best start to a new year, but I was ultra timid on my ankle still.

(2020 setup 8..25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 v-hollows, 1/16” riser, bones medium bushings, 52mm spitfire green swirl classics f4 99a, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 913 black/yellow size 12, stock insoles)
(Pain level 7/10)

Last Monday I didn’t skate because I was so sick of the heat. I did however play basketball with Ollie. I felt fine after, but woke up later in the night with an intense pain below my left butt cheek. I think I strained the hamstring. Ugh. Anyway, it still hurts. I skated, but I basically just did a few slappies and several slappy crooks. Saul said he was feeling arthritic, but he looked good. He was hitting the slappies front and back. Alley oop slappy, layback. We didn’t last long. I had bought a set of Mini Logo trucks to try. Yes, Powell Mini Logo trucks. This is because I really love Venture lows, but I wanted a wider truck. These are the same height as Venture lows, but wider (8.38). They felt great. They have a very small wheelbase, even less than Indy. They turn good. They just look pretty bad. Oh well, I had told myself awhile ago I should try them after reading some glowing reviews on the slap truck thread.

(setup 8.25 null abstract #6 deck, Mini Logo 8.38 trucks, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic wheels, 2 washers inside each axle, stock mini logo bushings, new balance numeric 913 Westgates b/w, stock insoles)
(pain level 9/10)

Kevin and I showed up with Christmas completes and had someone take a photo of us.  We were thinking it would be funny to just leave after that. Ha. Kevin had some Venture lows instead of his normal thunders.  I sized down to 8.3 with the new venture 8.25 trucks.  I had huge new wheels. 53mm SML wheels.  I was super hyped to support that company, but should have gotten smaller wheels as I really struggled for awhile.  Kevin on the other hand was totally shredding rattling off ledge tricks.  Nosegrinds, back smith, 5-0s.  Carleigh showed up and pretty quickly joined Kevin on the bump to barrier.  He did different tricks until she landed the boardslide.  The nosegrind was sick. Carleigh did the boardslide pretty quick.  There was almost no one skating so we told Rob to come back.  He did. Rad. Of course the crowds had reformed unfortunately.  The only thing I did that I was hyped on was the line Kevin filmed.  I did it a couple times before filming.  Way better of course (Just joking, but since there is no footage in my head it was better). Ollie the flat bar (hyped that this seemed easier on the smaller setup), wallie the barrier, nollie back tail the small narrow ledge, crook the black ledge.  Carleigh and Rob jumped on similar lines. Rob with the ollie then front 180 over the barrier.  Rob gots pop.  But it’s funny because he can’t wallie it.  Carleigh did ollie, wallie, front 50. 

Later on we met up with Jack at his wood spot.  It was so hot.  That spot is so hard. Well, not for Jack and Kevin. They were ollieing up the weird corner like it was nothing.  Both doing manuals. I think jack ollied the big two out of manual. Kevin did manual drop down to quick back 180.  Kevin ollied the flat gap easily.  Jack did a bunch of tricks over it. One of the steeziest backside bigspins I’ve ever seen, backside flip, impossible some more I’m forgetting.  Carleigh and I were struggling to get up the corner ledge. It was frustrating. I was posing ollies over the flat gap.  I eventually got the ollie up the ledge. Did a boneless down a level, then somehow made it over the flat gap. I say ‘somehow’ because what I did was not technically an ollie.  It was some weird awkward momentum that got me over the gap. It stoked me out regardless.  It also showed Carleigh that if she actually ollied she could do the gap. She tried that while I tried another line to clean up the ollie.  I tried ollie up the ledge, kickflip on the narrow ledge, ollie the gap. I got it and ended it with a back 180 off. It felt awesome.  Carleigh got the ollie too. Jack did a rad quick foot line. Ollie up, gap ollie, half impossible.  Wow. It inspired Kevin to switch flip the gap.  Unfortunately an hour and a half later he gave up after landing on several. Doh.  Fun long day of skating though. I like my new setup so far. 

(setup 8.38 null event horizon deck, venture 5.6 trucks, doh doh bushings (88a boardside, 92a roadside), 53mm sml og wide wheels, 3 bearings inside each axle, mob grip, new balance numeric 533v2 pj grey size 13, currex run pro insoles)

On a very hot Saturday Neil, Fuzz, Rob, Kevin and I met Jack at a bank spot Fuzz has been wanting to stubborn at for awhile. I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo, but it’s basically a bank on each side. One side is mellow with curbs up top (but set back a little) and a hubba to do stalls on from the bank. The other side a steeper bank with a flat gap and chain for the kids. Jack of course ollied into a small part of it right away. The rest of us took a minute to adjust to the spot. Kevin wallied into the bank, Fuzz with the front axle yank to fakie on the hubba. Neil with cool ollies. I was enjoying my new setup and started with a little front pivot on a parking block. Jack did front pivot kickflip to fakie on the side hubba. Rob had some cool lines with kickflips on the bank, front tails, backside ollies. Fuzz was trying smith stall on side hubba and did a funny sequence of yank ins and other stalls. Kevin had some cool stalls on the side hubba. Front tail fakie, front tail back 270 in was so sick. Fuzz had switch nose stall 270 shove. I was trying no comply flips into the bank and got close then made the mistake of asking Jack to film it thinking i could land it. What a good friend for sticking with me as I kind of eeked out a heel drag version in about 120 tries before nearly puking because of the heat. Regardless, I’ve never done that trick into a bank and I was hyped to try hard. Kevin had also done a kickflip nose stall, but for the most part it was a sit in the shade and watch Glen struggle session for an hour. Sorry dudes.

Then we went to this spot. Super sick spot with so many different options. The heat wave was in full effect. Especially after Jack did a kickflip axle stall on the dumpster right away. I attempted to ollie, but was in so much pain from jumping into that little bank so many times. Rob and Kevin got the manuals quick. Rob’s was sick as he ollied the little crack gap in the middle. Jack did nose manual nollie heel, kickflip manual kickflip out. Fuzz started a 3 trick wave. He started with 180 up, 180 the crack, 180 off. Ha. The fakie ollie up, fakie ollie the crack, fakie ollie off was so sick. Rob had no comply up, kickflip the crack, his patented steezy back 180 off. Neil got a super sick line. Nose manual shove out from bank by the dumpster, front shove out of the bank, wallie the corner of the building. He also played the 3 trick game on the loading dock. nollie up, back 180 the crack, switch front 180 the drop. I had gotten my legs to kind of work, came remotely close to nose manual. Got a crappy backside flip over the hip. Jack went in on kickflip manual treflip out. He had one hilarious airwalk out, but was getting super frustrated. Luckily he knew to call it before the heat got him too bad. Fun day. Best crew. I would have liked to land that no comply flip better though. Argh.

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

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Lots of gray hair this morning. @skateboard_chicken @fullertrron @edhatesfun #slappy

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Dec 30, 2018 at 5:35pm PST

On a really nice morning I showed up at the newly repaved EBRC parking lot where Dave, Ed and Saul were already slapping them grinds. There were a few different sections. I was getting used to new trucks and wheels. Well, the only part of the truck that were new were the hangers so it wasn’t really that different. I had some new Spitfire 52mm classics too, they felt big too. Argh. We went over to the banked area. It was fun to carve, try to tailslide, etc. Saul did the crazy slappy over the death box which was crazy. He was slappying all over the place. Some manuals around the bank were had, Dave almost got front tailslide shove, Ed was popping backside ollies. There was a fun little gap there too. You just had to dodge goose crap. I had a fun kickflip up then ollie the gap. Dave ollied it too, he also hung up on it and took a good slam I guess. Dave kickflipped off the curb then him and Saul bounced. I was stoked how casual Dave’s kickflips were. Ed and I skated awhile longer. I did the kickflip on the bank. Then we went back to the longer slappy curb. Man it’s good. Ed has the best frontside slappys. I got a couple real backside ones, I’m normally not up on it enough.

Then I went to a crowded Broomfield park to meet Sean and eventually Carleigh. There were quite a few older skaters there. Dudes I’ve seen around for years, but never knew. They had tiny setups and it stoked me out. After doing a brief warm up on the quartapotty and blue ledge Sean and I played a game of SKATE. It didn’t go so good for me, I might have gotten one letter on Sean. Since it was over so quick we went for another one, no repeats. This game was awesome! Sean was a gentleman and didn’t get me with tricks I’ve never done. I got letters on tricks I can do though like both halfcab heels, backside flip and something else. I was really surprised to answer back with a first try fakie heel. Especially considering how regular heelflips weren’t working. I was able to get some letters on Sean though. Fakie bigflip, fakie varial flip, 360 flip and nollie tre! I was hyped to get those tricks. We both took awhile to get last tricks. I was going for fakie tre, he was going for Rick flip. Both of us were constantly close, but he got his first and I came close to the Rick flip, but didn’t get it. Super fun game. We mostly skated the blue lurb after that. I didn’t get much. I got a mirror line. Nollie front tail, axle to fakie on the qp, halfcab noseslide. Sean did his front 180 nose manual switch back 180 out so good. Then he tried to mirror out a switch front 50 with a switch back front 50. It took him a long time because he couldn’t switch back 50. But he did get a couple good ones after Carleigh showed up. Carleigh did some good front 50s, kickflips, ollies. I gave up on hard stuff and tried to line out in a way I haven’t before. I did nollie front tail on the blue ledge, boardslide transfer the brown ledge, axle to fakie the qp, fakie 50 the blue ledge. I had done a few flip tricks too. I was really tired and sore when it was all over.

(setup null 8.25 lazer deck, 5.8 venture FTC trucks with forged baseplate, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel bottom one, yellow 92a small top one), no washers inside each axle, spitfire f4 99a classic 52mm green/yellow swirl wheels, adidas busenitz vulc b/w size 12 with stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10 started okay, but by the end I was really hurting)