On a cool morning I went to Arvada to meet up with 98, Cass and eventually Green Boi. I had slept great, but could not wake up to save my life. Doesn’t help wearing glasses, but man I was in a fog to say the least. After some messing around Cass and I played SKATE on the circle bank, but we never even finished it since we kept not landing anything. I mean we did get some tricks early on like kickflips and shoves at least. Went to the pier 7 area. Collin and Ladd were doing manuals all casual then kickflips up the big euro. I was struggling with 2mph front 50s. Landed a bs flip on flat, but couldn’t get a halfcab flip. Ladd did some cancel flips. Then near the hip area I did not get Cass’ back on b/s flip. I had a noseslide on the pyramid, but didn’t go all the way on it.

Then we went to the hip spot. We started on the far side looking at the wallride potential. The roll out is so scary with the death crack. I had to drop in from a couple of feet up multiple times just to get confidence to try the wallie nollie. I would get it with a deck check so not that great, but still fun. Collin got a crazy b/s no comply wallride. Ladd and Joe tried tricks into the bank. Then back to the hip area. Joe came close multiple time to sw ghetto bird. Collin would battle and get sw bs flip. Preston is so dang good. Front 3 and almost kf nose manual. Ladd got a kickflip right away, then slammed sooo hard on cancel flip. Wade had some cool boardslide 270s on the curb. I hucked 270 front heels which never got that close even though they did feel possible. I would get a few no comply 270s that were to tail. Fun time skating street even if my tricks were questionable.

(setup 5/10 null abstract 43 8.5/14.25, pepper g5, ace af1 hollow 55, snot 53mm pink franky, vans half cab wafflecup grey size 12 with remind impact cush insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After a very late night at Launch I met Will in the slight drizzle at the curved Louisville ledge spot. I was there first. There was a couple of kids there ollieing off a ledge. It was cool to see some kids out skating. They took off right away though. I did my nose jibs and stuff. Will showed. He 50’d it first try. Filmed him get a better one. I tried some front 50s. The downhill really weirds me out. I got one really bad one, couldn’t do it again which was depressing. Will had tailslide too. I struggled with front 180s over the little gap to start. Did a couple of lines without good slides which is ironic considering last time I had Thunders which aren’t supposed to slide, but I slid way better. Then the rain started. Fun little session.

(setup 3/10 8.3 null abstract 43, pepper g5, venture v8 5.8 hollow, 52mm bones x99 v1, vans half cab wafflecup grey size 12 with remind impact cush insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Nice Friday afternoon I bolted to dog park after work to meet Will. He was front boarding the narrow concrete wedges. I started warming up and Brian said he would come pick me up for old man night at Launch so I tried to get some skating in real quick. I wanted to do a nollie varial flip, but I wasn’t close. I had some grinds on the low ledges and a halfcab noseslide on the bench before Brian arrived.

After a fun drive with the crew we arrived to a very crowded ramp session. I had no intention of skating it and went and got tacos. Ha. I mean it ruled, but I’m just not a crowded ramp kind of person. I did enjoy talking to everyone I talked to. I did skate outside a little which was completely disorienting having to wear glasses. There were some ledges and wedges around that were barely lit. Whitman was there ripping. Dave came out after a while and shredded it. He had cabs over the wedge to mini loading dock hip. maybe even a back 360. I think all I landed were some noseslides.

Eventually the ramp session had cooled down enough that I could go in and bail axle stalls on the small side. It was really fun to watch. Dave was butter smooth as always. Brian with the crowd pleasers. Kyle G flipping his board. Other Kyle ollieing the gap like it was nothing, to disaster, or tail. Riley was there! And he was ripping. I was happy to see a backside beanplant along with his long grinds and smooth style. Christian was destroying. Donnie was destroying. Connor was destroying. There was a lot going on. I was mid axle stall at one point when Connor landed a lip slide down the escalator and everyone went nuts. At the end we talked to Andy until 1:30 in the morning I couldn’t believe it. He rules. It was fun chatting skateboarding, setups, and colorado history.

(setup 5/10 8.3 null abstract 43, pepper g5, venture v8 5.8 hollow, 52mm bones x99 v1, vans half cab wafflecup grey size 12 with remind impact cush insoles)
(pain level 5/10 ramp skating kills me)

Stopped by on the way home from work and it was cloudy which is nice while having to wear glasses. There were a few people there, but pretty chill. I had tried 8.3 with ace and would dislike it. Wanted to do a line of crooks the wood ledge then b/s flip on flat then halfcab noseslide on the lurb. But there was this guy trying front 5-0s over and over and over on the lurb and filming them and he kept being in the way. I had some front 50s on the lurb and tried my best not to do an accidental 5-0 in front of him. Ollies felt very bad on the setup. I only got one b/s flip. It started to get dark and my vision went to garbage. While driving home I came very close to hitting a large buck crossing baseline. Sheesh. As if I wasn’t already afraid to drive at night with my glasses.

(setup 2/10 8.3 null abstract 43, pepper g5, ace af1 hollow 55, bones x99 52mm v1, vans half cab wafflecup grey size 12 with remind cush impact insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

I have to wear my glasses for a while because of stye/arthritis issues. I also tried to skate some new Village PM 2pm shoes. I left my house not knowing where I was going and ended up at the dork wallie curb. I proceeded to totally suck. Beyond levels of suck I could imagine. I had done some pivots and posed some manuals on the weird plastic cover. Barely ollied up a curb, barely 180’d off it. It’s well lit, it’s a cool night spot. I tried to do a mini wallie the corner to manual and could not do it. Changed to my Vans and would get it somewhat soon then I went home.

(setups 8.25 and 8.5/14.25 with ventures and village pm 2pm shoes that I will never again wear)
(pain level 4/10)

Another nice day I picked up Kevin and we went to Broomfield park. We would be meeting a million people, most of which were 98 dudes and then Sean. The park was popping. Kevin and I warmed up on the bank to curb. He did both blunts right away then went on to kill the black ledge. I made myself do 10 tricks on the blue lurb which didn’t come easy. Front 50 180 was the best feeling one. And halfcab noseslide considering last time I almost broke all my fingers. Flip tricks didn’t work. Saw a lot of really good skateboarding. Can’t even start listing everyone as there was like 12 dudes. Sean showed and rattled off his tricks rather quickly before we left.

We went to the ledge into the bank spot per Kevin’s request. The crew was heavy and I didn’t feel like getting in that rotation so I went to show Wade the weird stuff behind the school and we ended up having a blast on the weird bank/ledge spot. We just kept going and going. Trying tricks and getting some of them. My nose to tail to shove was really rewarding. As were the nosepick and no complies. The last trick to front nose was pretty silly. I really like Wade’s skating. He is creative and fun to skate with.

We went back and watched some bangers at the ledge spot. Garrett, Sean, Kevin, Collin were still going at it. It was a fun day.

(setup 4/10 null abstract 43 8.5/14.25, venture v8 5.8, 52mm bones x99 v1 52mm, vans half cab wafflecup gray size 12 with remind cush impact insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On the day my daughter turned 27 I went and picked up Kevin then went to dog park. Kevin was visiting for a couple days. I was feeling quite sick an would not normally have skated, but Kevin was in town so of course I did. Gordon and Bratcher were at the park too. Jack was working on nollie back lip shoves when I showed. He didn’t get one, but they were close. Gordon was popping over things like he does no problem, fast grinds. Kevin took no time to get in the grove and was doing nosegrinds, gish’s and popping over the barrier too. I didn’t do much since I was sick and just kind of riding around seeing how I felt. Did a few crooks and whatnot, but that was about it.

We went to the ledge spot with the little bank. Kevin and Gordon had cool lines nollie and fakie popping over a rubber parking block. Gordon had good front 50s too, front nose. Kevin switch front nose, noseslides, crooks to fakie, halfcab noseslide. I just did some spracks and crooks.

Lastly Kevin and I went to check out the newly redone school nearby and the back was finally open. I felt super sick and out of it, but still managed a tiny ollie. Kevin almost got switch flip. He did do some ollies up onto a rock like it was nothing. There is some line potential at that spot.

(setup 6/10 null abstract 43 8.5/14.25, venture v8 5.8, 52mm bones x99 v1 52mm, vans half cab wafflecup gray size 12 with remind cush impact insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After a late night of celebrating birthdays we went into the city. First spot was Wallenberg. And it ended up being a fun session. There was a big game of skate that either Joe or Dan won. Looked pretty sick. I’m kind of bummed that I’ve reached this point that I don’t even ask to get included in games of SKATE anymore. I need to get back on it. Collin had amazing kick back 50s on the curb. I had some fun slappy crooks and slow 50s as well as a dumb back tail shove on a micro sponge hip. Scott front tail on the curb. Ladd almost did a crazy drop down ollie. Wade with some 50s and boardslides. Dan did some stuff on the curb too.

Then we went to Waller. I was feeling pretty beat at the time and it was hard to figure that place out. Wade had his moves all over the place. Donnie seemed to do some good stuff on the curbs too. Joe put down a banger line back tail, heelflip, ollie a barrier from flat. I had some noseslides and a couple of slow crooks that were less fun than I was hoping. Saw CO native Kiernan do a hardflip back tail. Jack did some tricks like I think pop shove crooks to fakie.

Lastly we went to Kezar. Crazy spot. Switch flip the triple set is insanity. Bob tried to ollie the triple set and had one of the funniest clips ever landing on his butt on his board. Joe threw a couple ollie attempts too. Wade did like 50 tricks around ride on grind. Front board to front nose, roll down two sets of stairs to front board, I don’t even know he was learning tricks every couple of minutes. Donnie had some fast ride on backside grinds and I think got one to manual. Collin and I got ride on front 50s to manual. When I landed mine it was one of the funner tricks I’ve done in a while. Felt so cool. Collin and I would go on to battle. He was doing ride on 5-0 180 to switch flip off. Never got the switch flip. I did ride on 50 to front shove off the ledge. It took me forever. I had so many slams. But I would get it and it felt cool. Fun way to end the trip.

(setup 2/10 8.3 null abstract 43, pepper g5, thunder team hollow 149 t2 bushings, bones x99 52mm v1, vans half cab wafflecup gray size 12 remind cush impact insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

In Oakland for the day. After hitting 510 we went to “rock wall” aptly named because it was insane. The photos by Dave show most of the spots we hit. At the rock wall Jack proceeded to do several tricks right away. Axle stall, pivot, back d and quit while he was ahead. He did a bunch of grinds on the weird spine thing as well and the crazy wallride too. Ladd had a wallride over the gap at rock wall as well as some feebles on the spine and wallride to fakie. We got Mike KP for the day! There was a curb with a little drop that he and Dan skated. Dan had switch back 180 and maybe sw bs flip. not sure on that one. Mike got nollie f/s flip. Collin tried front rock on the wall but didn’t get it. I did an ultra dumb mini gap to tail a tiny part of it and flailed flatground. Donnie was a beast. Took him a while to get a back smith. He had to do a Bennett first but it opened the floodgates. He Almost had sw f/s pivot after that.

We went to the nearby ledge spot. Joe put down some front crooks to fakie then went on to put down one of the best lines of the trip. Tall ass front 50 then a hardflip in the street that was one of his best. Which says a lot because he’s in my phone as “Hardflip Joe”. Al wanted front board, but didn’t get it. Jack may have done front noseslide. Others were skating the double ledge part. I did some ultra slow switch nose jibs and one with a shove out. Mike KP put down a killer front tail f/s flip and took the hill switch. Ladd had some solid front 50s, front 50 180, front 5-0 and almost 5-0 180. Donnie had some good noseslides, close to some other tricks.

After some driving we ended up at a pretty amazing spot with a battleship in the background. There was a bank to curb and a jersey barrier and ledge and a couch that people made made a kicker over. I was really sore at this point. Slappy crooks was all I had. Wade had done like 5 boardslide combos before the second car of people showed up. Al had really good slappy crooks. Ted had amazing slappies. Mike learned slappies. Across the way at the ledge I had a funny fall on a crooks attempt. Only did noseslides and a jersey ride. Joe did a sick line with fakie front crook and a boosted heelflip. Dan got tailslide 270 shove. Then Dave had setup a kicker over a couch and people were jumping. Joe ollied it. Ladd ollie and one foot and close to more. Mike did kickflip and was so close to f/s flip.

Fun day, then we went and celebrated the birthdays!

(setup 2/10 8.3 null abstract 43, pepper g5, thunder team hollow 149 t2 bushings, bones x99 52mm v1, vans half cab wafflecup gray size 12 remind cush impact insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Al, Wade, Donnie and I hit Berkeley skatepark in the morning for about an hour while others got ready to go see the redwoods. Ended up being a really fun session and got me out of the fun from the bank session the night before. Wade was on the rock ‘n roll right away. Al wasn’t really feeling the park so he filmed mostly. Donnie never got the front rock on the big wall, but he did still do all kinds of other amazing lines. Wade rattled off several tricks on the bigger qp. I took a while to get a backside flip over the hip, but I got 2 in a row and then a 3rd later that Al filmed. I had some fun noseslides. Wade was front boarding the ledge. I had two lines real quick that made me happy. Kickflip on the bank then crooks on the taller ledge. Then kickflip to fakie on the bank followed by switch front nose the taller ledge. I tried to front 50 the bump to ledge which I was kind of close before it was time to go. Donnie had ollied the whole pyramd, was getting into grinds on the steep euro to ledge. It was a fun session. I really liked the park. Not sure I would if I had to skate it all of the time, but for a quick session it was really fun.

(setup 2/10 8.3 null abstract 43, pepper g5, thunder team hollow 149 t2 bushings, bones x99 52mm v1, vans half cab wafflecup gray size 12 remind cush impact insoles)
(pain level 4/10)