Had the day off work, did some things then Jake and I rolled to Wilville on a really nice day. We started at the round curb thing. Oh yeah, I had a new setup. 8.25 board and trucks, smaller wheels. It felt good. Oh yeah, and new shoes! 288S. My fav shoe as of late. We both had front and back 50s. Jake was quick to huck some front noseblunts. Out of nowhere I had a really fun line. Front tail stall, kickflip on flat, ollie the 3 stair, noseslide the flagstone bench. Hyped me up. Jake and I also both did a bunch of front smith stalls. I got one in a line with no comply shove, shove the micro bump, but bailed front 180 on the 3 stair. Lame. I got a first try nollie back tail and came kinda close to kick back tail. Jake was sliding back blunts. He was trying a couple lines too. Uphill way – front smith, kickflip, nollie the 3. Never got the nollie. Then ollie or front 180 up the 3, some 180s then back blunt which he never really got either. I didn’t get up to the 3, but to my surprise I did commit and get very close. Which is kind of surprising because I was on a smaller board with smaller wheels.

Next we went to the rock area. There were a couple rippers there ollieing up the two sets of 3 stairs. Pretty sick. I got a fun line of dropin the tall rock, rock ride to fakie, switch ollie the two stair. Sounds like nothing, but the switch ollie was really fun. Then we both did lines to get down the 3s. Jake did a beanplant rock ride, ollie, olllie. I did drop in, really bad boneless rock ride thing, ollie, front 180. It was really fun. I hadn’t ollied those sets yet. Cracks make the first one kinda weird.

Then we went and played a couple games of SKATE near the food court. Jake got to SKAT quickly on a couple double or nothings. I think one was fakie flip. I won it on halfcab flip. The next game was no repeats. My knees had started hurting so it kinda messed with me. I didn’t really land anymore flippers except varial flip which Jake missed double or nothing then went on to get it in about 5 more tries. I got a letter on fs flip, Creepy spin a couple more and lost on fakie 3 shove. Twas fun. I did one nose manual at the end into the bank and we headed out.

As I walked to the house I noticed a bunch of people skating the curbs. Turns out it was Raul, Saul, Dave L (although I just missed him), Eric, Sawyer and Ethan. So I had to go say hi to a rad crew like that. I went with the 8.25 originally, did one slappy crooks then realized I wanted my big board to be lazy and slappy with. Eric did a long manual, some heelflips, a really good back slappy. Sawyer had some insane slams mixed with really good slappies. Ethan had good slappies too. Saul left right when I got there. Raul did some filming and some back 180 50s. I actually ended up not liking the big setup for slappies too much. Oh well. I had done a few of the norms, slappy front crook was the most fun.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate with hollow hanger, 1/16″ riser, 52mm bones easy street stf v5, 3 speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S jack curtain size 11.5, no insoles at all)
(pain level 5/10 knees were borderline in too much pain at times)

After working from home I went to campus on a somewhat cooler evening. I had been obsessing with the bank to curb spot wanting to try kick back tail. I pretty much went right there and quickly struggled with ollies up the curb. It was so depressing. I couldn’t do a back 50 to save my life, but for the record I’ve always found that difficult there. I couldn’t get slappy crooks either. I had put an 8.3 deck back on in hopes of less sucking, but it didn’t seem to matter. Flip tricks were slightly easier, but really I think the huge wheels were the major bummer. I went on to rotate between manual to noseslide attempts and kick back tails. Getting close to both. I had tried awhile before turning on the camera. I did some flip tricks on the way back, got kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, fakie varial flip, b/s flip. Still couldn’t heelflip, got somewhat closer on treflip. I really hate how little grip the yellow soled westgates have. I gave up after awhile and went down by the Buffalo metal ledge, but my knees started hurting pretty bad. I got a noseslide maybe, not even close to crooks. I always think that area will be really fun, but I never have fun there. Then I went home and obsessed over a setup change consulting Jack and Nate for suggestions. Or rather annoyingly bugged them.

(setup 8.3 null curby, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/16″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mountain classics with 3 speed washers on the outside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w/yellow size 12, no insoles at all)
(pain level 5/10 wasn’t bad for awhile, but by the end it was too much)

Feeling kinda lazy and without confidence I rolled to Wilville on a nice afternoon. Well, it was kinda breezy which wasn’t fun at times. I started at the round curb/ledge thing. Saul stopped by and said hello on his way to Creekside. After a few no-pop noseslide variations I tried some lines to get the warm up going. First one was switch 180 a manhole, front 50 the curb, kickflip on flat, ollie the 3 stair, noseslide the flagstone bench. I got that line, it was terrible, slow, pathetic. Next line was a little harder. Front tail the curb (didn’t slide), no comply shove on flat, pop shove the micro kicker, front 180 the 3 stair, fakie ollie on flat, switch front nose or halfcab noseslide the flagstone bench. Never got the last trick. I moved up to the main area and totally sucked it up. I had changed the 1/8″ riser to 1/16″. And somehow the ledge felt really tall. Maybe it was my sore legs, but man, even noseslide was hard. I did noseslide, noseslide to fakie, boardslide pop out the narrow side. Couldn’t get switch front nose or front 50. I tried front 50 for awhile. I got up onto a couple, but never well enough to land it. It made me really depressed and hate my setup to no end.

(setup 8.5 null collage, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/16″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mountain classics with all speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w/yellow size 12, no insoles at all)
(pain level 4/10 some of that sharp knee pain I’ve had lately)

On a super warm and nice day I met Saul across the street shortly after my post work nap. It was my first time skating in shorts. Felt fine. Saul had a few slappy crooks right away. He was getting into front slappies longer than normal, but not landing them. I had maybe the best front slappy I’ve done and blew the kickflip off the curb cut after. I was wearing some Westgates again since I blew a hole in the sole of the 288s. The Westgates don’t have as good of board feel. I had the slappy front crook then front shove off the curb cut line. Tried a few switch front tails, the first couple were close. I’m not remembering anything else that stood out. We both had some good slappies, skated for about an hour. Then I went and tried some flatground on the side of the school. It didn’t go so hot. I didn’t really expect it to, but when I got to 360 flip I was super bummed on how foreign and impossible they felt. I tried like 50 of them and never got that close. It was depressing.

(setup 8.5 null collage, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/8″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mountain classics with all speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w/yellow size 12, no insoles at all)
(pain level 4/10 some of that sharp knee pain I’ve had lately)

On a nice day we went to campus driving separately of course to maintain proper social distancing.  Ha.  We did some warm up slappy crooks, fakie front crook attempts before rolling to Baker dorm ledge.  Two younger kids rolled up at the same time.  They would go on to be a couple of the most annoying kids I’ve been around.  One was good, but he was so clueless, going all the time, super full of himself.  Stupid kids.  Ha.  Anyway I felt okay on my skateboard which was nice.  Got a manual then noseslide to fakie pretty quick.  First try crooks.  Kevin was of course on the ledge quick with the 50s and got a front 5-0 shove quickly.  I had failed a few slow front 50s and was thinking maybe the taller wheels and riser weren’t beneficial when all of a sudden I did a front 50.  It felt rad.  I couldn’t get on it last time I was there.  I would go on to get a better one and close to front 5-0 (although it was an accident).  Kevin had some nice back tails.  I got a sorry excuse for a back 50, but it felt cool.  I had some fun with manuals and nose manuals.  Kevin bragged about how the pad was too low for him.  Ha.  I tried one fakie f/s noseslide and got close.  I wish I would have tried more, but Kevin and I got into a kick back 50 race which neither of us won.  I was having fun doing nose manuals kinda fast setting me up for a slow kick back 50.  I got up on it and close, same with Kevin, but neither of us got it.  Then we were pretty beat and trying to stay healthy so we left.

(setup 8.5 null collage, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/8″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mountain classics with all speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5, no insoles at all)
(pain level 2/10 !!!)

After work on a cold evening Ollie and I cruised to Wilville. On the way there Ollie had some nice ollies going pretty fast. We started at the little oval ledge area. It became apparent quickly that my sore neck would make ollies difficult. Ollie did a noseslide to fakie which I’ve never seen him do before. He also did a no comply 3 shove. He was trying for impossible though. We hit the little 3 stair. Well, Ollie did. He also did a nose stall on the 2nd stair which impressed me more. I didn’t even ollie it. We hit the rock garden area for a bit. Ollie had a little line of ollie down the 2 stair then rock ride to fakie. I was pretty over it. We went to the manny pad, but there was a cop posted up. So we ended up at the bank/stair spot. We were messing around trying side rocks to fakie and they just kind of evolved into what we did. I had first just tried to ride along the ledge and ollie off. It somehow got a lot less scary when I added the grind to it. Ollie and I rotated for awhile, he took awhile too. I was super hyped on his trick and when he got it I finally committed to rolling off the ledge. It doesn’t look tall in the video at all, but it sure felt tall. I was pretty hyped on landing that. Someone should do a nice long 5-0 to fakie on it. Anyway, we went home after that. It was quite cold.

(setup 8.5 null collage, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/8″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mountain classics with all speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5, no insoles at all)
(pain level 5/10 neck pain)

On a very nice day I rolled off around noon to hit Wilville.  It was a fun ride there, a little weird the first time with risers and all that going fast.  I started at the 3 stair then flagstone ledge area.  It was weird how no one was there, which is to be expected, but it was still weird.  I got a noseslide or two on a ledge then started trying the ol’ line game.  Something like pop shove a crack, ollie the 3, noseslide a ledge.  Then I basically went in on a line for awhile.  Pop shove the little up crack, front 180 the 3, fakie flip on flat, halfcab noseslide the ledge.  But I never committed to the fakie flip.  The slight hill was just too much and I couldn’t commit.  I think I just need to get some confidence back.  So I just tried halfcab noseslides for a bit.  Took awhile, but I kinda got one.  I also had a couple good feeling heelflips going back.  Then I rolled for awhile and ended up at the main ledge spot.  I had some fun front 50 stalls on the knobbed section then noseslide, noseslide fakie, crooks and boardslide on the main section.  Hucked noseslide 270 shove for a bit, but needed to get going.  I looked at a little ollie over a curb to drop I want to do, but chickened out and headed home.

Near the end of the work day I met Saul and the Daves across the street.  Saul got his slappy challenge out of the way.  Before I even got there actually.  He did slappy feeble and slappy crook pretty quickly.  He also ollied a rock off the curb but.  It was sick!  Dave L had some casual nollie front 180s over the rock ( I think?), manual then nose manual into the micro bank, front tails, kickflips.  I didn’t skate great, had a kickflip over the rock, some decent slappy front crooks, one bad fs hc flip, couldn’t get kick back tail, some okay regular slappies, couldn’t get slappy shove or fakie nosegrind.  Dave F got it like 2nd try though.  He did a switch slappy crook shove first try, then was trying it in a line forever and got really frustrated.  Then he did it the one time Dave L wasn’t filming.  Ha. That’s always how it goes.  Felt good to skate so much.

(setup 8.5 null collage, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 1/8″ riser, 54mm spitfire f4 99a green lance mountain classics with all speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S b/w size 11.5, no insoles at all)
(pain level 3/10)