Feeling kinda blah I ended up at dog park in the morning to meet Bernie and Eric.  I haven’t seen Bernie in a long time so was super hyped.  I hadn’t done a whole lot before Bernie showed up.  He claimed to be rusty, but was quickly doing front smith 180s on the cinder block ledges.  Eric had some long crooks, but not sure he got out smooth, goot front tails, front 5-0s.  I didn’t get anything of note, although committed to every little back 50 at least.  Eric left, Bernie and I played a game of SKATE.  It took forever.  He was rusty, but I had no excuse.  I ended up getting a couple tricks, I don’t even remember who won.  It was probably Bernie.  

Then I met at Zuni park feeling really tired and bailed some axle stalls.  Garrett was ripping, lofty kickflip.  Kevin had switch lip.  Bo feeble the big rail.  Hayden got the feeble too I think.  Jack was about the only one skating the non 3′ qp section.  We went to a gnar bank with a gap in it.  I just did some axle stalls on the mellow side.  Kevin got an ollie over the gap.  Jack, Hayden and Garrett got some bangers.  Went to another bank spot.  I tried to boardslide the bank to curb, but it was too dry and wax wouldn’t change that.  Jack had some cool tricks like front 50 to back 50, ollie over the curb to bigspin to tail.  Joe did a super sick front crook to fakie and almost got it switch.  Kevin came close to front 50.  Garrett got noseslide to fakie.  Bo tried quick up to 360 flip, but never got his feet on the tre.  Man it was hot.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 53mm spitfire classics blue/orange, new balance numeric 306 foy blue size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a lazy day after a rain storm I went over to the side of the school to skate flatground. I was pretty unmotivated, but I thought it would kick in once I started moving around. I slammed on a no comply 180 right away and thought about going home then. But unfortunately I am too stubborn. I struggled to land a kickflip. And when I did I was really inconsistent with them. Too the point where I almost focused my very last board. The warm up run of kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip took awhile. I survived the madness only to hit it again on halfcab flip. Just the day before I was 2/3 and they felt great. Nothing about my setup had changed. I was so angry. I can’t say I went on to land much. One horrible heelflip, halfcab flip followed by backside flip. Yikes, that’s it. I got somewhat close to treflip and nollie treflip. Hucked some front heels and switch front heel. But it was miserable not landing much. I had some fun doing back 180 over the manhole into the downhill section and doing switch front 180 after at least. This session really makes me question 8.5.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 53mm spitfire classics blue/orange, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a very hot day and a slow start after some trouble sleeping Dave, Simon and I ended up at Harrison High in Co Springs. There were a few cars and people around, but they didn’t mind as we started skating. Simon appeared to be shot out of a canon and was blasting backside ollies over the hips and front tailslides. Dave and I were doing front tails over the hips. I had a fun warm up run of front tail over the hip, noseslide the ledge then back 180 the two stair. I started trying the same thing but with a noseslide 270 shove and 3 tries later I landed one. Dave was hyped and knew I was feeling it and offered to film it. I rotated with Simon who was doing switch bluntslide. I would get the noseslide 270 shove 3 times. They felt pretty good, but I never landed the shove down the two stair after to complete the line. I was still happy about finally getting a noseslide 270 shove on film though. That ledge was perfect for it. After that I filmed. Simon did a line with front 360 on the bank, halfcab noseslide then backside flip. He also did tailslide shove. He was destroying. Dave did a super sick line of back tail, front board to fakie then switch 180 (he also did it with halfcab) the two stair. He ended it with a quick up to manual.

Then we went off to Galileo. We finally got some cloud cover around then, but the start of the session was still hot and it was a rough start. Simon front 50’d both sets quick, but slammed super hard on a noseslide and coupled with the heat he chilled after that. Dave and I started slow on the bank and did some warm up tricks to get going. Then I joined Dave in trying to line out the top steeper step. He was doing steezy front shoves then trying back 50. I was trying kickflip to fakie, halfcab flip then front 50. Neither of us got the 50s. I wasn’t happy about the kickflips to fakie taking so long, but they were fun when I landed them. Then we skated the mellow set. Dave front 50’d and front 50 back 180 out really quick. I filmed the 180 out, he did it so good. He then front 5-0’d it really well. I was struggling to get back 50. I’ve always sucked at bank to ledges. It took me forever, but all of a sudden I kind of figured it out and did a couple back 50s and 180 out. I hucked a few kickflip 50s which Dave started filming. I think mostly because he felt sympathy for me not landing anything. Ha. I got kinda close, but knew it wasn’t going to happen. I got really angry and went for a back nosegrind and it was kinda close. An hour later and it was still just kinda close. Maybe a little closer, but yeah, I never got it. It was fun trying hard and getting close, but a bummer I didn’t get it. After I finally gave up Dave went back in on nose manual and got a few good ones. Then he tried front nosegrind for a bit, but gave up tired. Fun, exhausting day.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 53mm spitfire classics blue/orange, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a mellow day I went to the school around 4 for an hour of flatground.  I had new bright orange/blue spitfires.  I started slow with no real plans.  I got my original warm up line first try.  Kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip.  Then a pop shove revert followed by switch shove revert.  Also got halfcab flip then backside flip pretty quick.  After that things took awhile, but I would get a few tricks here and there.  Frontside halfcab flip and heel.  Going uphill I was trying harder stuff, a lot of nollie treflip attempts that weren’t too close.  Going downhill i stuck with the Irongman for quite awhile and was really struggling with heelflips.  i finally got a couple and landed a treflip too.  That made me happy.  I got a fakie varial flip and almost followed it with nollie varial flip.  I got a couple fakie bigflips.  That was an hour, it was fun.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 53mm spitfire classics blue/orange, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

On a slightly cooler day I met Luzius at the Arapahoe bank/ledge spot around 11.  I was equipped with pants and vulcs for a better flick on the fakie flip.  We started with a game of SKATE that took awhile, but was a good warmup.  Dave was ready to go and got me with like 3 tricks before I was ready to pop.  Kickflip, pop shove and something else.  We would bail a lot of tricks, I would eventually get fakie flip, halfcab flip, heelflip and something else so it was SKAT-SKAT.  He won it on switch front 360 which on my second try felt much closer than I would have ever imagined.  Then it was right to work after a couple warm up lines.  It took me another hour and I was getting super depressed, not really enjoying skating.  But then I started getting close to the fakie flip and out of nowhere landed a really bad one.  Dave insisted I keep trying and a few tries later I got another one which felt worse, but was actually somehow was a little better.  I chilled after that.  Dave didn’t really feel like skating so we split.  

A few hours later I met Jack and then Fuller at the yellow bank to curb frontage road spot again.  I was not really feeling like skating. I got kinda close to lipsliding it again, had some funny nose jibs on the taller part.   It was fun watching Jack destroy it with wallie 180, wallie boardslide transfer, wallie to switch crook, boardslide pop out, and a line of wallie, ollie into the bank, impossible off the curb.  Dave had showed and was piecing together some rad lines so I filmed him and Jack.  Dave did a Chico line line.  Nollie back 180, switch front 180, lipslide, ollie onto the two stair then quick back 180 off.  Then I filmed him back lip the two stair as jack did a million no comply flips over the 2 stair and then put down one to manual that was so perfect.  What an amazing trick.  Stoked those guys stacked some clips.  Then we had a fun Null meeting later that night.  I love those dudes.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 306 foys blue with thin adidas insoles then 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a hot day I met Luzius at the yellow frontage road bank to curb/ledge spot near my house.  I skated my 8.75 because I hadn’t put bigger wheels on my 8.5, but I regretted it.  I never really made it past the warm up phase.  I couldn’t lipslide even though the bigger setup definitely kept it’s speed better.  Dave went on to do a sick front board pop out.  

Then we met Jack at the Arapahoe pipe bank spot with the ledge.  Jack and Dave setup new boards.  Dave had some good front 50s, but didn’t get the smith he wanted.  Jack did hurricanes super casual, super good back tails.  I had a line in mind and started in on the warm ups.  First was boardslide flop out then ollie to fakie.  Second was switch front nose then fakie ollie.  Then switch front nose 270 out followed by fakie flip.  It red for about an hour and a half, Jack was kind enough to film it, but I never got it.  I went through a stretch where I bailed the first trick like 20 times in a row.   It was so frustrating.  That bank is so hard for flip tricks.  I had a really god slam on one of the switch front noseslide 270 attempts.  After Jack left I was pretty over it, but Dave started playing around again and would do a line of front hurricane then ollie to fakie over a pipe.  It was really sick.  I went home and realized my legs were so scraped up and bloody from the day.  Argh, so much for skating in shorts.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 my legs got so bloody from so many scrapes skating the rough streets in shorts)

I had some time to kill before we headed up to the mountains to see my mom. I debated not skating, but ended up saying what the heck and went for it. I had wanted to switch out my wheels, but figured I didn’t really have enough time. I did grab my 8.75 setup with 54mm wheels just in case. The area on the side of the school was shaded, but had a lot of grass trimmings which was annoying. I started off okay, getting a few kickflips and feeling alright. But man, anything beyond that was a total struggle. I maybe got only fakie flip, halfcab flip and a bad fakie bigflip. I was trying a the ironman with the treflip over the uphill manhole. I never got a heelflip though, the treflips felt doable. After literally almost crying on a failed attempt at backside flip I grabbed the 8.75 setup and skated it the rest of the time. My kickflips were infinitely better, fakie flips too. I did a first try frontside flip (a Glen one with all 4 down then pivot) followed by a first try backside flip. I would finally land a heelflip too, but treflips felt harder. I blame the lack of grip on my 8.75 that’s a few years old now. I left completely frustrated with skateboarding.

(setup 8.5 & 8.75 nulls with ventures, spitfires, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a hot day I pulled into the new 3rd St skatepark in Greeley. Much to my delight Damon was there. He was ripping. Frontside flips over the hip, up the euro, etc. My hand was still hurting really band and on one of my first warm up tricks I slid out right to my hand. Ouch. But it showed me I could fall on it. I did a few slow flip tricks, a slow front 50 on the main ledge, a few nose manuals on the manny pad, nothing of real note. The Nullers started showing. Man it was great seeing all of them ripping. It took me forever to kickflip up the euro, but when I finally did it I almost lined it out with noseslide down the hubba then noseslide 270 shove. I would kind of get one noseslide 270 shove. I also got a front 50 on the weird banked ledge that was fun, but could only do it once super slow. Hayden did it all fast first try so stick. The dudes killed it. Jack back 50 up and down the euro. Riley every trick, nollie inward heel, varial heel revert, switch hard, switch f/s flip, etc. Garrett was killing it, nollie back heel the euro, blizzard flip the hip, halfcab noseslide 270 shove the mellow hubba. Sean back nosegrind the mellow hubba, heeflip up the euro. Peyton did shove late shove and back foot flip up the euro. Also a 360 flip to land then nollie shove. Jack learned bluntslide front heel out down the long rail. WTF. Bo has a mean ollie and crooks.

We went and looked at a weird bank spot that basically Riley was the only one that skated. He did a 5-0 to fakie on it, crazy.

Then we ended up at a weird two stair, flat gap, little plaza area. Jack did manual then backside flip so quick. Bo was quick on the filming so I messed around posing a gap to boardslide on a dumb rock off a two stair. I would keep trying it while so much happened. Riley hurt his knee again on a varial flip :(. Garrett kickflip, board break on treflip then setup a new board and land the treflip. Sean ollied a bunch of 3 stairs as did Hayden. Jack would go on to do manual then bigflip. Once Garrett did the treflip I had to land my boardslide which I would eventually do. It was dumb, but since Bo was killing it filming I felt like I had to at least try something.

Then we ended up at a total dream spot. Most people were beat. I tried to skate, but really struggled. I got a line of pop shove, ollie the 4 stair, boardslide the ledge. Would love to go back and do a 180 or something followed by a better trick. Sean and Garrett killed it with the tricks. Sean did front 50 back 180 out up the hubba. Garrett did wallie boardslide for like 20 feet. Hayden 50’d down it and almost got some cool nose manual drop downs. Long day!

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 5/10 hand and sore knees)

On a warm day Kevin, Dave L and I met in Golden at the univ. We just wanted something different. We started out on a set of long stairs. Kevin and Dave tried a bunch of 180s. I think Kevin may have gotten it all. Nollie front 180, halfcab, back 180, switch 180, switch back 180. I did a couple wallride nollies down a step. I was feeling pretty off. Next we ended up at this crazy manny pad. It was quick with a somewhat tall drop. I was feeling every bit of my cracked tail and had no confidence so I went back to the car to switch out my board. Kevin had already manualled it and switch ollied onto it and Dave ollied onto it when I left. When I got back Kevin said he had landed primo on a nose manual and was over it. We went to the center of the school which has a bunch of stairs. I warmed up on a 3 stair while Dave and Kevin went at a 4. Kevin had made it look so fun with a fun carve after. I got the 4 stair ollie and didn’t want to try any more than that. Dave would get it too. We ended up at a total Stubborns spot. A weird 2 stair with ride on ledge off it. I was skating really bad, but had a fun few runs. Pop shove, front nose jib a tall ledge, ride on back 50. Wallride nollie, front board, ollie the weird gap. Kevin went for a line swerving some tables, 50 a weird round bench then ride on back 5-0 front shove out. He wouldn’t get it. Jack showed up at this point. He did some good back 360s, wallrides. We got the boot from there and ended up at the steep bank that Nolan crook and 5-0d. I never got a wallride. Kevin splatted again, but got a good wallride. Jack had some really good wallrides. Then we went to the downhill ledge. There was a truck parked there, but he offered to move it so we had to skate it. Jack was on the back 50 immediately then went on to do several back tails that were all incredible. Dave, Kevin and I took some time to get anything or even try. It must have looked funny we would drop in like 10 feet from the ledge, roll a couple feel then stop unable to commit to the ledge. I would get a few noseslides and one to fakie. I was trying to slide them further but slammed into the rocks on top and messed up my hand enough that I had to stop skating. Kevin was going for crooks, took a horrendous slam and chilled for awhile. Then worked his way up to a good one to fakie. He grinded a long ways. Dave would get a couple front 50s and one with front 180 out. It was funny how distracted Dave would get. Any car in the distance, noise, etc. It was hilarious. We were beat after that. Street skating is hard, but rewarding.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)