On a hot morning I met Cass at the 12th & Osage park.  We started on the quarterpipes.  It took me a bit to get used to the little diamond cut coping, but it ended up being quite fun.  We both did a few things, but moved over to the ledge when we got warmed up.  Cass had some good crooks, almost crooks shove.  Also got my back on a front 50 shove, his was much better.  I struggled at it frontside, the weird uphill approach is annoying.  I had some crooks, halfcab noseslide, switch front nose.  Then we moved over to a concrete ledge a block away.  It was quite hot, but we had some fun.  Cass got noseslide shove and some good front noseslides.  I kind of landed a super slow front 50 then a line ollieing the tiny gap, noseslide to fakie, then switch front noseslide.  I was not linking the low trucks for the lack of pop. Argh. We posed some noseslides over another ledge over a flat gap.  I was sore and hungry so we just sat and I had my smoothie.  After a drive to a cool ledge spot where we got the boot immediately we ended up at Cody Elementary.  It looks like such an amazing spot, asphalt banks, a hip, some rails and picnic tables.  Cass chilled initially, I hucked a bit to get warmed up then got a backside flip over the hip. I hucked nollie tres for awhile, frontside halfcab flips, 360 kickflips, nothing was working.  Cass got going, did some 180s, kickflips and a super good hardflip.  jack had joined and started a little slow, but did some really amazing tricks.  Hardflip, Rick flip, 50 180s over the hip, hippy jump the rail, kickflip fakie nosegrinds on the weird bank to hubba.  Actually so many chill tricks just messing around that are quite mind blowing.  Dave showed up, but didn’t wear his sun blocking old man hat.  His warm ups were cool, bigspins over the hip, grinds up the bank hubba.  He did a line of 50 up it to 270 off then front nose to fakie over the hip.   I went to get my camera to film it, but by the time I got back and setup Jack had filmed it.  Sweet.  Dave would also 50 the ledge.  Simon mostly chilled, but did some casual slaying.  He does the basics so well.  I had done a couple line attempts.  Kickflip to fakie on a bank then fakie big over the hip, but couldn’t get the fakie big.  Got a no comply bigspin then backside flip.  Then I went in on nollie tres.  Over and over, sometimes I would get close, even put my feet on some, but nope.  Denied.  Ugh.  After that we went to a nearby bank to curb that was really hard to skate.  I did some slappy crooks, switch front noseslide and barely worked up to boardslides.  Jack took a branch to the ear than chilled.  Simon had some steezy blunts.  Dave killed it.  Front disaster, front rock, front hurricane and then a super crazy windshield wiper.  What a cool trick.  Fun day.  I would like to have landed a nollie tre, but oh well.  

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 288s grey/blue size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)  

Up early on a hot day Jake and I started at 7. We did some warming up on our own for awhile before we both settled in on trying the latest challenge from Fuller – halfcab noseslide shove. Jake does noseslide shove a lot and he got it pretty quick. It took me quite a while longer, but I was pretty hyped when I got it. Then we played a game of SKATE. Seeing as how it wasn’t even 8am there were some struggles, but we actually did pretty good. He got me with frontside flip and pop shove body varial. I got him with halfcab flip, heelflip, f/s halfcab flip, no comply backside shove and ended it with fakie bigflip. Then we each had a line we had to do before we could go. Mine was pretty easy. Hippy jump, front 50 shove, back 50 (I added crooks to it). Jake did wallie, hippy jump, bluntslide. Then it was off to work.

Since it was a chill work day I setup my putter again. After work I went over to the school and tried switch flips and varial heels for awhile. I didn’t get too close on switch flips, but I was close to several varial heels. Didn’t get one though. Argh.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 288s grey/blue size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)  

On a hot afternoon with some cloud cover I went to the side of the school after work. I started trying switch flips and mostly tried them the whole time. My right knee was hurting too much to try many regular tricks. There was only a couple switch flips attempts that felt close. One was very close. I did commit to several at least, but it just wasn’t flipping enough. With my knee pain I’ll have to try some cupsoles again.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10 right knee vulc pain)  

Was at Broomfield by 7. Sean was there warming up. He had a few flippers going as I wandered around the crowded park aimlessly. So I decided a game of SKATE would get me going. I did alright considering my first kickflip was in the game. After a while we stalled on some harder tricks. I couldn’t do fakie bigflip and Sean was taking a bit to get fs halfcab heel. I managed a treflip then f/s halfcab flip, eventually a fakie bigflip. Sean would come through in the end and get me with back heel, f/s halfcab heel and a nollie back heel that took him a long time. Then we skated the black ledge. Sean was struggling a little with nosegrinds which was odd. I had some alright crooks and front 50s initially. Had a good feeling front 50 180 and then couldn’t get another front 50 to save my life. It made me mad. So I hucked a few switch flips and out of nowhere landed on one. I bailed stepped off, but still, it was a jolt of stoke. I got both feet on it and almost rode away! I would try several more throughout the night and a few more were really close, not quite as close though. Still, super exciting. I hit the blue pad with Darin for a while. He was trying fakie nosegrind switch shove, but didn’t get it. So I tried fakie 50 switch front shove and got pretty close. Sean joined us and did some really fast manuals. Then I was too tired to keep skating. Overall I didn’t skate that well, but landing on a switch flip felt awesome and encouraging. Oh yeah, Christian was there ripping. Good to see his fast powerful skating.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10 some minor knee pain that was close to getting bad)  

Woke up around 5:30am for some dumb reason and felt pretty good so I went to the dog park.  I was there shortly after 6:30 and thought I would have the place to myself.  Nope, there were some little kids scooting or biking quite a bit of the time.  Argh.  I wonder why it’s fun to go in circles around stuff and not try tricks versus ride on the nearby fun dirt bike trails.  Back to skating, the warm up was a struggle.  I had started thinking I’d have one of those days where I couldn’t ollie at all.  It’s been awhile since I’ve had one of those.  It ended up being a fun session though.  I got some front 50s on the cinder block ledge quickly, a shove out.  Most of the ledges were sticky, it was annoying.  Even for crooks.  Dave had challenged me to halfcab noseslide shove so I tried that for awhile on a cinder block ledge.  It is hard.  I got somewhat close several times, but never landed it.  I had tried to ollie the cinder block ledge too and 360 flips in between tries.  Failed on all of those.  I cruised around for a bit, feeling some stuff out.  Then tried a kind of ridiculous line.  Ollie the wallie thing, kickflip a small plastic parking block, back 50 the tiny pad, 3t60 flip, noeslide back 270 out the tall black ledge.  I only got the first 3 tricks, but even that felt cool.  Oh wait, I gave up on the ollie and did wallies instead.  So maybe not so cool.  I did do one noseslide and did a double pivot thing 270 out.  It wasn’t anything like how Bobby does them, but it felt cool.  I ended with a front nosegrind 180 on the narrow low metal ledge which I haven’t done on that before.  All things considered I skated alright.

Then right after work I went into the shaded alley at the school and skated flat for about an hour.  I was a little sore when I started, but felt good quickly.  I would get quite a few of the basics, but didn’t get anything hard.  I hucked a ton of tricks and never really focused on anything other than switch flips which I kept at the whole time.  I was so close to a few switch flips.  I had so many where I landed with just the back foot.  I committed with both feet several times too, but it would only flip halfway.  Halfcab flip took several tries for some reason.  Other tricks I got were fakie flip, fs halfcab kickflip and heel, heelflip, backside flip.  Couldn’t get nollie or reg treflip.  Hucked some tricks I have no business trying like back 3 kickflip, fakie ghetto bird, switch back heel.  I got tired tired near the end and had no energy so I went home.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)  

Was feeling kind of motivated for an early dog park session I got called out for work the minute I was about to leave my house. Argh. That put me in a foul mood that I wouldn’t really recover from and I had lost all desire to skate. I was down to film Jack and Sean though and I met them at a rail/4 stair spot off Baseline. I didn’t really skate. Sean ollied the rail a few times, Jack tried Rick flips off the little drop. Sean wanted to ollie out to the street too, but it was too hectic with cars. Then we went to the sculpture ledge under the stadium. Jack tried a few willy/5-0 double grind things and I thought that would be fun to try. But when I tried it I kind of just ran into the ledge and felt stupid. Jack did some really good Rick flips on flat. It was cool seeing him working on a trick. Sean did some solid fast 50s, but never got further. We played at the bank to curb for a bit. Well, I didn’t even hit the curb, I gave up after ollies up the curb felt like too much work. Sean had a cool 50 to manual. Jack came close to a back smith stall to fakie manual. Then we sat and chilled in the shade and blamed everything on the heat (it was 97).

On a hot day I went to find some shady spots on campus.  They got rid of the free parking so I had to park down by Silvermine.  First spot I hit was the bank to curb under the stadium.  I got annoyed by all of the people walking by trying to get a view of the stadium so I left after a few warm up noseslides and failed back 50s.  I wanted to hit the sculpture ledge, but it was even more mobbed with parents taking photos of their kids.  I walked up the hill a bit and found a 4 stair I’ve wanted to ollie.  It’s not big, but has a huge crack right in front of it and has a slight downhill landing.  I did some kickflips then bailed some ollies.  Found a line of ollie up the sidewalk through a narrow path then ollie the 4.  Was feeling it and gonna commit when some car parked right by it.  They were just sitting there doing nothing.  So I left.  Ended up at the fitness center.  Did a couple nosesldies on the waxed tall one.  Then tried to ollie a rock for awhile.  I would try flippers in between attempts.  Didn’t and much, but still enjoying the quick flick of low trucks and a smallish board.  I only committed to the ollie once and totally did not get close at all.  I was really bumming.  Wandered around again, there were some shady spots, but they seemed to always have someone sitting there studying.  I found this ledge with the downhill approach.  Did a few noseslides.  I don’t think I have ever crooked it before and it did not come easy, but I would get a few.  Most were questionable willy grinds, but a couple were posted up a little bit.  I was gonna hit the tall engineering ledge after that, but instead I went home. I was somewhat happy that I at least did a crook on a tallish ledge I hadn’t done before.

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)  

Had a lot of trouble sleeping and some alarm off in the distance of a neighbors house was waking me up.  So I went to Golden.  I was the first one there, but only by a matter of minutes.  A few people showed up after that, but it didn’t get crowded at all.  I was really struggling to wake up and kind of just rolled around the park for awhile trying to get warmed up.  I did 10 tricks on the micro quarterpipe.  Nothing of note.  Then wandered around for a while again.  Did a couple little noseslides, crooks, ollies on hips, etc.  Tried nose manuals on the little pad for a bit and failed.  Also struggled to front 50 one of the smaller benches over there.  Did some noseslides and crooks on the taller ledge.  Had a couple kickflips and a first try fakie bigflip.  Tyler randomly showed up.  That was awesome seeing him.  He looked good and after a quick catch up I got to see him warm up with some solid ripping.  I came close to a line of crooks the tall bench, wallie the corner of the wallie thing, kickflip the a frame.  Also almost kickflip on flat, noseslide down the hubba, kickturn then 360 flip out of the little bump.  Tyler tried to get my back with front shove back 50 down the hubba, but his bail was probably cooler than a make any way.  Seriously ruled seeing Tyler.  I wasn’t even too late for work.

Then early in the evening I was all caught up with work so I went to the garage for the last hour.  It was hot in there, but oh well.  I went right into switch flips because warming up hucking is less disappointing.  There were a few that were so close.  I committed, but when I commit it just doesn’t flip as fast.  Still, it felt like progress.  Then i took a bit to get a kickflip, a bit to get a backside flip, then a second try heelflip.  Followed by a fakie heel battle for a bit.   I ended up getting a few of them.   Hucked fakie hardflip reverts for a bit which somehow felt doable, but I was never close.  Took a bit to get a halfcab heel then gave myself the last 5 minutes to get a treflip (I was happy to get one somewhat quick for me). 

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10 with the nike insoles i had less knee pain)  

Did another morning skate since I work late.  I went to Douglass since it was cloudy.  I wanted to skate mostly flat and a little ledges.  But there were some landscapers there.  They didn’t ask me to leave, but it was weird.  I went to the side and messed around briefly.  Did a couple creepy spins over the micro hip.  A nollie front tail or two.  No 50s.  Then a dude came to whack some weeds so I went back to the front.  It was weird still so I just did a few noseslides and crooks, failed a few 50s then left.

Went to Louisville park.  When I pulled in it looked like the skatepark was empty.  But it turns out a bunch of young scooter kids had been eating and were unleashed on the park the same time the sun came out.  Ugh.  These annoying kids would not look or anything and say “dropping” before every movement.  I did a few kickflips to fakie on the bank.  They were scary because half the time a scooter kid would be behind me not knowing I wasn’t doing a flyout.    I did a few front 50s, a couple with shoves.  Flailed back 5-0s for a bit on the little ledge.  Then left after some old guy pulled his car up blasting some really bad pop music.  

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones hard bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, new balance abzorb insole)
(pain level 4/10 started getting some of that knee pain i get when wearing vulcs argh)

Waking up early I went to Broomfield before work. With the exception of when I first got there and when I was leaving I had the park to myself. Warming up was alright. I was all over the place for awhile. I tried a few front feebles to fakie on the quartapotty, but never quite got one. I had a few front 50s on the black ledge, bad back 50 stalls on the blue ledge. I was doing alright with flippers, got a halfcab flip followed by backside flip then kickflip and missed a treflip. Then I settled in to trying front nosegrind 180. I would try a flip trick between each try. Got a few heelflips, fakie flips. Failed at treflips. But then out of nowhere got a nollie bigflip! It really cheered me up. It’s scary for me to commit to nosegrinds, it took a long time and I was getting late for work. Luckily I got one. It wasn’t pretty, but it had to do as I needed to leave. I had fun on my skateboard!

(setup 8.25 null archway deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 custom hollow AWAKE lows, bones medium bushings, 51mm spitfire 101a F4 classic shape, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, new balance abzorb insole)
(pain level 3/10)