Yeah, another hot day on our 8th day of skating in a row. Thankfully we were skating street so my motivation was a little higher. Rob, Neil, Dave, Cass, Mike, Jack and I. We had messed around a little at UniHill elem. Neil rode through some grass. I had some of the new Thunder T-II trucks. They felt incredibly loose, but I did have a first try f/s halfcab flip that felt amazing. They basically seem like Aces, but with a lighter hanger that flips better. The pop felt the same as Aces. At Baker ledge everyone seemed to go in. Jack fakie shove switch manual several times. Mike did some ride on grinds and barrier rides. Rob was ripping. Manuals, noseslides, halfcab noseslides, barrier rides, I think nose manuals, no comply manual. Cass manuals and then went in on back 180 nosegrinds which he got cleaner this time. I had a pretty mid session, but some okay stuff like manuals, kickflips up the curb, noseslides felt good, some flip tricks worked. Barely managed the slowest and lamest of front 50s. Neil was charging, great front 50s, noseslides, manuals to grinds. His front 50s were seriously inspiring. As was Dave with his front 50s too, halfcab manual, switch ride on crooks, manual to front tail, fakie nosegrinds onto the pad, ripping so hard.

Jack left, we went over to the ride on ledge spot. Most were too tired to skate. Mike liked the nose bonk and ride on grind. Rob killed it with halfcab noseslide then back 50 down. Cass had some ride on 50s to tail. I took too long to do an ultra lame nollie back tail jib. That was it, we survived 8 days of skating! Wow friends! Good times, if I missed any tricks please let me know as I just wrote 8 journal entries in a row so I’m sure I missed a lot. Miss you already Neil and Jack, Joe as well. Can’t wait for next year.

(setup 5/10 null 8.3, jessup ultra, thunder T2 149, 52mm spitfire f4 orange/black 99a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Cass, Rob, Neil and I rolled to Evergreen to meet Jack, Garrett and Hayden. Everyone arrived around the same time. We had cloud cover most of the time and a few sprinkles that didn’t limit anything. Everyone can thank me for the cloud cover because I wore shorts. Here’s some stuff:

glen: struggled to get b/s flip over the hip but eventually did it and fakie bigflip.  kf up the curb to slow noseslide off.  tried some nollie tres, but never got close. struggled with everything else. had some slams that hurt way more than they should.

garrett: nollie heel, nollie back heel, nollie flip, nollie back flip, treflip, fakie treflip on the sk8 mafia board

jack: kf pivot on the tall mini ramp and nosepick, front smith so easy

rob: charged it.  lines galore.  beanplant, fast back 50 variations, back smiths, back 50 shove, back 50 180, nollie shove manual from the kicker.

hayden: style line back tail the qp, feeble the rail, back nosegrind, back smith, font nosegrind.  then the weird shotgun rail revert

neil: manuals, nose manuals, 50s, struggled from pain it seemed and didn’t get it going to hard

cass: front shoves again, crooks again, back big over the hip, no hardflip though

(setup 3/10 null 8.3, jessup ultra, thunder 149 hollow, 52mm spitfire f4 orange/black 99a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After a nice breakfast at Southside we dropped Joe off to the bus and met jack at a newish spot in Louisville. It was sunny and very hot. Jack said he wasn’t sure he could skate and proceeded to do a gap to front board within a few minutes of us being there. Then went on to do some fun lines and even film a tech banger. Rob napped in the shape. I was jealous. Although i did have some fun with little front 180s and switch noseslide variations. Neil went in on some wallrides and front 50s on the lower ledges, lots of shoves all over. Cass showed up and went in on back 180 nosegrinds and kind of got some. At the end Jack, Neil and I played on the double stack curb in the street. Neil got a cool front shove then front 50 on it. I somehow eeked out a slappy crook that made my day.

Then Rob, Neil and I went to Willville. I didn’t do much, but came close to a halfcab heel on flat and some nose manuals. Rob did manual and no comply manual into the bank. Neil was feeling it, lined out some noesslides, ollies, kickflips, shoves and no comply fingerflips.

(setup 5/10 8.25 null time warp, null grip, thunder team hollow 148, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Joe, Cass and I rolled to Longmont to pick up Rob and Neil and we drove to Windsor skatepark. We got lucky again with mostly no scooter kids and some good cloud cover. It was a fun session, I managed to not get overly upset when I failed front 50s. Here’s some notes on everyone:

Joe: long boardslides to fakie, joe hamilton and hoe jamilton on the ledge, more frontside grinds, front shove the hip, crooks, a lot more

me: took a long time to get going.  Crooks the tall ledge, noseslide to fakie the bank to ledge, wiffed front 50s for a while, got an accidental front 5-0 to shove out, at the end got a line that made me happy of kickflip up the euro then b/s flip the hip.  

rob: back/front 50s, ollie the euro, front shove the hip, front 50 back 180 out

cass: front shove the hard way the hip, front shove up the euro, good crooks, manuals

neil: nose manuals, manuals, 50s, noseslides, ollie the euro, one foot ollied on the bank, ripping

Then we went to Greeley park.  Most people sat this one out.  I did some bank stuff, the axle stall was fun.  One crooks on the ledge. Rob fired it off.  nollie lip, back 50 shove, manuals, nose manuals I think. Neil was charging too. nollie lips, fast manuals, boardslides, ollie onto the ledge, one foots off, no complies on the bank

(setup: 2/10 8.3 aces 52mm orange spits, new balance numeric 430s b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

This is when I get to a point in writing journal entires that I think cryptic notes are acceptable. First up is Broomfield. The Crew: Cass, Joe, Sean, Neil, Rob

Joe: sat this one out due to leg pain.
Cass: perfect fltyout treflip, hardflip, close to shove underflip.  Had some good crooks.
Rob: flyout front shove and kickflip
Neil: nose manuals and almost varial heel. Couldn’t quite front 50 the up bar.
Sean: fly out fakie flip as well as most of his ledge tricks
Glen: Treflip flyout, fakie flip, struggled to 50, noseslides to fakie on the bank to ledge were fun

Then we went to a nearby school called Birch: Neil sick line of boardslide, kickflip, 5-0.  Rob shredding with front board the bench then back 50 and no comply 270 to tail the blue things.  I managed a slow kickflip 50.  Sean ripped the place a new one.

Then we went to a wallride spot we had never seen before. Neil did shove then wallride.  I got front shove then barely a nollie wallie.

(setup: 4/10 8.3 aces 52mm orange spits, new balance numeric 430s b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On a Monday off of work we headed to Estes. It was awesome cloud cover most of the time, not a single scooter kid, it was epic.  After warming up some the rain hit a bit and we played SKATE which Dave won.  

Rob: ripped.  front 50s, back 50s, manuals, gap to back 50, noseslide the bump to ledge, poppy backside ollies on the steep bank
Neil: hurting, mostly sat this one out
Joe: front 50 front board then kickflip to fakie to show us he arrived.  Gnarly line of a grind then full speed boardslide the flat bar.  Front 50 180 the bank to ledge.  
Dave: Demo Dave in effect.  Fakie tail the hip gap to curb, manuals, nollie shove tail the hip then pole jam, I don’t even know so many tricks and lines, ended with kick back tail the hip
Glen: Warm up line got me hyped of back 50 the curb up top, ollie the little a-frame, crook the ledge.  Noseslide the bump to ledge then kickflip, kickflip fakie and bigflip.  Backside flip the small hip after the a fun grind on the china bank, treflip flyout, fun line of kickflip then noseslide down to end it.

A lot more skating happened, it was a fun day. Hard to write about it all.

(setup: 8/10 8.3 aces 52mm orange spits, last resort cm002s currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a hot morning Joe, Neil, Rob and I met up with Cass then Brian and Kyle at the melted wax Cushing park. A lot of skating happened even if it seemed like nothing came easy for anyone. I’ll go for the short summary of each person I remember:
Robl: manuals on the deck, ollie up euro, boardslides
Neil: ollies, we both ollied the tiny “big” two stair.  Shove up the euro.  boardslides, ledge basics
Joe: pop shove fly out, axle stalls, b/s flip the hip.  Lots of ledge tricks on the puddled ledges.
Me: Front 50 the qp to ollie the tiny big 2.  Took forever to get a line of ollie the a-frame, noseslide the bump to ledge, kf to fakie the bank.  Then did a crooks on the bump to ledge which made me happy.
Brian: long boardslides, feeble to fakie the banked hubba, front boards
Kyle: treflip the hip so good, lots of tricks that were all amazing
Cass: Probably front shove up the euro because he’s been killing that trick and some crooks.

Then we went to the red curb/diy qp spot.
Rob shredded it.  front tails, slappies
Kyle kickflip the gap after solid front slappies
Cass: slappy back 50 shove
Brian : crail, blunt fakie, one footed front rock totally ripping
Hardflip Joe first try hardflip to fakie for $20
Jack nosepick shove and shove pivot
Jason Borne had some cool and weird lipslides on the side of things

Then we went to the warehouse and I think everyone skated at once. So it was really hard to follow. I saw Rob do halfcab boardslide shove out. Hardflip Joe was trying switch hardflip switch front crooks. Joe H was rattling off tricks on the little ledge. I tried desperately to get a line starting from the tall ledge. I think I got one like crooks, no comply 180, halfcab flip, front 50 but I’m not sure.  Brian front rocked the crazy qp. Jack had some rad wallies and transfer grinds. Garrett ripped the mini board. Jason board rattled off some cool tricks like halfcab crooks 180 out. Neil was going up and down everything. Cass was on the lower ledge. Dan did front blunt and perfect back nosegrind. Kyle with the line of the day. Treflip, crooks to fakie, switch treflip. So sick. At the end Joe and I raced on a couple tricks on the lower ledge. He beat me to back 50 but I would get it. I also got a really bad treflip. Fun day.

(setup 3/10 8.25 null time warp, null grip, indy 144 titanium, 53mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 272 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Picked up Neil early after his overnight flight then went to breakfast with Cass and Rob. We drove by dog park, but it was soaked and Valmont lived up to the “toddler park” nickname. So we ended up going to the library spot. It had been a little flooded so it was harder to skate than normal. I started slow, felt really off. Neil though, man he was charging. Manuals, nose manuals, crook shoves, noseslide shoves, boardslides, front 50 shove, front tail, nollie lips, front 50 the curved bar. I had a couple front 50s on the taller ledge, some good feeling crooks, long boardslide on the flatbar, close to kick back 50. Cass was ripping too. Crooks, crooks shoves, back 5-0s, front 5-0s, no problems popping. Rob sat this session out.

 Then we went to dog park. Paul and Luzius joined. Neil continued his ripping streak. Halfcab then quick shove, manual, super good no complies to tail, nose manuals, one foots over the grate, boardslides, etc. Cass and I tried to crook the upper tier. We both got into some crooks, but nowhere near the whole thing. Cass had back 5-0s, tailslides, poppy kickflips. Rob skated, had some good manuals, nose manuals, back 50s, back axle and no comply to tail on the bank to curb. Saw Dave casually front and back 50 the benches. I switched to my 8.25 indy setup and liked it more.  Got a sloppy fakie bigflip, good feeling kickflip, some slow 50s on the lurb, some fun front slappies.

Then we went to a random street spot off east Pearl. It wasn’t all that, but we skated it a bit and everyone did their thing. Rob would do trick of the day with a long manual drop down to manual.  Neil and Cass did some manuals too. I did a couple noseslides on a tall bench.  One floppy b/s flip on the sidewalk that hyped me up.  Neil couldn’t quite get boardslide.  I ended on a silly front nose stall turn around manual for a couple feet.  

(setup 1: 3/10 8.3 thunder team hollows 52 spits, new balance numeric 272 green size 12 half insole currex runpro insole)
(setup 2: 6/10 8.25 null time warp, indy 144 titanium, 53mm bones stf v1, 272 green size 12 half insole currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)