On a hot day Rob, Joe, Neil, Cass and I pulled into the Barnum DIY and it was completely covered in fireworks from the 4th. We thought about going elsewhere, but we started sweeping it. Then some neighbors and Justin showed up with a leaf blower. 30 min later we were in business. Gordon, Dave and Jake showed as well. It was a long session mixed with basketball and socializing. I myself skated like dookie so I hucked halfcab heel noseslides and a couple felt really close. Neil slammed on a crack right away, still had some lines and the ride on grind. I played a game of SKATE with Cass and Gordon in which I lost on very difficult tricks like kickflip and back 180. Ugh. I had my first setup change of the trip with 8.25/indy and basically hated it. Joe did front lip to front 50 to front board all in one trick. Hammer hammer! Dave was killing it as we would expect. Back 50 nollie shove, boardslide shove, crooks, ride on grinds. Gordon was poppy and fast. Jake was ripping but hurt his back on a halfcab noseslide. Cass did back 180 nosegrind and a lot more.

Then we went to the nearby skatepark. We lost some of the crew and several just chilled. Neil was in the mix at the start and was close to getting an ollie over the ball. I stunk it up. Only thing that was fun was the little front 5-0s to fakie. Joe and Dave killed it. Dave had insane lines using the bank to curb, qp, little qps, everything. He even did a kickflip pivot on the little qp. Oh yeah, Neil had done a kickflip on it too. Joe had a lot of tricks on the bank. It was 95 degrees and I can’t believe we skated during peak sun hours like that, but we did. And it was fun.

(setup 2/10 8.25 null kaleidoscape, cheap pepper, indy titanium, bones 52mm x99 v1, vans kyle walker size 12 b/w with fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Joe and Neil had arrived. Rob and Cass joined. After breakfast we went to dog park. It was sunny and nice out, quite a few people at the park including Alecs. I’m writing this after 5 more days of skating in a row so it’s blurry. I’ll start with the weird stat of Joe slamming really hard on front 50 shove. How unlike him. He would rip it and the Joe Hoe line was awesome. Neil had some of his patented nose manuals and quick hop. Rob was getting in the groove on the board again. Saw Cass do a long back 180 nosegrind. I skated alright, had some fun crooks, didn’t pop much or get any flippers.

Then we went to the newly remodeled Arapahoe Ridge. It was mostly a strugglefest, but we did a few things. Alecs did the big ollie and some manuals from the tall side of the ledge. Joe goofed around with some stalls. Neil tried to line out the weird mini ditch with a no comply out, but didn’t get the manual. I couldn’t get a manual and really struggled to get a kickflip, but the ride on grind was fun.

Then we went to a new area off Arapahoe, but it wasn’t where I thought. Some ollies and stuff happened, but not much.

Then off to the new ledge and we rubbed and waxed it. It grinded really good. Early on I hit my finger on a rock and it bled like crazy. Luckily Alecs has a first aid kit. Joe would skate it to, get some noseslides, front shove out of the kicker and front 50s uphill. Alecs killed it with front 50 shove and front nosegrind pop out. I had some slow noseslides and debatable crooks. It was run though and overall a great day.

(setup 2/10 8.25 null kaleidoscape, cheap pepper, thunder 148 hollow lite, bones 52mm x99 v1, vans kyle walker size 12 b/w with fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)