Up kind of early to get my skating in before turning into Filmer Glen I went to Wilville. It was sunny and hot and not as shaded as I had hoped. I had put forged baseplates back on as well as some smaller/newer wheels I had forgotten about. It all felt good. One of my first tricks was Dave’s latest challenge. Front noseslide shove. I tried it on the non-waxed part and actually did it first try. Cracked me up. But then when I tried to do it on the waxed part later I could not. I messed around with lines. Going NW I would try front 5-0 the end of the ledge, ollie into the nearby tall ledge, ollie onto the weird knobbed section, some flippers, nose manual. Well I never got the 5-0 although I did get into it and grind it. If only I had brought wax. That was tall for me and I’d be hyped if I landed that. I got the ollie onto the tall ledge, but never really lined out a flipper before the nose manual. Going SE I got pretty close to a good line. Kickflip off the manny pad, heelflip, b/s flip, fakie flip, halfcab nosesllide. Just never got the halfcab noseslide. Missed the fakie flip most of the time because it was in the brick section. Then I kind of stuck with the 5-0’s for awhile and eventually realized I needed to get going.

Went to Longmont park. Garrett and Hayden were skating. Riley was there chilling. We chatted awhile. Then I battled stupid treflip out of the mellow bank by the entrance and landed it the try after Riley gave up on me and left. His time was better spent giving Hayden and Garrett flatground trick tip advice. After the treflip we had a few more minutes so I tried the front 50 shove then front shove down the 3 line for awhile. I landed on both quite a few times, but never rode away down the 3 stair. I was hyped on an accidental 5-0 shove though. Hayden did a sick 50 (or maybe 5-0?) to nose manual off the 3 stair that was sick.

Then it was off to filming. I didn’t really skate anymore other than pushing for a couple hours straight in the uncomfortable filmer crouch.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 v-hollows, stock bushings no boardside washer, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 51mm v1 83b, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Approaching the hottest point of the day I met Kevin at a nearly empty Broomfield park. We had some fun warm ups doing different stalls and stuff on the brown angled ledge. We did more than what’s shown in the video, but I don’t remember exactly what. I just know it was quite fun. We had done them frontside too, got a few more than what was documented. After that we played a game of SKATE that went on forever. Kevin slammed or missed like 20 nollie tres. Clearly something in the world was wrong. He would get a regular treflip though, and I of course got a letter on it. I had a couple tricks like f/s halfcab flip and fakie varial flip that I was happy about. I couldn’t get a nollie tre either or a fakie bigflip though. We played on the black ledge after this. Kevin was able to do nollie front nosegrind first try. I did a switch boardslide on it, that was new for me there. Nothing to really be excited about though. I came somewhat close to noseslide 270 shove, did several crooks, an accidental 5-0. It was so hot I lost motivation when Kevin left.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 cast baseplate v-hollow axle, stock bushings no boardside washer, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf old 53mm pj v1 83b, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a hot morning we went to dog park aka green block. My legs felt alight, but it was a slow start. They were removing some of the wiring so there were parts of the park to avoid at times. But that just made us skate it differently which is nice. Dave brought some little cinder blocks to raise a parking block which he went on to kill. Front 5-0s, hurricanes both ways, front boards, etc. He would almost kickflip the wallie barrier. I was kinda just going around doing nothing. Almost got a line of ollie onto the top step then nosegrind 180 the new weird pad. Eric had some nice front tails and actually missed some heelflips for once. Sean was doing lots of tricks smoothly. Sean and I eventually started trying our same lines from two days before. I never got the nollie tre. Someone had waxed the butter/metal ledge beyond belief, it was so scary to try 50s on. The kickflip primo hurt. Dave had some nice treflips while trying a line. Sean got the line he wanted and added a couple bonus tricks. Then we all played a game of SKATE. Well, two games of SKATE. My tricks were sucking, it was frustrating. I took several tries to get halfcab flip and missed heelflip and treflip. Sean won it on back bigspin I think. We played the second one with no repeats, Eric wasn’t in though. It was getting really hot and there was like a solid 10 minutes of no one landing anything. I don’t remember much about this game other than it was a real struggle. After the game I tried nollie and regular tres for awhile and failed. This time I just gave up. So frustrating.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 cast baseplate v-hollow axle, stock bushings no boardside washer, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf old 53mm pj v1 83b, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Another hot day. I had decided to put together a new board after all and meet up with Sean at Broomfield park. After a brief warm up for us where Sean was doing flippers and I was doing tricks without popping we started skating the blue bank. Ollie up then no comply shove to fakie was the first trick. Then kickflip to fakie. Obviously Sean’s came way quicker than mine. I kept clipping a little on the ollie up, it was super annoying. Sean was popping up like it was nothing, for me it was such an effort. I would eventually get kickflip to fakie which felt good. Sean did ollie up then started rolling back down before doing a fakie flip. Also heelflip up then kickflip to fakie. I tried rock to kickflip fakie. There was another dude there ruling flip tricks and it hyped me up. He did so many it was ridiculous. Anyway, after quite a few awkward attempts I would get the rock to kickflip fakie and it felt really good. We skated the black ledge after that. Sean was going through his motions, basically every trick within a couple tries until he got to back lip 270 shove out which took a little bit. I did okay, the smaller trucks are weird for grinds. But Sean kept insisting I was skating decent. I got front 50, front 5-0s on accident, switch noseslide 270 shove, crooks, halfcab noseslide. Couldn’t quite get crooks shove and not very close to halfcab noseslide 270 shove. We played a game of SKATE that went pretty well for me even though I was at SKAT off some fakie shoves because I was trying to pop them and failed at double or nothing. But after that I had a few first try tricks like halfacb flip, heelflip and I think treflip which took a huge load off me. I would also go on to get fakie bigflip, nollie tre, f/s halfcab heel, but Sean won it on nollie back heel.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 cast baseplate v-hollow axle, stock bushings no boardside washer, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf old 53mm pj v1 83b, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Around 11 on a hot morning I met up with Sean, Jake, Dave L at dog park. I had put 8″ trucks on. They felt good, but my grip was still super slippery from the candy bar I stepped in the day before. After a brief warm up we played a game of SKATE. I did alright, but got letters on heelflip and f/s halfcab heel, switch front shove and I forget what else. I saw Jake get a good fakie back tail on the cinder block ledge. Dave had b/s flip and pop shove over a parking block. Sean was trying a long line with f/s nosegrind the street bench, back nosegrind the top tier, nollie nosegrind 180. I think he got it. I was close to the best line I’ve done there. Front 50 the weird metal/butter ledge, kickflip over the mini wallie spine, ollie the little metal ledge, crooks the top of the two tier, nollie tre. I never got the nollie tre. Argh. I tried a few treflips outside of that, but didn’t get much. Robbie was there ripping. I kinda forget what everyone else did, but it was a decent session for sure.

Later on after a siesta I went across the street to try some treflips. I had some old vulc 212s since I was wanting more grip. I did a couple slappies then went to it. It didn’t go well. I got close in the first few tries, then it was all downhill after that. I also struggled with halfcab flips again. I was very close on nollie tres, but kept not getting it. I blame the tall wheels. Eventually a bailed treflip sent me over the edge and I broke my board and water bottle. Ugh. I felt so incredibly depressed after this.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 v-hollow, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles then 212s with nikesb insole)
(pain level 2/10)

Rolled down to Wilville on a hot afternoon after a day of lounging around. I started at the bottom of the two 3 stairs and told myself I had to ollie up the first one before I could move on. I dorked around on the bottom step for a bit doing little stalls. Then I started going for the ollie. I got a couple where the back wheel clipped a little, but counted it. Then I tried a line. Front 180 up the 2, halfcab flip on flat, ollie the 3s. But I never landed a halfacb flip. A halfcab flip! Ugh. And to make things worse I would try 3 flips on the way back and failed at those too until eventually landing another terrible one. This ‘tre a day’ goal seems to be making me worse at treflips. I went over to the middle section and was stoked to see a knob off the low part of the ledge. I hucked for a bit. Switch noseslide kickflip out. Got pretty close actually. I came to a halt, but whatever, I’m starting to lay into the ‘almost 50’ excuse. I also got close to a few varial heels. I also struggled to manual across it. Then I sat for like 30 minutes until I could go to Saul’s. It was Eric, Saul and me. Eric was charging out of the gates. Almost lipslide around the shallow corner. Long grinds, front slashes, ride on grind transfers. I skated okay, had some fun 50s, front slashes, rock ‘n rolls. Saul blessed us with a couple of his quick carve grind runs, close to 5-0 to tail. I got tired real quick and headed home for dinner. Oh yeah, I had a new pair of 288S. Same color and everything.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Deja Vu. Same spot as yesterday. Except this time the average age was much higher. Except when all the scooter kids came I suppose. The crew was both Daves, Kevin, Eric, Sean, me. Warming up felt alright to me. Kevin and Sean were quick to do 50s, 5-0s, nosegrinds, tailslides. Dave L had never been there before. It’s such a good spot for him. He had some cool quick foot manuals, nose manuals and grinds right away. Eric was almost manualling the bottom bench, doing long 50s. Fuller arrived way after the rest of us and got to warm up while we were already going hard. I was mostly just doing crooks or front 50/5-0 and trying to working up the courage to nosegrind 180 the end. Dave L filmed Kevin for awhile try a really tech line and he didn’t get it. I had done a bunch of front 5-0s and they were finally feeling good when they stopped working and I did the ol’ Joe Hamilton instead. Which felt rad. I almost got the nosegrind 180 after one of them. Sean came somewhat close to back 5-0 the entire ledge. It was beyond incredible. Eric got some heelflips onto the rock. Him and Sean left. I had fun with crooks and front 50 through the little kink, a lame fakie nosegrind. Dave L got back 50 through the kink. He had some good lines to back tail too. Kevin and him wanted to leave, but Fuller and I were stuck in out battles. I had to do a treflip. He wanted the front 50 body varial. I got a really bad treflip. Dave slammed hard and then got a really good 50 body varial.

Then we went to the nearby wallride spot. Dave L had a cool nose manual 180 around the pole. I had some kickflips up the curb and bad wallie nollies. Fuller had some amazing wallride nollies and wallrides. Kevin got the wallride. Then they both got lines on film. Kevin’s was halfcab up, wallride to fakie, switch front shove off the curb. Dave got front 180 up, fakie thruster, nollie back 180 off. Good work boys.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a night of trying to sleep through fireworks I went to the dog park on a warm morning. I had the park to myself for almost a couple hours. It went alright. I finally got back up on the second step ledge. The one ‘new’ trick I did was a nollie front 5-0 on a little ledge just kinda messing around. Flip tricks weren’t working at all, definitely have noticed some difficulty with the larger wheels. I did more stuff I’m embarrassed by when other people around like just trying to ollie onto ledges and stuff. Back 50s were hard as well even on the little ledge. I committed to an ollie over a cinder block ledge, but then the shadows started messing with me. Near the end I just wanted to get the ‘tre a day’ out of the way, but they weren’t working at all. So I resorted to nollie tre, but that took forever too. I was trying them after crooks on a cinder block ledge and some actually felt alright. But the nollie tre took like 30 minutes. It was so annoying, I was so close so many times. The one I landed I got real bad wheel bite and almost came off the board, but I was so desperate I held on.

After some food I met the Nullers at Red Hawk, aka the best spot ever. The crew was Riley (just shooting photos except for two 50s he did with a huge smile), Hayden, Peyton, Sean, Bo, Jack, Joe. Bo was quick to get out the camera so I skated for awhile. I got some front 50s, nollie front tails, noseslides, crooks, switch front noses. I filmed Jack get gnar for a bit. Bo was filming Sean and Hayden try to get tech, but it didn’t work out. Peyton jumped off a wall which was gnar. I started trying crooks bigspins for awhile. I would get really close. I landed on a crooks shove and turned it to fakie. In my head I thought maybe that was the bigspin, but judging by the response it clearly wasn’t. Don’t these people know I’m approaching 50 years old? Ha ha. Then I did some more filming and Sean ended up getting his line super good. Joe had some rad tricks too and a good line. We went to a nearby wallride spot. I barely got a wallie/nollie, Sean and Hayden had some good ones. Jack had a cool manual, I think Hayden did nose manual around the pole too.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10 I was good when I was warmed up, but oh so sore after sitting or filming for a bit)

After slacking all morning I went to Safeway for a bit to warm up and get my treflip before going to Darin’s ramp. I was even less motivated than I imagined when I got there. The spot is a little different now, there is a dumpster so people have waxed up the next section to the east. It’s actually a better ledge, less angle. But the backside run up kinda stinks. Oh well, I did a bunch of slow no-pop noseslide variations to get warmed up. Eventually got some 50s both ways and intentional front 5-0s. Nollie flips were feeling really close. I would do them after backside tricks. Frontside I tried tailslide then treflip until technically I got it. It was maybe the most questionable treflip I’ve done in this two week span of ‘a tre a day’. But with how tired I was I counted it. Actually the tailslide was pretty bogus too, but at least that one is rare for me and a couple actually slid. I tried quite a few front shove back 50s and got remotely close, but never got both feet on.

Then I went to Darin’s and it was a rad chill session with only a few people I knew. Kevein, Carleigh, Margaret and Darin. Kevin was absolutely destroying it. Smiths both ways, tails, lips, ollies, 5-0s to fakie, switch disasters, the list goes on. Darin looked good on his ramp. He had long back 50s to fakie, feebles to fakie, switch disaster, switch 50, was trying blunts. Margaret has rad layback 5-0s that she never quite landed, lots of back 50s. Carleigh was doing frontside and backside ollies. I’ve never seen here do those on transition before. Also feeble fakie, front rock, back 50s. I started really slow and the taller wheels were messing with me. Near the end I was finally remembering what it’s like to skate a ramp and was bummed it started raining. About the only tricks I was happy with were fakie back smith to fakie and front rock. Back 50s are of course always fun too. I wish we wouldn’t have gotten rained out.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 my knees did not enjoy running up /down the ramp)

After a long drive from Steamboat and some chilling at home I ended up at Southern Hills on a warm evening. I had put some new wheels on. I think the old 54mms proved they help me get up on things, but the wide ones were hard to flip. So I am trying some narrow 54s. STF 99a V3. They felt good on the disintegrating concrete at Southern Hills. I haven’t been there for awhile, there were pebbles everywhere, but the benches were in good shape as was the step. I did what I always do there, line things out. First one was pop shove, front 50 the step, noseslide to fakie a bench. Then kickflip, back 50 the step, front nose to fakie a bench. Fakie flip on flat, switch 180 to front 50 the step, crooks the bench. Ollie up the two, no comply 180 into the handicap ramp, switch noseslide a bench. Then the line that darn near killed me. Ollie up the two, kickflip into the handicap ramp, front 50 a bench. To my surprise I got most of the ollies up the two. It felt great, like the taller wheels were a cheat code or something. I was able to flip them too. I would try flippers on the way back or at the start of lines. Got first try halfcab flip, treflip in under 10 tries, super close to nollie flips. I would get into a few front 50s, but not land them. I was so tired I guess from the drive. Anyway, I would eventually land the line and it felt awesome. Like really awesome. I know it’s just a front 50 on a normal size ledge, but that is a battle for me these days. I wanted to also try a line of halfcab noseslide, frontside flip, switch crook on the step, crook the bench, but I couldnt get the halfcab noseslide. I hucked a few front heels that were really close and felt good. I got a little switch crook to forward followed by crook on a bench and it made me feel good so I left on that note. Fun motivated session even if I was overly tired for some reason.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones stf 54mm v3 99a, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)