While waiting for people to arrive I went across the street and started warming up on the curb. I didn’t feel great, but had some fun basic grinds. Rob showed and joined in on the fun. Then Kevin, Fuzz, Jack and Carleigh. I was trying front 50 nollie shove out, then up the curb and front shove off. Took a long time. Argh. Rob was doing back 180 fakie 50s, slappy crooks, etc. Kevin did some flip in 50s, switch/nollie tricks. Out of nowhere Rob did a sick line of back 50 shove then front shove back 50. Whoa! We went to film it around the time Jack and Carleigh showed. Carleigh landed every kickflip I saw. Jack did a cab back tail. The wind kicked up and the vibe changed and the filming didn’t go so well. At least Rob kept his board in one piece.

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While I am completely honored to be named #stubbornoftheyear sometimes I wish I could just land a trick. #ilovemyfriends #thestubborns #icouldnotwalkafterthis #over40skateboarding #thisisonlyhalftheslams #soty #dentist5

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Nov 11, 2018 at 6:34pm PST

Then we went to the Dentist 5 where Chad, Sean and eventually Eric met us. I think Carleigh had some trick ideas there and Kevin and I did too. I took the longest to ollie it and could only do it in a line. Sean’s casual ollies and 180s were so sick. Jack did back 180 one foot right away. Fuzz ollied it pretty easy. After awhile Kevin and I got into our lines taking turns filming each other. I was going for no comply shove up the curb then front shove down the 5. He was going for back 180 up, switch front shove down. Jack was hucking nollie tres, pressure 360 flips, manual varial heels, basically whatever. Carleigh was in the mix doing wallies up no comply down. I was hyped that I started committing to front shoves within a few tries. I think Carleigh got her line first. She stomped that no comply! Kevin took a bit, but he got a good switch front shove down that set! Sean had started filming us. I committed probably 50 times, but never landed it. I was so exhausted. I wasn’t bummed when I finally gave up though. It felt good to try so hard. Obviously I would have preferred to land it, but oh well, skateboarding is hard. Fuzz had done f/s halfcab first try, fakie ollie. Eric showed up and was heelflipping in the street and ollieing the 5. Carleigh went back for more and got a line to kickflip. Kevin was the last man standing going for switch flip and got oh so close. It eventually got dark and we went for margs.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, lakai proto white/black 11.5, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 3/10 got to a point where my knees were sore, but not too bad. guess these shoes are alright!)

Got out to dog park on a cool friday. Rob and I got there around the same time. Warming up didn’t go so well for me. At one point I shot my board out because I missed a kickflip. I was really angry. But it came together kind of. I know Rob had a long line. I forget all of the tricks, but like 6 of them in a row. We started a game of SKATE and had missed kickflip and heelflip when Eric showed. So we kind of started over but were all going for heelflips. It took surprisingly long for us. Rob got his first then Eric and I both got ours too. Pretty cool it worked out like that. The game kind of dissolved for awhile, but Rob and I kept at it. Rob got a fakie flip which I normally give him a letter on. We did f/s cabs. He got me with fakie 3 shove. At times we had all tried halfcab heels. Eric was getting really close. He also got a fakie heel then heel line. I got a first try fs halfcab heel. At the end I tried fakie bigflip and treflip until I got one. I got a sloppy tre and we was out.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, lakai proto white/black 11.5, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

On a cool morning I went to Boulder park before work. It was cloudy out and I was enjoying it. I didn’t have a plan and I had the whole park to myself so I was all over the place. I never really stuck to anything for awhile, just going all over trying random things. I spent a little more time in the halfpipe area as Dave had challenged me to kickflip rock fakie. I realized I haven’t even done a rock fakie on anything other than the quartapotty in a very long time. I tried a few kickflip rock fakies. They seem doable. Maybe on something a little lower would be better for me. I’m a chicken. I kinda tried a line for awhile. Crooks down the hubba (I would only grind about a foot at the most), back noseslide the bump to ledge, kickflip the little kicker, roll in to the tiny part of the bowl, then flyout ollie over a grocery cart. I wasn’t able to commit to the roll in or fly out. Doh. I took a few tries to get a slow front 50 across and down the ledge. Last thing I tried was a little hip line. Frontside ollie (after rolling down the bank they were scary going that fast), turn around backside ollie, turn around, b/s flip the hip. Got a slow one in about 10 tries. It still felt cool though.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, lakai proto white/black 11.5, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 1/10 felt great didn’t get sore)

Went out to the garage because it was kinda cold and it was getting late. I messed around with the no pop manuals for a bit then went into hucking flippers. Took a couple tries to get a kickflip, b/s flip first try. Then kinda did 5 tries at various tricks. Mostly ones I can’t do like nollie flip, nollie front heel, switch fs flip. Got a heelflip on the 5th try, got a super sketchy treflip on the 5th try too. Ollie had come out. He was struggling with shoves then saw me randomly try and ollie grab and so we tried them together. He got a decent one and we called it a night.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, lakai proto white/black 11.5, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 3/10 felt kinda sore for whatever reason)

In a crisp morning I went to the dog park before work. I had some new shoes on. Lakai Protos. Aka Tony Hawk’s shoe. I feel like I should try them because he is tall, old and kind of awkward too. I was skeptical of how bulky they felt, but on my warm up process they felt really good. Even got my first few kickflips. But then I started to fail at kickflips and I thought I’d be switching shoes back. But I stuck with it and they actually felt really good. Got the kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip warm up line. First try b/s flip. Struggled with halfcab flip. Tried to line out pop shove then treflip, but kept not landing on the treflip. Tried to land on heelflip then nollie tre, but never got the nollie tre. The heelflips felt sketch, but they kinda worked. I hucked a few other flippers like switch f/s flip, nollie flip and nollie front heel. I committed to nollie flip, but none of them were close. At the end I was losing motivation and took a few tries to get a fakie bigflip then a treflip. The new shoes pass the first test .. flatground.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, lakai proto white/black 11.5, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 1/10 felt great didn’t get sore)

After my disappointing outing yesterday I went to sleep angry and wanting to skate. Since I work the late shift and it was super nice out I left early for work with the plan of going to dog park to skate flat. Instead I saw no one was at Boulder park so I pulled in. I pumped around a couple times. Then had a fun warm up line of back tail stall on the mellow bank then front tailslide the little hip. A couple other people showed up, but mostly stuck in the bowl. I had started a line that got longer with each bail until I finally settled on it. Front 50 across and down the little ledge, go around, come out of the qp, noseslide down the ledge, tail stall drop in thing on the weird hump, manual the pyramid, kickflip over the b/s hip. I would often deviate from the line or do other tricks (kickflip tricks on the little bank up top, ollies on the hips). The line took a long time, but was pretty rewarding when I got it. I tried to add b/s flip to the end, but didn’t quite get it. Then it was off to work. Can’t believe how nice and warm it was. I should mention that the Es Swifts were annoying me. Sure they are comfy and flexible, but somehow they have no board feel. I sense a change coming.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, es swift 1.5 navy/clear size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Feeling very uninspired on a dreary Sunday I went across the street to try and finish Dave’s challenge. Halfcab back 50. I did a few warmups and kind of went right into it. I was having fun at first and getting close. I actually got into nosegrind a few times as aiming for my front truck seemed to work better. I also tried front 5-0 kickflip out going the other way along with a few basic flippers. After awhile of getting close and not landing it I started to get very angry. I moved to the lowest part of the curb and still couldn’t get it and I snapped and focused my board. Ugh. Worst feeling ever. Luckily it was pretty cracked at least so it wasn’t the worst move, but it’s still a terrible feeling to get to that level.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, es swift 1.5 navy/clear size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 2/10 but zero motivation)

On a wet dreary morning things got delayed. After awhile Jack was at my house. We watched some Stubborns then started skating in front of the house around the time Fuzz showed. Jack and I played a game of SKATE. It was pretty fun. He’s a gentleman and doesn’t take me out immediately with the flippers he knows I can’t do. He did a few tricks before I was ready, but it seemed like a good warm up. It started funny when Jack bailed a kickflip and I beamed him and did a kickflip. Ha. That is such a weird feeling to do a flip trick and not see the board flip. Anyways, it was a fun game, he got me on heelflip, 360 flip, fakie 360 flip, something else and then switch frontside flip. I had gotten him to SKA with halfcab flip and fakie bigflip and something else.

Then Kevin showed and we drove off to campus, but it started sleeting/hailing and we ended up at 303. Some shopping/food/drinks later we ended up at the 3 up 3 down on the hill. It was mostly dry. I was not feeling up to it. Kevin jumped up it right away though. Maybe even quicker than Jack. Fuzz and I dorked on the curb for a bit to get some type of legs to jump up it. For whatever reason I had absolutely nothing and could not commit to the ollie. Kevin was charging high speed manuals. Jack was kickflipping up and wallriding down. Some seriously sick wallrides. Pop shoves up too. Mike joined us. It was good to see someone with as much pop as him slam a couple times getting up the 3. That 3 is no joke. Kevin did 180 up then fakie ollie off. Fuzz tried to get his back, but the 180 up did not come easy. He had a bunch of 180s that slid out. But he did get it, and it was sick. I stubbornly kept attempting the ollie up. I would almost quit and film, but made myself get an ollie up. It took forever. I backed it up with a terrible ollie off. It made me feel better to get up it though. Fuzz and I chatted about what a battle it was and how we are still happy we did the little we did. Then I filmed the young ones rip it. Mike did 360 flip, b/s flip and switch varial heel off. Jack did kickflip up then impossible back 180 off. Kevin did front 180 up then switch fs flip off. It was a struggle, but he got it. Oh, forgot to mention I cracked my board pretty bad on one of my attempts up where I just did a deck check.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, es swift 1.5 navy/clear size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 1/10 when we started, then way worse trying to get warmed up again)

Tired after work I went to the Dog Park on a breezy afternoon. I had made two changes to my setup. First, some 90a Indy bushings and second, back to Es Swifts. The shoes felt alright, but them bushings were way too stiff. I was hating it. I had done a few kickflips. Got my warm up line of kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip. Had tried a heelflip when a few minutes later this kid on a bike showed up watching me. He was this super nice kid and he asked me if I could heelflip. A few tries later I landed my first heelflip in awhile. I asked the kid (Armando) where his board was and he said he didn’t have any wheels. So I went to my car and took the wheels off my extra setup and gave them to him. He was super grateful and it hyped me up. I was also hyped that I had some Venom bushings in the car too so I swapped those out and my board felt so much better. I still didn’t have much energy and it was hard getting used to the slipperier shoes, but I landed on a few of my tricks. The wind kicked in and I went home.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, venom 90a bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, es swift 1.5 navy/clear size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 3/10 i’m always sore by the end of a work week. too much stationary)

On a cool night I battled some traffic and ended up at Broomfield park. Darin was there when I got there and did a sick back 5-0 on the little ledge. Then a long crooks a few tries later. Kevin was already there doing switch manuals and claiming it was a warm up. I started with some non-ollie lines like qp trick then slappy crooks. Kevin really wanted to learn it and ran into the curb. Ha. I showed him the little hip thrust it takes to do it and boom, he landed his first slappy crook. He would get a few more, slam some, but he definitely made progress and landed a few slappy crooks. I was unable to get a slappy front crook, but would grind them pretty good at least. Garrett showed. His first run showed how much younger he is. Youthful energy front blunt on the qp, nose manual, 50s, etc. We mostly skated the manny pad area for awhile. I bailed nose manuals, fakie nosegrinds, etc. Kevin and Garrett made nollie/switch manuals look easy. I ollied onto the downhill ledge for the first time in awhile, it was scary. Tried a line of noseslide to fakie the downhill ledge, fakie smith fakie, fakie nosegrind, but never got the nosegrind. Kevin was doing super fast manuals on the black ledge to back tailslide the brick qp. Garrett was casually treflipping into the bank then kickflipping a trashcan on it’s side. Kevin had 180s over it too. I ran into it trying to ollie it (not intentionally). I had my first few front 50s on the black ledge and followed one up with a kickflip out of the bank that made a BMXer cheer. Not sure if it was sympathy for the old man or not. I was starting to hate the 288s with the high heels. We played a game of SKATE. I was out first. Then we left.

(setup 8.5 null lazer deck, 5.8 venture black icon trucks, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, bones 51mm stf pj v1 wheels, new balance numeric 288 tan size 11, stock insoles)
(pain level 3/10)