Stopped off at Meta after work as my OCD for some vulcanized shoes needed to be satisfied. I ended up with some Lakai Manchesters. I had also setup some new AWAKE Venture lows I got at Emage over the weekend. I am pretty set on trying to keep this setup for awhile. Anyways, warming up went ok actually. The flick of a vulc is so fast compared to a cupsole. The board feel was great, and the cushion enough that I wasn’t scared to commit like I was in those god awful NB+ 212s. I got into the list a bit then when doing heelflips I decided to film some for the heck of it. It kind of motivates me. Plus I think it helps to see what I’m doing wrong. Anyways, most of the tricks came quickly, except for the dreaded treflip which took almost 30 minutes. Ugh. That kind of drained me so I didn’t get to try the switch front heel for long. Oh well.

(setup 8.25 null logo board, venture 5.25 AWAKE lows, 1/16″ riser, 3 washers inside each axle, Venom 90a bushings with no bottom washer, 50mm spitfire F4 99a classic wheels, bronson bearings, Lakai Manchesters black/white 11)

Went to Southern Hills somewhat early wanting to get some skating in before I might turn into filmer Glen. I swept up a bit again. Then went on to suck. It’s so hard to skate during an arthritis flare up. I should just skate transition, it’s easier on me. But I really want to get better at ledges this year. I got some noseslides and crooks. That’s it. Tried a line of noseslide, heelflip, crooks for awhile. Never got all of them. Got pretty frustrated. Found out that people weren’t going to meet up anyway so went to Denver to spend more money on trucks I don’t truly need.

(setup 8.125 abstract deck, venture 5.2 low custom hollow trucks with 3 washers inside each axle, 1/16″ riser, venom 90a bushings, 50mm spitfire f4 classic 99a wheels, swiss bearings, new balance numeric pj stratford 533 black/white shoes 12)

Feeling decent on a Saturday morning without the family around and excited about having a smaller setup again I went to research ledge around 9:30 am. I swept as a warm up, hit the hill a couple of times. I’m not sure why I never expect much from my skating lately. I haven’t had much drive. But I did have the fire for a bit. I know I had some lines, but I waited to long to write this to remember the specifics. It wasn’t anything crazy. I landed on a bunch of treflips, but never rode away from any. I was 2/3 on heelflips going up the hill. Tried some nollie/switch flips and didn’t get too close. On the ledge I got noseslide, noseslide to fakie, crooks, terrible back 50s, a surprisingly rare front 50, halfcab noseslide. I felt pretty good, but India needed me to get home. I was finally skating good so it kind of bummed me out. Turns out it would then take her two hours to get home. Ha.

After lunch I picked up Nolan and we went to Longmont. We picked up Dave and went here. Such a rad spot. I was sore from stopping for so long, but got warmed up ok. Dave and Nolan were shredding. Nolan was kind of doing whatever he wanted. Varial flip up, nosegrind. Pop shove up, nollie nosegrind. Must be nice. Ha. Dave had some really good back 50s, some with 180s out. I missed him doing a first try front crook because a tweaker was asking me for weed. He didn’t believe we didn’t have any. I didn’t land much other then some slow front 50s. Bernie joined us! It was so awesome. He mostly skated flat as he hasn’t skated in awhile.

@nolancormier paying tribute to #jeremiahbrooksforever

A photo posted by Null Skateboards (@null_skateboards) on Jan 22, 2017 at 6:36am PST

Then we went to Longmont ditch. Dave and Nolan shredded that place. Seriously though. I cannot even name all of the tricks that Nolan did. He was just messing around rattling off trick after trick. Dave surprised me with front tailslide while grabbing the nose??!?! Trick of the day. Sorry Nolan. Nolan’s back 5-0’s to fakie were so sick. Bernie mostly just skated on the nearby bikepath. I was sore, but forced myself to do some back 50s and 5-0s. I sat for awhile and filmed. After that I could not move. It was apparent that arthritis had me good. Nolan needed to help me get out of there, that’s how sore I was. Arthritis sucks.

(setup 8.125 abstract deck, venture 5.2 low custom hollow trucks with 3 washers inside each axle, 1/16″ riser, venom 90a bushings, 50mm spitfire f4 classic 99a wheels, swiss bearings, new balance numeric pj stratford 533 black/white shoes 12)

#goldenhour not #goldenshower

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jan 19, 2017 at 4:23pm PST

On a really nice afternoon I met Dave at the Dog Park right after work. It was mostly covered in water, but we found a section that was ok. I had pulled my 8.1 from the quiver and was excited to maybe actually land some flip tricks. It felt weird and the trucks were way to tight as I have switched to softer bushings since that setup. Anyways, it felt pretty good. After some warmups I got a 2nd try heelflip that wasn’t good, but felt great to land that quickly. Dave would get a heelflip shortly after that too that was super good. Dave had a good switch shove, flicked switch tres that look possible for him, multiple good creepy spins and nollie front 180s. I got a tic tac’y treflip pretty quick, couldn’t get another one, but landed on a bunch. It felt good to at least be committing most times. I’d really like to get that trick better. I didn’t really land anything else, but it was fun hucking. I miss being able to skate there more, flatground really is the foundation for the rest of skating for me.

(setup 8.125 abstract deck, venture 5.2 low custom hollow trucks with 3 washers inside each axle, 1/16″ riser, venom 90a bushings, 50mm spitfire f4 classic 99a wheels, swiss bearings, new balance numeric pj stratford 533 black/white shoes 12)

Saul going for 45 grinds in one run on his 45th. Guess you are only 36 @skateboard_chicken ! Ha Happy Birthday!

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jan 18, 2017 at 8:32pm PST

After a busy day at work I got to Saul’s right around the time the sun went down and it started getting cold. The session was going off though. There was a bunch of people in the mix. The Satellite youth, Dave, Nick, Saul (duh), and a few more. Dave was shredding as was a dude named Will. Saul went for the 45 grinds a few times. I cannot even imagine how exhausting that would be. Anyways, he got into the 30s a couple of times, but never quite to 45. It’s still pretty amazing. I sucked it up again. Not sure why I can’t seem to back 50 anymore. It was fun though. Just carving that thing is fun and getting some carve grinds. I’m looking forward to warmer weather.

(setup 8.25 null logo deck, venture 5.8 trucks, 3 washers inside each axle, pink/purple spitfire 52mm 99a F4 conical wheels, venom 88a bushings, new balance numeric PJ 533 black/white shoes)

Went into the garage feeling pretty lazy. Was on my regular board, but ended up hating it. I did get a bit into my normal list. Kickflips, fakie flip, halfcab flip, b/s flip. But then I grabbed my putter and things got way more fun. Got a frontside flip right away. And a quick heelflip. I’ve only landed a couple since moving up in board size so that was a treat. Then I got into a groove of nollie flip or treflip. Never got a nollie flip, but the last of three treflips felt great. I haven’t done one like that in a long time. It’s been huck and pray. Needless to say I will most likely be switching back to a smaller setup.

(setup normal 8.25 setup with 5.8s then the putter 7.5″ for the goods)

Feeling completely overwhelmed by the world and after hanging at Jason’s for several hours I skated flat in front of my house for awhile. I had put the wide trucks back on. Yeah yeah, so I’m crazy. I know it. But considering how badly I struggled with fakie flips yesterday it’s clear that 8″ trucks versus 8.5″ don’t make the difference. It went ok. I wore some new PJ 533s since they are stiffer hoping it would help my fasciitis pain. They did. I struggled with all tricks, didn’t have much drive, but kept at it. I landed a terrible nollie tre with both hands down. It still made me happy though. tried halfcab heel for awhile, didn’t get too close. Tried a bunch of 360 flips until I got a very slow one hand down land. I’ve been slacking on flatground and really want to get 3 flips back. I counted it and went to Saul’s. There was a crew of rippers there. I guess they are Satellite crew. They were all nice and ripping. Saul was ripping too. He goes faster and grinds further every time I see him. My bigger wheels and new bearings helped me skate faster, but surprisingly I bailed back 50 after back 50. It was kind of annoying. I did have fun though, got a few other things I’ve done there before.

(setup 8.25 null logo deck, venture 5.8 trucks, pink/purple spitfire 52mm 99a F4 conical wheels, venom 88a bushings, new balance numeric PJ 533 black/white shoes)

Woke up early angry at the world. Stuff with Jason had gotten out of control. Well, not with him, but his care givers not showing up to work. I was very down and frustrated and left my house without contacting anyone. I had some boards in my trunk for 303 and some of Venture Lows in my trunk in case my obsession with a small setup got the best of me. I headed to the basketball court ledge spot in Denver. It was crisp, gray and cold. Jake called me while I was driving there on his way back from Denver and I told him to meet me there. I was there for about 10 minutes first. I was not skating well. I was trying lines from the top, down the 2 stair and then the ledge. I didn’t really do anything and I wasn’t liking my setup. Jake showed and we played a game of SKATE. As per the norm lately I didn’t really land anything. Jake won on a 3 flip that I tried for awhile and never got. The main ledge had snow under it so we skated the further section that has some rough concrete around it. It didn’t go well for me. Jake had some nice tailslides, fakie back tail, front 5-0. I could not do a front 50 to save my life (I did get a front 5-0 though ha), got some bad back 50s and a crooks or two, bad halfcab noseslide. I was reminded why I do not like 8″ high trucks over and over. I either like 8″ low or 8.5″. Anyways, then we started trying some lines from the ledge up top. It took us a long time to do anything. I never committed to the whole ledge, the crack in front of it is so weird. Jake would take the inside route trying back 50s. I just tried noseslides the last bit. It took a long time but I got a line of noseslide to fakie, fakie flip (they took me forever), switch front 180 down the 2 stair (I couldn’t get a ledge trick after). Another line of noseslide, kickflip, back 180 off the 2. Jake got a couple back 50s. He popped out over the stairs. I liked it. While trying the line I was actually trying for the first time in awhile. Trying as hard as I could. It felt good. Then I got a call regarding Jason and everything took a turn. Jake did a few heelflips while I was on the phone for about an hour. Then we left. I went to 303 then met Carleigh and Jake at Broomfield park. My legs had completely locked up and my will to skate had been broken. But there were a bunch of awesome people there. Ted and Collin, Darin, etc. It was rad. Darin eventually got me skating the quartapotty a little. He got through his checklist and had me learn a new one. Front feeble to front tail. I did it very badly, but it was fun. I had some slappy crooks on the parking block and a couple Texas plants with safety landings. I left in a lot of pain, my plantar fasciitis hurting like crazy.

(setup 8.25 null logo deck, venture v-hollow 5.2 high, 3 washers inside each axle, pink/purple spitfire 52mm 99a F4 conical wheels, venom 88a bushings no bottom washer, new balance numeric 598 black/white shoes)

Went snowboarding yesterday. It was deep tracked pow which is the hardest on your legs. So I was beat. I wanted to skate, but I felt really run down. I went in front of the house not expecting much and got just that. I got some kickflips, but that was about it as far as “real” tricks. I wish I had more, it was kind of nice out in the upper 30s.

(setup 8.25 null logo deck, venture v-hollow 5.2 high, 3 washers inside each axle, pink/purple spitfire 52mm 99a F4 conical wheels, venom 88a bushings no bottom washer, new balance numeric 598 black/white shoes)

On a very windy night I decided a setup change was in order. I’ve been having a rough go with skateboarding lately and realized it all started around the time I changed to a big setup. I had read through several of my ‘favorite’ journal entries to try and come up with my favorite size. There were almost no entries for big boards (>8.25). The truck size didn’t seem to matter so much, but I definitely seemed happier with smaller wheels (<51mm). I wanted a Reynolds part and decided to go with high trucks at least. 8.25 board, 8" high trucks and the same wheels I had. I went to the Valmont garage. My board felt high off the ground on my first few pushes which doesn't make much sense considering I've been on high trucks. I forgot how much I dislike the low hanging sprinkler pipes, but I started trying tricks. Kickflips felt easier. I still felt out of it and not very motivated. I almost left. But ended up just dorking which is all I seem to do these days. I got into a few switch front crooks on the tiny curb that doesn't grind. Also some back 50s that reminded me how much I like how sharp 8" trucks turn compared to 8.5". If I rode parallel to the ledge it wouldn't be an issue, but I take a pretty weird sharp curve right before back 50s. I was hucking flip tricks without much intention of landing them. But it did feel good to huck them as I have been totally slacking on flatground lately. Switch crook took awhile. All in all, it was mostly another dreary day of skating. I felt a little better that I actually tried some flip tricks at least. I would not be surprised if I switch to low trucks and I think I really like the feeling of how close they are to the ground. They really do help with board feel. The major con is lots of wheelbite. So for now, I will try to stick with the 8" highs and see how long that lasts. (setup 8.25 null logo deck, venture v-hollow 5.2 high, 3 washers inside each axle, pink/purple spitfire 52mm 99a F4 conical wheels, venom 88a bushings no bottom washer, new balance numeric 598 black/white shoes)