After a tiring day at work I drove up to MRKT and then went to Fossil Creek. Since I was so tired I didn’t hit up anyone for fear that I would only skate for a few minutes. I was prepared for a park full of kooks, but there were only a couple on scooters. But they left when I got there. For the next hour and a half I had the park all to myself except for an occasional longboarder getting pulled by a dog or some kids on bikes (what have skateparks turned into?). I did not skate well. I had a few posted up crooks, a front 50 shove on the taller part of the ledge. Back 50s and front 5-0 on the low part. Oh, a first try halfcab noseslide on the taller part. Close to front smith and kick back 50 on the low part. Flip tricks didn’t go well. I couldn’t ollie the curb off the 3 stair. I at least left before sunset sparing some energy for tomorrow.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

Got up at 5am since it was supposed to be 100 degrees and I wanted to try noseblunts without anyone around. Got to the Zuni park by 7am and after doing some basic qp tricks I laid into the noseblunt battle. It took about 30 minutes before I got one. The key being I got one! It felt pretty rad even though I clearly wasn’t posted up as proper as one can be. I expect nothing less from me. Ha. I was doing flat ground tricks for the most part between tries.

Then I skated the park for awhile and ended up having one of the most fun lines I’ve done in awhile. 360 flip on flat, back tail transfer a hip (far right background), came around and front tail transfer the main hip then got lucky with a kickfilp flyout. I ended by doing a bad kickflip on the main bank.

Went to Westy park to maybe try a front crook on the bottom ledge, but it didn’t work out. I got into a few, but never landed one. Got a few other basics before moving on to Safeway ledge where I tried front crooks or kick back 50 shove out for quite awhile in a motivated sweaty awesome little session. Got both to close. Landed a good kick back 5-0 on accident. Did a few more flippers. Then I went home and slept and slept.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

Met up with Dave around 9am at the Dog Park. We were both hyped after watching the BATB9 championships. Warming up went alright. Dave was skating a small 8″ board. I was feeling pretty good landing quite a few of my normal tricks, but kind of stall on 360 flip once again. I would get it though and landed my first clean 360 flip in a long time. No hands down. It felt really good. Dave did a cab bigspin and got close to several more of them. But the crazy thing he was doing was getting super close to 360 flips. He got so close. I didn’t land much more then my basics, but I did get close to a lot and the 360 flip felt really fun.

Then after a Crisis run we went to Safeway ledge for another fun session. I actually got some clean back 50s! It’s been awhile. Blaine was doing the coolest no comply back 5-0s. Fuzz got close to back 50 back 180 out and did lots of other tricks. And got a cool line for The Stubborns. Dave got a sick nosegrind and landed a couple front crooks. And almost a line with back 50 180 out followed by switch 360 flip. I also got kick back 50, close to kick back tail, a not-dipped-enough front smith and probably some more tricks.

We got a @null_skateboards restock today and then went out skating! @corpoglenny in the heat of it all. True to the game and one of the best dudes out…hella. #companyownersthatskate

A photo posted by crisis skate shop ~ since 2010 (@crisis_skateboards) on Jun 18, 2016 at 6:48pm PDT

#nullrestock at @crisis_skateboards and a fun time in the heat with the one and only @_f_u_z_z. #skateshopownerswhoskate

A photo posted by Null Skateboards (@null_skateboards) on Jun 18, 2016 at 6:53pm PDT

So hot out.

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 18, 2016 at 4:05pm PDT

Blaine took off and we ended up lurking for a bit. We ended up at a nearby park ‘n ride. I did a horrible wallie nollie or two and then filmed Dave almost get a rad line. Off to another spot. Fuzz and I took some artsy shots of each other doing jersey barrier rides and then we skated a glorified curb in a tight spot. Fuzz had a nice manual, back 50 and front 50s. I got lucky with a first try crooks then couldn’t do one again and some slow front 50s before we got the boot. We were lurking some other spots when I got called for work. Fun day.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

Got to Lafayette around 8am on a hot morning. Somehow no one else was there so I just had fun cruising around that park doing lines of axle stalls (ha). It was fun. I was supposed to work on a front noseblunt to disaster for the game of OLDFART. But I didn’t get to that very quickly. I didn’t really do anything noteworthy. Standard tricks I do at Lafayette like noseslide the little hubba, kickflip on the bank, front 50 the little ledge, etc. I eventually got into a routine where I would try a line of a flatground trick, ledge trick, ollie on the manhole hump and then try the noseblunt. It was fun. Didn’t get to far on the flipper list, struggled with front 5-0s. I have never tried a front noseblunt on transition before so it was pretty hard to get myself to commit. I eventually did though. I never rode away, but I got into a few. I was getting super late for work and decided to speed up the noseblunt attempts and only did them. I got really close several time. Brian and Square State showed up. That was rad seeing Brian. I got close a few more times, but had to leave since I was already late for work and 20 minutes away.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

I work the later shift this week, but Liz has to get up early to bring Ollie to work so I get woken up anyway. Rather then lounge around I decided to skate. I was thinking maybe Boulder park or Dawg Park. I guess in my head I knew I wouldn’t even turn in to Boulder park before I left and I definitely drove right past it without giving it any thought. I was wearing shorts again and it felt good in the morning heat. I even went shirtless for the full Sants effect (Josh thinks this place looks like Sants). My first slow warm up run actually went pretty good. Ollie, nollie, nollie 180, fakie shove. Kickflips weren’t as easy to get going, but they would come. My first ‘real’ line was kickflip, varial flip, front shove. It took awhile and I thought I’d be stuck on it forever, but after that tricks started flowing. Got fakie flip then haflcab flip. Heelflip then b/s flip. Landed nollie varial flip, fakie bigflip, fakie varial flip, and a few 360 flips with a hand touch. I didn’t get a clean 360 flip, but I felt like I was figuring out how to flip the board better. Close to nollie flip,nollie treflip, nollie bigflip, halfcab heel, varial heel, switch varial flip. Had fun. Probably got sunburnt.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

After dinner and tennis with Liz and Ollie I headed out to the research ledge. I was wearing shorts, my first session in shorts of the year. Some years I don’t want anything to do with shorts, some years I’m all about them. Maybe this will be one of those years. It might have to do with hearing how vitamin d is good for soreness. Anyways, warming up was tougher then I thought it would be. I tried a line for awhile of front 180 up the curb, halfcab on flat, noseslide to fakie. Ended up just giving up on that line. I had told myself I had to do a 360 flip and a back 50 before I could lay into the crook grinds. I thought I might be stuck on them forever, but luckily I landed each horribly and was able to move on to crooks. I also got a bad front noseslide, front 50, halfcab noseslide. Hucked a lot of flippers, didn’t land anything rare other then 360 flip (which is surprisingly hard for me lately). Tried front crooks for awhile, couldn’t get posted up on them. Ended doing another back 50 that actually felt good and a crook that felt good too. I didn’t land a whole lot, but I did skate harder then I have in awhile and that felt good.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

Day 166 in a row. Only 200 more to go.

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 14, 2016 at 8:31pm PDT

Headed up to campus on a beautiful evening. Started at the spot above skating some flatground. After capturing the kickflip above I kind of just started messing around with flippers and then a curb stall trick. Flippers went ok until 360 flip again, I would eventually get a sketchy one, but I wasn’t pleased. I got into front crooks, tried switch crooks and fakie front crooks, got into kick back tail and tried to shove out which felt awesome.

I moved on and got stuck on a line of basics for a bit. Front 50 a yellow curb then manual a curb high manual pad. The front 50 took awhile. Argh. It was dark, it requires a little gap in from a crack and it wasn’t waxed. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. I didn’t quite get the manual clean either. I went to the fitness center area because I wanted to ollie some little rocks, but there was a cop posted up. A short hill bomb and toe drag later I was at a new ledge I hadn’t skated yet, but had already been skate stopped and the lights were off. Doh.

I ended up at this ledge feeling pretty tired and forced myself to do a few basic ledge tricks. Got noseslide, crooks, front 50, horrible front tail fall off and back 50 stall. Still felt like I was pushing myself a little at least. I hucked away some flippers too, only got b/s flip. No 360 flip or switch flip. I ended by forcing myself to try and ollie the ledge a few times. I did not get remotely close.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

Went into the garage after watching a fun basketball game with the family. I had wanted to skate more, but I was pretty sore and game 5 was a fun watch. So I just did the garage for a brief one. Did most of the same spinny bonk manuals I do except also added a nose manual shove. Felt cool.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

After a lot of sleeping and lounging I headed out to the dog park to try and relearn flip tricks. I started slow, was going through some of the basics at a decent rate and then stalled out at 360 flip. It was so incredibly frustrating. I posed other tricks too, got close to switch flip and nollie front heel, but could never get the 360 flip. I wanted to focus my board, but luckily I landed on a treflip in the middle of snapped the board. I was hyped! Ha.

I miss the midnight Alaska sunsets. #cantbelieveitsdarkalready

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 12, 2016 at 8:24pm PDT

Later on I went out to the research ledge. I had a new deck and new trucks. I had been skating some old Thunders that had really bad axle slip and I remember why I gave up on them a long time ago. I had traded a pair of free Ventures for them. Oh, and I had new shoes I started earlier too. Ha, I’m a poser! My last Swifts were too small and they were killing my feet. I started off pretty bad missing noseslides and it almost sent me into a rage. But stubborn me stuck with it and I would have some kind of fun. I got a lot of the basics for me. Noseslide, noseslide fakie, boardslide, crooks, switch front nose, horrible back 50, horrible halfcab noseslide, noseslide shove. I could not get a front 50 though. I got into a bunch, but never landed one. It was dumb. I posed a lot of flippers too. Got a couple over 40 treflips (whew), close to switch flips and had a few more of the basics.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 HL stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts grey/white)

Ollie with an ollie at SeaSK8 yesterday with a view of Seattle in the background.

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 12, 2016 at 10:55am PDT

After a red eye flight, walking through campus, skating a tiny bit, eating a lot and being a grouchy family we ended up at the Seattle Center. The girls split off to do the Space Needle while Ollie and I hung out at the skatepark. I say hung out at because I was dead tired and I could barely muster up the energy to kickturn. Ollie seemed to have more energy and was having fun cruising around the park. He had some 180s and other flowy moves. The only thing I did was a crooks on the ledge that took a long time.

I got the day wrong, we only had a couple hours and we got rained out. Other than that it was perfect. Great seeing you @corpoglenny and Ollie! With @chipbaker and @jgomer. #glenssupershortlayoverofradical #beaconofstoke #radwashad #jpskatecrap

A photo posted by Joshua Pluger (@boredzinejp) on Jun 11, 2016 at 4:41pm PDT

So good. So pogo.

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Jun 11, 2016 at 3:41pm PDT

Old Dog Chip picked us up and we went to the Jefferson skatepark to meet up with Josh and crew. The park was mobbed with people. Seeing a kid on a pogo stick was a new one for me. In the bowl even. There were also scooter kids, skaters filming, etc. It was pretty chaotic to walk into. Chip, Ollie and I were having fun though. Josh and Justin would show up after awhile. Josh was ripping that park quickly, it was rad to see. Front and back lip transfers on the qp hip, front 50s the bank 50 ledge and ledge to bank, back tailslides. I was starting to feel good. Had a couple fun noseslides on the bench into the bank, some back 50s over the hip, maybe some more, but it’s all a blur. Ollie was having fun cruising around pushing mongo. Chip was grooving, I thought I saw a kickflip to fakie, but he later said he only got close. Then the rain started to it. We stated a game of SKATE. Ollie watched. I landed a backside flip,but other then that got letters on tricks like fakie flip and front shove (wtf). Then Josh ended my game with another trick I should land – 360 flip. I don’t think the winner was determined as the rain became too much. Fun times seeing those dudes though. Josh rips so hard.

(setup 8.25 null awkward vectors deck, thunder 147 lights stock bushings, 3 washers on inside of axles, 50mm bones stf v1, Es Swifts black/white)