Man what a night. Called for work, running India to/from ballet in north Boulder, making dinner, etc. Late night I decided I needed to skate. I went out to skate Rampy for a few minutes, but ended up skating awhile and skated pretty hard. Did a little of everything. Got a couple more Texas Plants, tried those fakie pop disasters that everyone except me can do, did fakie rock to back smith, a couple f/s ollies, an accidental fakie f/s feeble, front tail, several back smith stalls that felt cool.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers 52mm null wheels)

Another busy morning being Mr Mom. Went to CostCo. That is never quick. Had to pick Ollie up at a friends in Louisville so I hit the park for an hour before picking him up. The scene sucked. But that’s to be expected. It was warm out and if felt great. I did some typical warming up stuff. Tried the ol’ line of ollie onto the ledge, drop into the bank, axle stall, then b/s flip the hip. Came close, but never landed the b/s flip. I shouldn’t have bailed a couple of them. My friend Steve showed up as did Blake. So rad. I failed at bonelesses for awhile, did a couple basic flippers on the bank then failed at kickflip axle stalls on the bank to curb for awhile.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 8, 2015 at 5:51pm PDT

Then I had 45 minutes while India was in a Pilates class and this clip pretty much sums up all of it. Except that the boardslide pop out was way harder then it looks and took me most of the time. And I would have probably done a better f/s halfcab flip, but I was interrupted by a drunk dude wanting to talk about how passionate I am about skateboarding.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers 52mm null wheels)

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 7, 2015 at 12:59pm PST

Liz is gone so I’m Mr Mom for a few days. After bringing India to ballet I had an hour or so since Ollie had to do homework. There was snow everywhere. It’s amazing how much snow dumped while I was in the NW. So I busted out Ledgy. I started off struggling so bad. A reminder that I was sick. Boardslides, noseslides, back crooks and front 50s were pretty quick. Then I tried to just ollie onto the ledge and kept accidentally manualling it. I was going so slow. Ugh. There was a slight downhill slope to the spot that weirded me out. I would eventually get back 50s, back 5-0s, front 5-0, front 50 front 180 and almost front tail. I was way scared of doing the back 50 on the slight downhill. So lame. I changed the ledge around a couple times. I threw some flippers. Had a couple bad treflips and started hucking varial heels over and over. They kept getting closer and closer and I finally landed one. I was skating slow (obviously), but man it felt cool. I went home and changed the angle iron so the screws are on the wheelbase side. Not sure why I never did that before. I should bust Ledgy out more, it was fun. And now that I will hopefully not hang up on back 50s that stick to the screw it should be even more fun.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers 52mm null wheels)

Was about to get ready for bed after a busy family evening when I realized I hadn’t skated yet. So I manualed my hallway a few times and balanced on my carpet. It counts.

Can you believe it, I actually took a day off of skating! I’m relieved to not be thinking about the 365 number anymore. Went out to Rampy still feeling sick and exhausted from Portland/Seattle, but motivated to try and skate transition better. Watching Josh in Seattle was motivating. Doesn’t mean I skated well though. Did quite a few of my staples, bailed a lot. Got a few really bad Texas Plants. Ended on a front disaster to fakie then had to go pick up India.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 3, 2015 at 2:15pm PST

We hit this right after getting off the bus. Nate front boarded up and across a lot of the ledge. It was amazing. He had also front 50’d up pretty easy. I couldn’t 50 because my trucks were too wide and would lie flat on the curb which wasn’t slick enough for that. I wanted to boardslide across and down the ledge, but never got that warmed up. We went and ate and Ben Raybourn walked by. That was cool.

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 3, 2015 at 8:39pm PST

Then we skated this spot for a couple hours. Nate did nose manual drop down to nose manual. So sick. He got close to a bunch more as well. Fakie manual, pop shove nose manual, and more. I did quite a few little 180s, came close to nose manual to tailslide, did switch 180 up one then quickish b/s flip up the next. Kickflips up. Not enough manuals though. We ended with a game of SKATE. Nate once again avoided the tricks I’ve never done therefor allowing me to win. Although I did land some good ones for me. Heelflip, 360 flip, nollie 360 flip, b/s flip, fakie bigflip. Fun trip. Man that was a lot of skating.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 2, 2015 at 2:40pm PST

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 2, 2015 at 2:35pm PST

A video posted by Joshua Pluger (@boredzinejp) on Mar 2, 2015 at 2:40pm PST

Bellevue park. Wow if you could have seen us attempting to warm up at this park early in the morning. We were all hurting. It was hilarious, or depressing. You choose. We started a little session on the stairs where we would ride on to the stairs and grind across them. It helped us get going. In fact I was pretty hyped on front 50 back 180 out I landed. Josh had some bad slams, but pulled through for some ripping. Lots of tricks over the qp hip. Manuals around the bank. Nate ripped too. The feeble transfer was amazing. He also had some crazy manuals on the banked manny pad. Good back 50s on the pier 7 ledge, maybe back 5-0 too. I managed one lousy back 50 on in, but lots of crooks which felt good because grinding granite is awesome. Chip from Old Dog Skates joined us and put together a sick kickflip to fakie. Filming each other’s lines was pretty fun.

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 2, 2015 at 5:00pm PST

Then we attempted to skate more. This was a new park. It was bizarre. Shove as many features as possible into one area and hope for the best. Josh figured it out pretty quick and was linking lines with lots of f/s ollies. He didn’t hesitate to do front and back lips all over the place. The front lip on a 5foot qp to 1 foot qp was sick. Pushing up to the park I could barely lean down to push. It was surprisingly cold. Nate and I found some stoke on a mini qp. We both did our first transfer to front tails. Also transfer front 50, front lip. Pretty fun. I got a little hurricane on it too. The tight qp that Josh did the front rock on in the photo was fun. Nate got boardslides and board to fakie. I got rock ‘n roll and axle stall. Josh may have gone as far as front tails even. I had a fun line in the park with back 50, front d and then front rock. Josh has me inspired to not suck at transition so much. Then we skated the ledge area for awhile that had a big puddle making it hard. I was sucking so bad, but somehow in a good mood about. Giggling and making fun of myself. The locals were laughing. Josh and Nate did quick up nose manuals. I kind of got quick up back 50. Then I tried front 50 shove and cracked my board. Kept trying it and snapped my nose real good. It was funny because the three of us cheered and said “Yeah now we can go!” We were so beat. Normally when I’m so tired and skating bad I get angry, so that was nice.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 1, 2015 at 11:03am PST

Up early on another sunny Seattle day we started at Crown Hill skate dot. We mostly skated the ramp. Josh killed it. Bean plants, back lips, front lips, slob plants (I think), front tails, back tails, he got it all. Nate and I struggled. I would eventually get front disasters, front rocks, fakie stall to fakie and it felt like more, but I can’t remember it now.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 1, 2015 at 11:45am PST

A video posted by Joshua Pluger (@boredzinejp) on Mar 1, 2015 at 11:48am PST

Then Nate and I skated the ledge for a bit. You can see what we did. It was really tight.

A photo posted by Joshua Pluger (@boredzinejp) on Mar 1, 2015 at 1:48pm PST

Then we met some of the Amigos owners at another skate dot. This one was more ledge oriented. I’m guessing I accidently got some gluten in me as I was stiff as a board. I didn’t feel like skating at all which kind of sucked because the ledges were cool and meeting those guys was rad. Nate went off. Nosegrinds both ways, front 5-0 back 180 out, tailslides, so much more. Sasha can do every front 50 variation there is. It ruled. Fakie front 50 switch bigspin out? Yeap. Justin has super good style and knocked down some fast basics. Josh did a no comply on the bank that was crazy good, big ollies on the gnarly qp, back tail, back tail shove on the ledge. I couldn’t even get front 5-0 shove. Did a decent crooks to fakie for me and managed to win the big group game of SKATE.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Mar 1, 2015 at 4:38pm PST

Then we went to Green Lake again. I tried to skate, but my body was shut down. After throwing my board out of the park I settled on just filming Josh rip it. I mean look at that!

A video posted by Joshua Pluger (@boredzinejp) on Mar 5, 2015 at 11:13am PST

After dinner with Josh’s fam we went out to ATS indoor skatepark for Old Man night. I thought I was gonna have to sit it out, but a warm up run of boardslide then kickflip on the bank worked so I kept at it. Josh was cruising around doing all kinds of radical maneuvers. Fakie fast plant, front 360, boneless, lipslides, f/s flips, everything. Nate and I skated the corner for a bit. He was doing rad powerslides down a hump, carving the vert wall good then almost getting pivots to fakie. I managed a front feeble to fakie. Nate beat me to bonelesses on the bank. I almost got a few trannie tricks on the little qp. Took a long time to get a bigflip on the bank and Nate worked for a sick f/s flip that Josh and I both missed. There was lots of rad skating going on. Seattle has a sick scene. Stoked to see it for a bit and happy that Josh has so many friends to skate with.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)

A video posted by Austin Fischer (@austinmfischer) on Feb 28, 2015 at 5:21pm PST

Saw this skatepark in Josh’s 40th Bday clip and thought it looked really fun. Turns out it’s even funner then it looks. Maybe one of the funnest parks I’ve skated. Once again it’s been almost a week since I skated before writing this so remembering everything that went down is impossible. We met a few of Josh’s friends there. Austin, Ted, Billy, Russel and probably a couple names I’m forgetting. Josh flew all over that park like it was nothing. He might be the only person that skated the mellowish quarterpipes. I had a blast. I was even little-kid-excited at the start not knowing what to try. It was all so fun. Nate and I agreed this was our favorite park. Mainly because it had an absolutely perfect ledge surrounded by fun stuff. I did a manual across the steeper bank, almost kickflip manual, kickflip over the f/s hip, b/s flip over the hip, was the last to nose manual the first pod. Nate and Josh manualed then dropped to nose manual on the second one. I went nose manny to manny. Landed on crooks shove a few times. Bigflip on the bank, fakie flip, kickflip to fakie from low to high. Nate did a Texas Plant!!! So rad. Maybe he’ll get to posting it some day (hint).

A video posted by Joshua Pluger (@boredzinejp) on Feb 28, 2015 at 5:40pm PST

Then we went to Shoreline Park. We were warned the locals might not be so nice. Turns out they were incredibly nice. Ha. Except the parents. I was trying to wallie onto the ledge in the photo then drop to the lower ledge and my board came close to a toddler playing near the park. I told the parent her son was in danger and she yelled at me telling me she had a right to be there. What a stupid lady. The park was crowded when we first got there. So much was going on. It ended up being a really fun park. Maybe as good as Martha Lake, just different. Nate and I skated the ledges a lot. I had made a mental note of the tricks I wanted to do and did all of them. That is about as rare as it gets for me. I did the front 50 on the top ledge and dropped onto the downhill ledge, front 50’d the downhill ledge, front 50’d the ledge into the bank, did the really fun boneless over the rail, kickflip over the hip and ended with b/s flip over the hip and setting up with an axle stall on the qp. Nate back 50’d the ledge to bank and the bank to ledge. Ha. Kickflip over the hip and maybe nollie heel. Josh did every transition trick on the quarterpipe, front 50 and front tail the ledge on the pyramid and across the bank to ledge, slappy down the ledge. It was warm. Then we had to leave. Such a fun day. One of my favorites.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)

A photo posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Feb 27, 2015 at 2:48pm PST

Nate and I missed the bus the early bus to Seattle which ended up working out because it was pretty darn nice in Portland. We started here and played a game of SKATE. Nate took honors with tricks like treflip and fakie treflip. He had thought he’d be feeling bad and resort to switch and nollie tricks, but he didn’t. Which is even more of an insult! Ha.

Then I ollied one of these balls and 180’d off the two stair before we went and skated one of the jankiest banks ever.

A video posted by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Feb 27, 2015 at 12:25pm PST

This was seriously so hard to skate. Especially the bank to curbish side. The concrete was so rough. You would take three steps, throw your board down, push as hard as you can twice and most likely not even make it up to the rock to pivot on. I managed a front tail. Nate managed a front pivot and a back pivot after slamming super hard. Then we skated the other side and did the professional level tricks you see on the gram yo.

After a bus ride to the colder and drearier city of Seattle Josh quickly brought us to his favorite “Street spot”. Green Lake Skatepark. I did not skate well. Josh murdered it. Nate struggled a bit too, but always does rad stuff. I’m trying to remember specifics which is hard since we went there twice. I was really surprised by the mandatory Chuck Taylors to look cool there. We pumped around the flow bowl for awhile. Well, Nate and I pumped around it, Josh did tricks in it. Nate and Josh did boardslides off the edge of the jersey barrier thing. And learned front boards off it too. Some dude did a Texas plant right in front of Nate which was really funny. He still had to do them for our game of OLDFART. I did a dumb early grab off a ledge to ride across the park holding on still to grind off a ledge. Nate cali grinded off the kicker. Josh ripped the spine, quarter pipes and bank to curb. So many tricks. I managed to roll in backside and do a front tail, but couldn’t get a front smith. I had to give up. Right at the end I started trying kickflip wallrides on the bank to steeper bank. Got close to a good one, then landed a sketchy one. It cheered me up a little at least.

(setup 8.25 venture wides bones med bushings no washers null wheels)