Had a friday off work! Bernie came over around 11:30 on a nice day and we headed to little Arvada for a Square State BBQ / skate jam. After a brat and hotdog I met up with Bernie who was showing off for the kids skating the ledge pretty good. I was kinda feeling things out for awhile. Lazer and Jake showed. Brett showed. Jake, Bernie and I were skating the ledge. Bernie did a front smith kickflip out all steezy. Kick back tail. Jake leaned back 50s. I did a few crooks and some slow front 50s (I don’t get why this trick is so much harder with higher trucks). I went over the little spine thing and was coming back over it via smith transfer when disaster struck. I’m not really sure what happened, but I remember thinking “This is going to hurt really bad” and thinking my head was ok then BOOM. Hit the ground really hard. I thought it was just my right knee that was dead, but apparently I was out or something for a bit because everyone was standing around me in the park. I think what happened was the bill of my hat hit the ground luckily saving my face, but still resulting in a lot of pain and possibly a little concussion. Ouch. I sat out for a while and never really felt good at all after that. Jake and Lazer killed the tranny. Brian, Jake and Lazer did frontside slashes over the love seat. Jake then front 50’d over it. I got an ollie onto the manual pad and kickflip off. We played a game of SKATE that Jake won. Brett skated some of the best I’ve seen him skate.

Then Brett, Bernie and I met Carleigh and Jack here. It looks perfect in this screen grab, and well, it really is. It’s harder then a skatepark hip that’s for sure, but it’s still pretty much perfect. Bernie did ollie and back 180 lickety split. Jack went for 360 flip out of the gates. Carleigh did ollie then pop shove. Brett was trying front biggee and accidentally did it to wallride. I had a couple of kickflips that were so small they didn’t clear the hip. Then it was filming time. And it kept being filming time forever. I mostly just filmed dudes losing their minds, throwing temper tantrums, not having any fun and not landing tricks. Carleigh however, got some kickflips. She’s goofy (footed) so whether she will admit it or not, the term frontside kickflip is involved. Near the end I skated a bit. I got a better kickflip, no comply front shove, no comply 270 and boneless 270. All of which had lots of tic tacs and no air. Carleigh darn near learned backside flips. That spot is cool. There is a lot of stuff there. Oh, and the photo above of Bernie is a self portrait after he wiped blood on his face and started talking about riding a buffalo into battle. Like I said, “losing their minds”.

A super nice evening. Got home from work, crashed for a few minutes and then skated in front of the house until Ollie was ready to play basketball. I was pretty tired, but I always am anymore. I didn’t get too far in the trick list, but managed a treflip right as Ollie came out.

Left work a little early. Met Dave at Boulder ditch for a very brief session. The corner was dry. I almost got my front frock then bs flip line. Dave did a cool bs tailblock. He did a little front board and I did a little back board. That was about it. His wife was scheduled to have labor induced the next day. So crazy. Hope it goes well.

Then I bolted for Arvada to sell boards at Community then skate for a little bit. I started on the little qp at the top, then the mini ramp, then the bank to curb area. I didn’t do anything new really. I skated decent. The Pig wheels were slippery compared to superthanes, but it was fine. Highlight was a run with ollie behind the barrier into the bank, back 5-0 on the noping qp, pump around, axle stall the qp, pump around then front 5-0 over the hip and almost a kickflip to fakie on the bank. Did a couple front 50s on the pier 7 ledge. Ollied the marble flat bar. Twas fun.

Then I met Carleigh and Fuzz at Crisis and we hit the Broomfield park. I started off sucking and for the most part stayed there. Carleigh was ripping though. Back smiths the quartapotty, front tails the blue ledge, boardslides on the black ledge. So close to b/s flips on flat and noseslide back 270 shove out. Fuzz was slamming hard on flatground, but destroying the brick qp. Switch pivot favie first t, back blunt, blunt fakie, etc. Connor was there ripping. The fast plant over the brown ledge was sick as was the backside 43 shifty. I was not landing much and I think the main reason was still needing to get used to the taller trucks. It was really annoying though and made me wish I was still on the lows. I got a few 3 flips. A horrible kick back 50. Could barely ollie up the angled blue ledge. Couldn’t not land a nollie tre to save my life. Tried to get a line of front 50 front 180 out on the black ledge, fakie flip the bank then crooks the black ledge. Took me so long to get the 180 out. Ugh. Shove out is much easier. I had fun though. It was good to see Carleigh skating so well.

Had one of those days I woke up grouchy and stayed there all day. I probably had a beer too many for Deano’s birthday gathering the night before. After dinner I went out to Rampy. It was cold out. There is still lots of snow around. The first 30 minutes I was just passing the motions. Grind this, stall that, fall down, bail, flatground kickflip. I managed one b/s hurricane that was a struggle. I had Pissed Jeans on shuffle and was digging it. Next up was front tails then hopefully front tail 180. I got a few front tails, but couldn’t get the 180 out. I had started hucking some flip tricks between runs. Got a 360 flip or two, a heelflip. Then went for nollie tre, but there wasn’t enough room so I just ran into the wall and pushed back off it and hucked a switch 360 flip. To my amazement it was ridiculously close. I did this a few more times, get setup for nollie tre then push backwards. I got so close it was ridiculous. Never got both feet on it, but man, talk about exciting. I never thought that trick would be in my range, but maybe, just maybe, it is.

Another cold Sunday. It was in the low 20s. Ugh. I went to Crisis to sell some stuff and hang for a bit. We skated the curb in the shop for a bit until the massage people next door complained. Jack did some crazy shiat. Back big fakie pivot bigspin out. First try fakie tre fakie nosegrind. Cab flip back tail. On a cruiser board. Killing it. Carleigh did a bunch of front hurricanes and a backside one or two too boot. Crisis new guy joined for long enough to do a no comply 270 to tail after seeing mine and having never thought of that trick before. I didn’t do much more then the no comply 270 to tail.

Then I went to Meta to sell some more and go skating with John. We started out at the St Julien garage (photo above). It was super dark in there, but pretty warm. We skated flat and a few parking blocks. Kinda early on I had a line with wallie front 180, halfcab flip then front board to fakie. Front boards are the scariest trick. John had some really good treflips (no surprise there). I had several no complies over one and wanted to follow it with a heelflip, but could not get the heelflip. My legs were pretty tired from the day before. We settled in on the curbs above for awhile. John did a crazy switch noseslide pop over to regs. He did it a few times and when I went to take a photo you can see that his back wheels landed in the “tranny” and he shot out so hard. It was sick though. I had a bunch of whatever tricks. Slappy lipslide transfer, sw boardslide transfer, halfcab boardslide, halfcab boardslide to fakie and an ultra slow, but super excited about switch front board.

Then we left for Steelyards. I was really tired/sore and didn’t really land anything. I was struggling so hard. John got a front shove off the curb. I landed on like 10 of them and would just collapse. Ugh. I tried a few treflips too, but couldn’t roll away. We settled in on the curb next to the wall and I tried another front 5-0 (stall) kickflip out and came even closer then the day before. So tried a few more and boom. Bolts! It honestly felt amazing. We each did some more goofing around before security came and gave us the boot.

Another weekend, another snow storm. So sick of it. We got about 8″ and it was still dumping. It was quite cold too so a warmer garage was needed. I went with Steelyards which was quite nice and warm. I had setup a new board with some new Venture Highs. Yes, I will be the first to admit my truck issues are pathetic. But hear me out. I don’t think Thunders are all that great. I hate Indys. I liked how the Venture lows skated, just not how low they were. So rather then putting my old Thunders on I picked up some Venture highs hoping that my truck problems will be solved. I did some kickflips on flat and was kinda bumming on how slow it flipped with the highs. Oh well, I hit the Steelyards parking garage solo. Right out the gate I felt great. It didn’t take long before I was trying real tricks. I was just skating flat because in my head I was telling myself if I ended up not liking the highs I could return them if I didn’t grind anything. I had told myself I had to do a treflip and a nollie treflip before I could grind. It didn’t take long. I was skating way better then the last couple times. I was landing fakie bigflips again. Tried a line of fakie bigflip, front shove off the curb then treflip. Came close, but the treflip eluded me. Tried another run with f/s halfcab flip, nose manual, nollie treflip. Didn’t get the nollie tre with those, but managed a great one in my favorite run of the session. Little front lip on the corner of the unwaxed curb, nollie tre then a high speed kickflip off the curb (first try). I was super hyped on that. I tried a lot of tricks. Came remotely close to a gleNBD of front 180 heel. I had my headphones on and was skating really hard, eventually I got kinda tired and just settled into kick back 50/5-0/tail going one way and front 5-0 kickflip out the other way. I would also huck flippers. Came close to varial heel and got way too close on a b/s bigflip. Got a couple more treflips. Struggled with b/s flips and heelflips though. Front 5-0 kickflip was on my to do list by 40 (before the arthritis flare up that ended hopes of that list) and I got insanely close. Like holy smokes I can do this close. Landed both feet on it and fell off close. I ended up trying it so many times and it eventually wore me out too much and I gave up. I really thought I would get it. Doh. I did get a few kickflip back 50s. One bail that landed with the board balanced sideways on the wheels (photo above) that made me laugh. All in all a great session and I’m glad to have moved on from the low trucks and hopefully I will like the highs and stop being a whiny bitch about my setup.

Went to Valmont feeling tired, sore, unmotivated and uninspired, but looking at the weather it probably wont be dry for a long time so I still went. I parked before realizing there was a puddle in front of the ledge too so that sucked. I skated the manny pads for awhile. Almost had fun for a bit for awhile. Tried a long line with kickflip up a curb, manual, nose manual, back 180 up a curb, fakie bigspin off. Got to the bigspin, but almost died on it. Going the other way I tried sw 180 up a curb, ollie off, manual, front 180 nose manny (never landed) then a fakie ollie off a curb. I was obsessing over how low my board felt and hating on it and how cracked my tail was. I skated a bit of the ledge and tried a front tail shove and got close. Then I lost all motivation and left after my foot finished off my board. I hate how I obsess over setups. You would think after skating for 25 years I would remember that low trucks will eventually bum me out. Oh well, at least this time I landed a few tricks while I had them.

Finally made it to the Launch ramp! After work, driving to Ft Collins, doing business at MRKT then eating a burrito I met Chad at Launch where he volunteers. No one else was there. Rad. We walked in and before I even set my drink down Chad nose mannied up the box then came back and switch manualed it. Geez. We moved the boxes after it was clear I couldn’t ollie yet and skated the ramp for awhile. It’s a bit harder then it looks, but still really fun. I got a few grinds on the pool coping side and a few front disasters on the other side. It’s fun carving around the pool corner. Chad a super sick nollie front 360 and a bunch of rad ollies and basics. He wasn’t afraid to carve the corner then come flying at the manny pad and do a trick at full speed. One of my favorites to watch. Then we went back to the ledge off the ramp config. For awhile it was just one of the boxes off the ramp as a manny pad. Chad straight up ripped it. Nollie back heel switch manny down it first try. Frontside flip sw manny. Tricks that made me feel really old. My self deprecation was in effect. I was sucking. It took me forever to get a manual.

Ok, so every time I’ve skated low trucks I love it for awhile. Then I start to hate it. The last few times skating I’ve still liked it, but I’ve definitely started thinking it’s stupid. The problem is I’ve landed a lot of dream trucks on the low setup. Hardflip, cab flip, kick 50 shove. The thing I dislike is how tall ledges start feeling and it really hit me hard. I could not do anything. We started our runs out by ollieing over the blue barrier into the ramp. It looks super easy, but it’s kind of awkward. Well, for me it was. Chad did like 10 tricks into the ramp. I did manage 180s both ways and a kickflip or three. Ollies felt weird. I kept landing on my tail and cracked my board a bit. It took me for f’ing ever to commit to a front 50 off that thing. The blue wood sticking up weirded me out so much just saying “hey roll your ankle right here”. I managed to back 50 up it, turn around and front 50 down while setting the slowest speed record ever recorded at Launch. I almost got a kickflip up onto the ramp and a b/s flip out. I was feeling so old and awkward. Chad slayed that thing. We played a couple games of SKATE that Chad one. I proved that I can land a nollie treflip and not have a good day. Chad ripped it all night and was fun to be with, but my skating was some of my worst ever and I should have just skated the ramp. Ha. Now, time to obsess over taller trucks ..

Got out of work and what do you know, my car wont start. Had that problem in the morning too and had to jump it so it looks like it needs a new battery. Rather then taking care of that I did a few things and watched the Nuggets somehow destroy OKC for their 13 win. So awesome and so nothing to do with a skate journal. But its the reason I didn’t get out until 9pm. It was way colder then it should be. In the mid 40s, but with a cold wind. I had setup some new wheels. Some little Pig 50mm wheels. They had been taunting me at Crisis for a long time so I got some. My first non-Null wheels in years. Out of the gate they seemed great. And I warmed up pretty quick and had the drive to push a little faster then normal (not saying much). I had some boardslide pop outs and noseslide pop outs to get warmed up. Then came kickflips and some stalls on the curb. The box in the photo wasn’t there initially. I got some crooked grinds on the middle section. They felt super good. So good I kept doing them. I guess the narrower wheels let me lock in a little better. I got a couple treflips after, but both were super bad. Looking back I hardly landed anything frontside. Did I even try? Man, I landed like two front 50s and a really bad front tail. Oh and a couple front noseslides to fakie. I tried a bunch of flip tricks. After bailing a frontside trick I would do a nollie heel or nollie flip attempt. Those weren’t close. Well, the first one was close, but it must have been luck. I tried a bunch of fakie big flips going fast. That trick isn’t working lately. I got one. Coming back I would try the fastest nollie tres I’ve ever tried. I got one. I landed on almost every one of them though. That trick rules. Later on I put this box after it and ollied it in a couple tries. It felt neat. I put it upright too which was way taller and didn’t have the cajones to commit. I got tired quick around then and the wind kicked in overdrive so I went home. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a bad day skating when I land a nollie tre. Love that trick.

These two awesome people picked me up on a windy Sunday afternoon with no real plans that I know of. We ended up at the steep banks – aka the Neil banks – aka Inotech (not quite Initech from Office Space). No one seemed overly hyped on the spot and Jack and I dorked around on bank wallie to sidewalk stall to trick back in. I never landed anything, but Jack got a wallie back 50 shove it to axle stall or something crazy like that.

We moved on and ended up at the weird basketball court/skatepark near Neil’s house. Neil even joined us for a bit and landed a rare (or maybe his first ever?) nollie nose manual. I had a blast. I’m not sure why I found it so funny, but everything was making me laugh. Neil falling, Jack doing wallie 180s sidweways up a ledge or hanging up in the crack between picnic table boards, everything was funny. Even when I fell which I did a lot of. Fortunately for me if I’m falling that normally means I’m actually trying stuff that hypes me up. I had a couple lines on the little curb like kickflip up, b/s flip off. Front 180 up, f/s halfcab flip off. Got a line of nose manual the little one, then ollie up the taller curb and then a board stall transfer up onto the top of the ledges and go the other way and ollie onto a picnic table. I did quite a few kick back 50s and started trying shove it’s out and got a sketchy one. I was super hyped. Last thing for me was an ollie onto the table and front 180 off. It was propped up after the tall ledge so it wasn’t much to get on it. Carleigh did some of her first front 5-0s ever, posted up front tailslides, came somewhat close to shove out, did some back 50s and hucked a lot of flip tricks. Jack seemed to be having a blast too. He had a lot of funny falls too. He tried a lot of drop down 50s, did a crazy late shove to disaster from the upper ledge to the lower one, tried to no comply up from the low curb to the top ledge, and a lot more that escapes my mind right now.