On a limited time frame I went to dog park to meet Rob, Cass, Sean and Paul. We started in the park. I was adjusting to a couple changes. Vulc 212s and a smaller deck. The shoes were too big and with the smaller board felt super odd. I tried to do 5 flippers on the bank. But I only got kickflip fakie, b/s flip and kind of a big flip. I couldn’t make the board to a varial flip. Oh and Sean and I both got no comply pole jams 2nd try.

At the dog park it was a decent session. Rob was in demo mode when I got there. Back 50 no comply back shove out, halfcab back 50 back 180 out (trusting him on this one hee hee), manuals, nose manuals, halfcab board the tall bench, front board it. I filmed Cass do a front board on old piece of junk flat bar so I remember him doing that, but can’t think of other tricks right now. He was doing some filming with his super 8 which was cool. Sean was doing Sean things. Basically everything looking perfect at high speeds. The back 5-0 front 180 was my favorite. Paul had a bunch of cool slappies in all directions. Oh Cass and Paul were learning fakie back 50s then Paul learned fakie crooks like it was nothing. I skated pretty average. Did a new trick on the little ledge. Nollie front tail front shove out. Totally perfect ha. Near the end I the little Natas stall on the cone and got two shoves on it.

After lunch with my mom and some lounging I went up to Lyons to meet Dave and Billy on the Rampitheater. I had a new christmas complete. 8.3/5.8/51. It felt alright, but my shoes still felt too large. The ramp was crazy. There was a super small section then a taller section with different heights. I took forever to do a f/s halfcab rock. Then lined it out with front tail which I haven’t done in forever. Couldn’t get a kickflip on the transition. Dave beat Billy’s son Brook in a game of SKATE. It was pretty funny. Brook is young and super motivated and was trying hard and isn’t afraid to ask a lot of questions. It’s cool. It’s funny actually both his kids were into old school skating like Billy. And all decked out in full safety gear. Billy ripped it. He would throw in some tricks out of nowhere like a little invert, blunt fakie yank in, front d, 5-0s. Dave had lots of fakie/nollie/switch pops and almost got a nollie bigspin. Good times and a fun adventure seeing some elk and deer on the way home.

(setups UGH 8.25/8.3 5.8 cast/titanium 51mm, new balance numeric 212 size 12 272 insole)
(pain level 3/10)

Got to Boulder park on a nice morning somehow feeling less sore armed with 8.3/5.8 again.  It felt alright, poppy, familiar.  I went on to have an alright session, pretty good considering I was there well before 7am.  My 5.8s are so worn down and Ti doesn’t grind too well.  Guess I need to figure out which size I want to skate to do the christmas complete.  I had a warm up line of crooks the bench, b/s flip the hump.  Also a bunch of noseslides the bank to ledge then ollies onto the bench or front 50 and 180 out.   Almost manualled the triangle from the top side.  Was getting frustrated at the end and tried a bunch of noseslide 270 shoves, but was not close.  

(setup null 8.3 smoke valley, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast base titanium hanger no big washer flat top washer, 51mm spitfire 101a classic shape f4 washers outside, new balance numeric 288s green/gum size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On an absolutely gorgeous cloudy 70 degree afternoon I went to meet Rob at dog park.  I had put the 8.3 deck back on.  The valmont park was completely empty so I started there and it was quite fun.  Tried a couple lines.  Barrier ride, carve around then kickflip fakie.  Other way I tried ollie the hip euro, back 180 the next hip then posed halfcab flips on the little bank.  Was getting into it when a bunch of kids on bikes went through mud and right into the park.  

The valmont warmup was nice as I started out pretty good in the dog park.  Rob was already linking lines with halfcab boardslides or noseslides, back 50 back 180s, manuals, and close to nollie front lips.  I tried a line for a bit of switch front nose the metal bench, fakie flip, halfcab boardslide the little flat bar, but I couldn’t get the halfcab board.  I don’t think I really did anything else of note really, but I was skating alright and having fun.  Rob and I played another game of SKATE.  I couldn’t get a halfcab flip to save my life, but was hyped to get a halfcab one foot.  Rob won it on a no comply back 360.  I skated a little more after that, a fakie 50 or two then my wheel fell off again trying a slappy so I was over it.  And possibly over Aces.

(setup 8.38 smoke valley null, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 288S green/gum no insoles)
(pain level 5/10 super achy)

Had thought that maybe with how much shorter Aces are that I’d want a wider board.  Nope.  As soon as I set the 8.5 down I disliked it.  My wheel fell off twice in the early stages which bummed me out.  Turns out Ace axle nots pop off on front slappies.  I was a little late and Rob had already fizzled out.  We played a game of SKATE.  I think Rob one it on a cab.  We did some fun one foot and no comply variations.  I came close to 360 shoves, but couldn’t get one.  

(setup 8.5 smoke valley null, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 288S green/gum no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 achy)

After another day of lounging around and trying to recover I went to Douglass on a really nice afternoon. As soon as I set my board down I knew it wouldn’t go well, but I did try. Was still amazed at how easily I could kickflip on this setup. I’m not sure if it’s the low/light aces or the narrow bones, but it’s great. I did have some problems popping into noseslides and couldn’t get crooks though. I’m not sure I can blame trucks for that through, I was dead tired, sore and lacking energy. I also felt like I should try 8.5 with the aces since the wheelbase is so small on them. So we’ll see. I went home after about 30 minutes of putzing around.

(setup 8.38 smoke valley null, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 288S green/gum no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 achy)

Feeling run down I rested most of the day then mustered the strength to skate some flatground. I was armed with a new pair of 288s, my current fav shoe. I mean I say that because they work the best, but I wouldn’t say they are a favorite. Anyway, I did a few little front slappies on the hook then went to the side of the school. To my surprise I got my first 5 kickflips in a row. I was skating extra slow, resting between each try. I had obsessed about halfcab flips and they did not come easy. I got a few, most of which didn’t feel great. Tried a bunch of f/s halfcab heels that were close, a couple Rick flips were close, switch/nollie flips were not close. Eventually got a very slow 270 flip then went home.

(setup 8.38 smoke valley null, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 288S green/gum no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 achy)

On a warm morning I went to boulder park.  I wore some old 288s which I initially liked, then would feel the pain of vulcs I dislike.  I skated pretty poorly.  Gonna blame some learning curve on the new trucks, some on the vulcs.  I’m trying to remember if I did anything out of the ordinary and I don’t think so.  I was still surprised at how quickly the board flipped, but with vulcs I lost the confidence and didn’t want to try them.  So yeah, nothing stands out, but I did feel pretty natural on the new setup cruising around.

(setup 8.38 smoke valley null, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 272 black size 12 half insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After some OCD obsessing over the new Ace AF1 lows I went to 303, got them, set them up, then went to the empty tennis court spot and gave them a whirl.  And my first impression was excellent.  Even though they are lows they seemed to turn similar to AF1s, but a much lighter pop.  I went on to have a decent session even though I started hating the new 425s and all the heel lift I was getting.  Flip tricks worked well and heelflips felt surprisingly good.  I skated the ledge alright for me.  Crooks and slow front 50s, noseslides, switch noseslides.  Slappies felt good.  Decent first session on new trucks, shoes , wheels.

(setup 8.38 smoke valley null, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm bones stf 99a v3 slims, new balance numeric 425 black/gum size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After dinner I went over to the side of the school on a really warm and nice night.  I had new NB# 425s.  They had a great flick and felt good on day one.  I had the goal of doing a rick flip and a treflip and that was it.  I would get neither, but was close to both.  Did a few basics and came close to switch and nollie flips as well. 

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer night skate deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows no big washer, spitfire 52mm f4 99a classic shape 3 rings inside, new balance numeric 425 black/gum size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

After work met up wit Rob at a surprisingly mellow dog park. Warming up went decent for me and it seemed like for Rob too. Saw him lining out halfcab board on the tall bench and almost halfcab nose on it. Close to nollie front lips the c ledge, pops over the green curb, nollie front lips on it, back 50s on the curb with back 180s out, wallrides the barrier, manuals and nose manuals around the C. I skated alright for me, but couldn’t get the kickflip up the c ledge again, or off it. But it was fun finally going through the cracks to ollie up it. Had a couple slow back 50s on the c ledge, some crooks on the back of the upper deck, some fun slappies. Had a few flippers, but nothing special until the end when I got a little line of switch front nose then fakie bigflip. So I left on a good note.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer night skate deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows no big washer, spitfire 52mm f4 99a classic shape 3 rings inside, new balance numeric 288s grey size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)