Met up with Garrett and Gordon at York St. Also Ryan and Dale from Ritual and Anthony from Bluecar joined. And it was a really fun session because we only skated the tiny qp. Well, at least that’s all I skated. Gordon and I warmed up with a game of qp SKATE. He won with cab axle stall. I was happy to get a first try front tail though, it’s been a while on that one. Went on to get a lot of my other old Rampy tricks and came up short on kickflip axle stall again. Garrett blunt kickflip fakie and back noseblunt were cool. Ryan varial flip pivot fakie was sick. Dale blunt 3 shove to fakie.

Then we went to Rino spot at 40th and Franklin. I was pretty sore still, but man there is hundreds of feet of curb there. Gordon was killing the slappies. Frontside, backside, switch all of them. Also 50 the bank. Dale had some perfect treflips. Ryan felt out some tricks. Anthony went for a tech line. I would get a line that made me kind of happy. Nose jib to fakie the bank, sw 180 up the curb, noseslide a ledge. Garrett did pop shove 50 so good.

Then we went across the street to a flat gap and I filmed the dudes get some banger in between rain showers.

(setup 3/10 null abstract 43 8.5/14.25, pepper g5, venture 5.8 v-cast flat top washer, bones x99 v1 52mm , new balance numeric 272 brown size 12 half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10)

Finally feeling less sick. Went to dog park after work. There was a couple dudes there that were really nice. One dude doing lots of cool flippers and even nose manual nollie flip out. I was skating okay, feel like it was the first time in a few weeks I actually ollied. Had most of my basics on the curbs/lurbs. Still didn’t get front 50 on the bench or taller ledge. Dave showed right when I landed a first try fakie bigflip. I would also get halfcab flip, b/s flip, fakie flip. No heelflip tricks or treflip though. There was a fun wood thing to wallie. Dave also feeble transferred it. Crooks on the taller wood bench were still fun. After a while Dave and I went in on smith grinds on the lurb. Well, we each landed some before we went to film it then it took a while before we got them again. Dave actually grinded his. I know the smith 180 looks terrible and is just a pivot off the nose, but I still liked it. I got a switch smith to regs kinda quick. Then battled a full switch crook forever and never got one. Dave would get some other bangers like back 50 to slight crook, Franky grind, nollie front nose, front 180 fakie 50 180. Really fun night and it felt good to finally have energy.

(setup 7/10 8.25 null abstract 43, pepper g5, royal 144, spitfire f4 99a tablets 52mm, new balance numeric 306cup with half insoles)
(pain level 5/10 hip flexor wasn’t terrible)

Nice night. Went out after dinner with low expectations and wanted to skate something different. I chose to skate my 8.25/14/venture hollows setup for some reason. It was okay. I started at some tiny flat gap. Did some ollies and 180s. Couldn’t commit to a b/s flip or kickflip or front shove.

Skated around. Ended up at the loading dock I almost lost my mind at last time. I did slow kickflip and halfcab flip into it. Then a good feeling shove it on my way out.

Ended up at the curb cut thing and did some 180 crooks and shove. Also hucked nollie flips that were close. Okay night.

(setup 4/10 8.25/14 sample, null grip, venture 5.6 v-hollow, 52mm spitfire 99a tablets, new balance numeric 306cup grey size 12 with half insole. I had gamechanger lights in for a while, but took them out to reduce hip/goin pain)
(pain level 6/10 hip flexor/groin)

Another hot morning. I was up early and wanted to skate before going to Denver for the Red Bull contest. I had setup 8.5/14.25/venture and it felt decent. My warm up went pretty well. Those dudes showed before it was time to start ollieing. It went okay for me. Had some slow front 50s and a shove out on the lurb. Went in on noseslide bigspin which I ended up getting. I had put the phone at such a bad angle that it missed it though. Oh well, it wasn’t perfect, but it make me happy for sure. Jesse had some good 50s both ways. Jack too. Jack was feeling kind of dizzy so kind of kept it mellow. The b/s flip out of the bank was fun. I was close to treflip out too. Jack couldn’t get kickflip out, but got them to fakie. Near the end I wanted to front 50 the black ledge. It took a bit, but I got one and followed it with a kickflip to fakie on the bank then a switch front nose. I decided to end on a good note for once. Another dude had shown and did front 180 up the happy ledge then fakie treflip out. So sick. Then I went to Denver and had a great time watching the Nullers lay an egg at the Red Bull ledge contest. Ha. It was so fun though, those dudes rule, so did the winners and so does TJ Rogers.

(setup 7/10 null purple archway 8.5/14.25, pepper g5, venture v-cast 5.8 flat top washer, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance ct300 white/blue size 12 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Went to Southern Hills on a Friday evening as I had saw they redid the 2 stair which is now a 3 stair with a good expansion crack before and after it. Doh. I skated 8.25/14 as a test and boy did it fail. I had zero confidence or drive. Which isn’t all the boards fault, but it made it worse. I went in on treflips to at least see if maybe I could take advantage of the small setup. Nope, couldn’t commit to save my life. Somehow I went home happy. I think knowing with certainty that a small setup doesn’t make flip tricks happen anymore.

(setup 1/10 8.25/14 thunder hollow 52mm nb 300)
(pain level 5/10)

After a long day of sitting at work I went out with some new shoes and two setups to skate. I didn’t really have any intention when I left and ended up at this bank to curb spot to warm up. It’s a good warm up. Axle stalls are fun. Couldn’t get a hurricane though.

Then I went to Willville. Started at the main area. I was on an 8.25 with 14″ wheelbase and Indys. It felt good initially. Some of the problems were probably due to new shoes but I couldn’t land a kickflip to save my life even though they flipped much easier than my 8.25/14.25/thunder setup. Couldn’t get manual into the bank. Went down to the rock area. Tried a line of front 180 up the 2, halfcab flip, ollie the 3. Never got the halfcab flip. Went to the main pad area again, attempted to get some ledge action going, but ended up just leaving. I had no drive and it was despressing.

(setup 7/10 8.25/14 sample, pepper g5, indy 144 titanium, 52mm bones x99 v1, new balance ct300 white size 12 half insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a cooler day with some rain I went to campus with one goal in mind. The Reynolds flatground line. It’s just a line I saw him do in his story once. Bs flip, fakie flip, halfcab flip. Since it was sprinkling I went to the covered hallway at the UMC. My initial attempts at ollies and kickflips were so bad I thought I should give up. Eventually I landed a backside flip so it gave me hope. I got to the halfcab flip 5 times before finally getting it. The whole line felt really cool. I was happy. I had also done kickflip and varial flip. Then I tried to do a line where I ollied the nearby 3 stair since it had dried up. I tried to start with fakie bigflips or heelflips but I couldn’t get one. So I went with halfcab flip. Got one, went down the handicap ramp, rode off the 2, ollied the 3, but shot out. Then it took forever to get another halfcab flip and then I hit a hole down the handicap ramp and slammed super hard right in front of a group of people. Doh. I think they were surprised I got up so quickly. Although I didn’t get to the 3 again and it had gotten dark anyway. I was tired so called it a night.

(setup 7/10 8.25 thunder 148 hollow 52mm vans half cab waffle cup size 12 b/w fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Stopped at dog park after work. There was actually clouds! It was still in the lower 90s, but the clouds made it feel great. There was a crew of about 8 teenagers. It was good to see some youth out skating, even if they did film everything they did. I had put Slappy Low Profile trucks on. They were better than the Indys. That’s not saying much though. I had a random warm up line of boardslide the concrete things, ding the jersey barrier, come back and then front shove. Not sure I got the line. Did another line of air out of the tiny qp, crooks the wood ledge (my crooks were feeling so good and I did like 15 in a row) then b/s flip. But I could not get b/s flip to save my life. Strike 1 against the Slappys. Other stuff was kinda whatevs. Tricks I came close to that I would have been very happy with: halfcab heel noseslide, nollie tre, f/s halfcab heel, kickflip 50. I did a couple switch crook jibs on the lurb. I left tired and mostly happy.

(setup 4/10 8.25 slappy low profile 52mm vans half cab waffle cup size 12 b/w fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Went to campus after a very hot day. It was still in the 90s even as it got dark. I had nothing, my legs felt very heavy. I had changed to 8.25 with Indy Titaniums and made the bushings stiff. Didn’t like them at all. Did a couple noseslides on the fitness center ledge that were garbage. Went to the little area on the main road and did such a garbage line. Ollie onto the ledge, fall off, ghost pop ollie to fakie on the bank, switch 180 off the curb cut, nollie back 180 the micro hip. All tricks done with skillful awfulness. Went home after that.

(setup 3/10 8.25 indy ti 52mm vans half cab wafflecup b/w size 12 with fp gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Another hot CO summer day. Met Bratcher and Jesse at Broomfield in the morning. Skating started alright. Everyone kind of bothered by the heat. Jesse had some back 50s and an amazing fakie heel out of the bank. Bratcher is getting back in the groove after a toe problem. He looked good though. 50s, switch boardslides, kickflips. I got a few of the ultra basic flippers, but no treflips. Skated okay until it came time to really pop and it bothered me a lot. Definitely got pretty upset. Jack joined us at the end and learned back 180 fakie manual fakie front shove out because he is amazing like that.

(setup 3/10 8.25 null abstract 43, pepper g5, venture v-cast 5.6 flat top washer, 52mm bones x99 v1, vans half cab wafflecup b/w size 12 gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)