Went to campus after work as it got dark. I had been a terrible mood all day. Skating didn’t really change that. I had started at the mini bank to two stair. I hadn’t done any exercises and it showed by how off I felt to start. But I would get going. I fun crooks and front crooks to fakie. The front crooks to fakie was so extra fun it was almost worth the session. Then I started lining out from the downhill ledge across the street. I did a line of noseslide, ollie off the curb, ollie up the curb, front crook to fakie. Was hyped on that. Then took a while to get noseslide to fakie, switch 180 off the curb, ollie up the curb, front tail stall shove. The tail stall shove took way too many tries similar to Loveland a couple of days before. Argh. Then I went slightly down the hill to the weird 3 stair bank area and posed some treflips to fakie and front heels before realizing I had no juice left and walked back to the car. Oh, well I guess I tried to ollie onto a ledge near the business building, but not really.

(setup 5/10 null smoke valley 8.3, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow lite 149 bones med bushings, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 440v2 wide navy/brown size 12 with half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On a really nice morning I got out to Lafayette to finally meet up with the Sunday morning brunch crew. It was rad, so many great people. Also, so many scooter kids, but they would leave luckily. I was feeling pretty sore and had motivational issues because of it. All I basically did was the kickflip on the bank then front axle on the tight qp. I mean it took a while awhile to give up on regular axle stall and go frontside. But once I started getting kickflips I got quite a few of them. Other than that I kind of putzed around and didn’t really do anything noteworthy. I hucked some hardflips on the mellow bank near the end that felt doable but never got both feet on them. I liked seeing Dan do such good kickflips. Brian high speed feeble grinds on the tight qp to parking blocks, front rocks of course, no comply blunt on the bank was cool. Cass had a better kickflip than me on the bank, but the key is that it was singular. Ha. He had some nice ollies to fakie but couldn’t get halfcab flip. Kyle is fun to watch skate even if he can do casper stall every try except when I film. The whole time we were skating everyone talked about going to Broomfield. Some actually did. Garrett wanted to, but stuck around out of loyalty for a free board. Ha ha, but man he rips. Kickflip pivot was so sick as was the long hurricane grind. Fuller had shown and casually did some pivots on the tight qp like it was nothing. Other Kyle, Mike showed later. Will, Squeeks, Scotty, Grey. So many peeps, so little journal. I wish I hadn’t been so sore, it was fun skating and hanging people.

(setup 3/10 null smoke valley 8.3, jessup ultragrip, slappy low profile 8.5, bones stf v1 103a 52mm, new balance numeric 440v2 wide navy/brown size 12, half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 6/10 I hate newish 440s they hurt so bad)

Went out to the garage after dinner because I was too tired to motivate and skate outside in the colder weather. I skated an 8.5. And I liked it. After some warm up 180s and stuff it took me a few tries to get a kickflilp, but then I did like 6 in a row. Which didn’t happen on the smaller 8.25 last time. Did a fakie flip. Hucked some nollie flips that only had one close one. Went in on treflips. They felt weird at first, but eventually started to feel like every one of them would be a make. But only two of them were makes. At one point I slipped out on my slipper concrete floor and it kind of spooked me. Did a heeflip. Hucked a few switch front heels that felt like a 2% chance of success. So you’re saying there’s a chance. Turns out I was so tired because I was once again getting sick. Ugh, I get sick way too often these days.

(setup 7/10 8.5/14.25 null 20 year, null grip, venture v8 baseplate titanium 5.8 hanger bones medium bushings, spitfire f4 99a classic 52mm yellow, new balance numeric 440v2 wide black size 11.5 with half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On a cool day I stopped by the parks after work. Dave was there when I got there, we started at the park. I had made a setup change, basically forged v8 5.6s on an 8.25. I loved it. Early on I had some fun in the top bowl area, then a first try kickflip on the shark fin. Paul and Will showed. Dave had a first t f/s kickflip on the bank and a gorgeous 5-0 over the rainbow. I did a line of f/s kickflip on the bank then kickflip to fakie on the shark fin. Will and Paul had some good ollies over the euro. Will good wallies. I started trying treflips to fakie in the little bank. They were all so close. Then I landed a few! I know they weren’t perfect, but actually landing them and doing more than one felt so great. Paul joined the treflip game and did 8 in a row at one point, then a couple more after. Dave added fakie flip and varial flip to fakie. Then a really nice ollie into the bank.

We went over to the plaza. Will proved us wrong by doing first try front nosegrind on the bench that we said wasn’t lit well enough. He had some nice manuals and nose manuals too. I struggled with front 50s on the lurb, but I think I got a line I was trying of front 50, noseslide to fakie the bench, fakie 50 halfcab out the curb. Dave did a similar line starting with back 50 on the lurb, front nose to fakie, then fakie back 50 halfcab out. He would try more to fakie, but didn’t get one I don’t think. I tried some switch front tails and may have technically met the minimum requirements of one.

(setup 8/10 null abstract 8.25, jessup ultragrip, venture redrilled v8 5.6 v-hollows with royal bushings, 53mm bones v1 stf 103a, new balance numeric 440v2 wide black size 11.5 half 574 vulc insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Feeling a little better I went over to the school on such an incredibly gorgeous day. I would skate for about 30 minutes and actually did some tricks. I mean I didn’t go in that hard, but I would get a few flippers like kickflip, fakie flip, b/s flip, heelflip, halfcab flip, fakie bigflip. Did the basic slappies, couldn’t get a switch front slappy. Ended on a line of slappy crook, b/s flip, fakie flip.

(setup 5/10 null smoke valley 8.3, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-cast royal bushings, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 440v2 high black size 12 half 574 vulc insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 2/10)

After a long day of sitting at work I stopped by the parks on the way home. I started at the skatepark and was having fun in the little bowl area until some clueless kid in headphones dropped in the middle of my run and we barely avoided colliding. “Sorry I didn’t see you coming back”. It’s like 8 feet away dude. And maybe if you didn’t have earphones in you would have heard my board rolling towards you. Argh. There was a period when I had the park all to myself, but it was very short lived. I don’t remember much else before heading over to the plaza. Did a couple basics. Went in on pop shove nose stall to fakie on the bank to curb, but never got one. I blame work for leaving me with no motivation. And I rode my big board because I was annoyed how badly the 8.25 with aces wouldn’t flip.

(setup 8.5/14.25 venture 5.8 hollows 51s new balance 440v2 highs 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

First day I woke up in a couple of weeks and didn’t feel pain in my left achilles on my first steps. I lounged around, did some exercises. Around 1pm I went to dog park for an hour. Spencer was there so that was cool. Valmont was completely overrun with striders and mountain bikers, which is what I guess Evergreen built the park for. I started really slow and was happy that I didn’t feel much achilles pain. I did a few kickflips, front 50s on the curb, crooks on the bench, boardslides, noseslides, switch front noseslides. After a while it started to hurt a little and I didn’t want to push it. Did a couple ultra basics on the tiny part of the barrier and called it a sesh.

(setup 4/10 8.25 null abstract, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 44, spitfire f4 99a classic yellow 52mm, new balance numeric 440v2 wide high black size 12 half 574 insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 3/10)

On a Friday after work met up with Paul, Rob and Will. It was beautiful out. The dog park was heated when I first arrived so I went over to the skatepark which was chill initially. I started in the back little bowl area and did some little grinds. Then in the main area became obsessed with trying halfcab flips on the shark fin. I would do kickflips to fakie on the mellow bank and curve over to the shark fin. I had started committing, but it wasn’t working. Also tried some with 180 off the flat bank kicker and was getting closer, but the park got overrun with mountain bikers. Riley from LOCO was there, he’s cool and was fun to skate with. Rob had popped in, but mostly did the dog park.

I went over there after a while. The youth were ripping, pretty heated. I don’t remember doing much. Rob suggested a game of SKATE which had some weird ones in it like powerslide shoves. I somehow won it on a heelflip which marks the first time I’ve beat Paul I think. Will had shown up, he was shredding. We finished on the bank to curb. Paul took a while to get crooks to fakie. Will did back tail then back tail to fakie and almost back tail shove. I lost my mind on a no comply to tail. Seriously no idea how I couldn’t do it right. What a freakin’ crybaby.

(setups 8.25/8.5/14.25 venture hollows both of which I liked more than the 8.25 with slappy lows unfortunately, nb# 440v2 wide)
(pain level 6/10 but man I felt some tenderness in my achilles at the time and a few days later as I write this it’s totally hosed)

Sean was eager for a session. I was kind of tired but the clouds had come out and it seemed perfect out so I went. Funny thing I kind of wanted to start at the skatepark, but I think there was literally a record number scooters and bikers. Literally at least 25 scooter, 10 bikers including parents on mountain bikes. Note to Evergreen Skateparks, if you build it for them, they will come. Luckily the main attraction wasn’t too crowded. I had a smaller version of the same setup I had over the weekend. I posed a treflip before even trying any other trick and almost landed it. Paul was kind of tired, didn’t go too hard initially. Sean was doing a couple of his dog park staples. I didn’t skate very well, was wearing the 1010s and I think I hurt my achilles again in them. Argh. I had some good feeling crooks, kickflips, slow but solid feeling front 50s. We all went in on nose manual shoves. Sean had never done one and landed it in a few tries. Paul got one about 50 tries in. I had gotten close but had a little touch. Probably did the day before too. Can’t really say how beautiful the weather and sunset were. Robbie had shown and was trying to manual the picnic table and pop out over the hydrant. So gnarly.

(setup 7/10 null beatles 8.25 deck, null grip, slappy low profile 8.25 trucks, 51mm bones stf pj 103a wheels, new balance numeric 1010 black size 12 with currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10 but after skating my achilles flared up)

On a bright and somewhat cooler morning met up with quite a few people at Broomfield. Salty, Bratcher, Rob, Sean, Eric, Paul, Will. On top of that quite a few others showed and it was quite busy at times. I had a new setup based on some new trucks I’ve been waiting on a long time – Slappy Lows. I would like them and they skated pretty well out of the gates. Rob bounced first so I’ll start there. He wasn’t feeling too good, but tried to get it going with some manuals and I saw a really long g turn that was pretty amazing. Sean was the next to bounce. He had a good amount of excuses lined up, but still ripped. High speed grinds on the black ledge including a line of crooks followed by fakie back 50 180 out. Sean, Paul and I played a game of SKATE. I was the first out, but it was fun. Salty learned boardslides to fakie on the mini bank to curb and almost got blunts on the “bigger” bank to curb. Bratcher took his multitude of boardslides to various obstacles. Switch front board up to back 50 on the bank to ledge was cool as was nollie back lip on the blue ledge. Eric good tailslides, heelflips over the parking block, crooks, charging. Paul did back 50 to front 180 on the bank to ledge, back 5-0 180s on the black ledge, landed a lot of flippers in the game of SKATE. Pretty early on I had a line I liked of halfcab noseslide, noseslide to fakie the bank to ledge then fakie bigfilp. My board was popping really well, I got several front 50s on the ledge into the bank that felt great. Close to noseslide 270 shove, close to kickflip 50 on the bank to ledge. Was happy to get a crooks on the bank to ledge finally. Will showed around the time we were winding down. He had some really good nollie noseslides on the black ledge.

After chilling and talking to India I picked up Cass and met up with the 98% dudes at York St Skatepark. There are even more little qps now and they are fun. Jack filmed a couple of amazing clips for Scotty with a trefip and a noseblunt. Cass and I messed around with an easy roll in to small qp. I got my first front pivot to fakie in a long time. I might have even grinded a little. Joe came along and made it not so easy by ollieing onto the ledge before the roll in. I struggled a bit and kind of hurt my shoulder trying to ollie up as well. Donnie and Cass had no problem with it.

Then we went to the nearby bank to ledge. My accidental training at Broomfield payed off and I would get noseslide to fakie and crooks. The crooks felt really cool, but I’m sure it only grinded an inch or so. Jack rattled off some tricks that were so fun to watch. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him just skating and it was great. I didn’t know Jason and John very well but they skated a long time and Jason’s front tail kickflip out was so good. Donnie came close to a banger, but had to give up and it started raining. It was really fun being in the streets with a crew.

(setup 7/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25 deck, null grip, slappy low profile 8.5 trucks, 53mm bones stf pj 103a wheels, new balance numeric 440v2 white size 11.5 half 574 insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)