After logging off work for two weeks I met up with Dave and he was at Valmont park. It was pretty chaotic over there, but fun for a while. Dave was having some good ollies over the hip, lined out a frontside wallie on the barrier hip that was amazing. I got run into by a kid on a strider bike that had no idea what was going on. There was this dude there who did an absolutely perfect switch treflip over the hip that was super inspiring. So I spent a while posing switch b/s flips over the hip that I swear feel doable. Dave tried some switch tres too and made them look possible.

Over to dog park Sean would show up. Dave was skating at a high level. Jumping, front 50s on the bench, manuals around the corner, front boards to fakie, no comply pole jam. I know I’m missing a lot. We jumped the grate gap pretty easily. Sean did Sean things super casual. It’s cray . It was a pretty crowded and heated session, lots of people skating hard. I was skating absolutely terrible then randomly turned everything around with one silly little noseslide to fakie up onto the manual pad that set me up perfectly for switch front nose off and I did it. Been wanting to do that line for months and it just randomly came first try out of nowhere. Stoked me out. Shortly after I was trying the crooks then kickflip line and needed some kodak courage and Sean was kind enough to film it. Right after that is when Dave did the no comply pole jam. Fun Friday.

(setup 3/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 148, 52mm spitfire 99a class f4, nike sb sad dunk nb 440 insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

After a day in the office I was late to meet up with Rob and Sean at dog park. I felt so sore and tired since I couldn’t take a nap. Those guys were already going. Sean fakie nosegrind then halfcab nose manual. Nollie back nosegrind then front nosegrind. Rob had a really nice halfcab 50 that hyped up Sean and we both noted neither of us can do it. He also had back 50 no comply shove out, nollie front lips, was thinking about nose manual shove. I had some fun ollies straight off the gate when I wasn’t bailing for no reason. Also a fun boardslide on the taller mobile flatbar. Then I made myself try halfcab noseslides again until I did several on the bench. I lined it out halfcab noseslide, front slappy a parking block, 180 off the grate which wasn’t quite over the gap. Oh well. Lastly made myself front 50 the bench which took a few tries. It was crazy we had the park mostly to ourselves.

(setup 5/10 8.25 pmg, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 148, spitfire f4 99a 52mm classic, new balance numeric 288 white size 12)
(pain level 7/10 just so sore)

Woke up early, attempted to go back to sleep, failed, went to skatepark. I had made my setup change to match Alton’s setup I liked so much the day before. Would I like it again? The odds were stacked up against me skating before 7am. Especially when skate coach dad pulled his SUV up to the park and proceeded to coach his kids for the next hour. I hadn’t been there in a while. The bad graffiti and trash everywhere sucks. It’s so embarrassing. I started very slow, thought for sure I would leave quickly as I was disliking my setup a lot to start with. But man, it came around and I ended up really liking it. It was poppy and flipped pretty well. I had a few front 50s on the little pad, across the bump to pad. I couldn’t get a b/s flip on the hump, but I did get a first try halfcab flip on it after a noseslide to fakie. On flat I had some good feeling kickflips and a first try b/s flip. Took a bit to get a really slow halfcab noseslide. I settled in on a little line at the end of nollie tail the pad then front 50 shove the bench. Took a while, but I landed it and I was hyped. I was happy how easily I was popping onto the bench and didn’t have my recent knee pain.

(setup 6/10 pmg 8.25, jessup ultragrip, indy 144 reynolds hollow mids with hollow kingpin, 51mm bones stf v1 pj, new balance numeric 288 sport white size 12)
(pain level 4/10)

After work on a warm afternoon went to dog park and it was chill when we got there, but quickly filled up with the youth. Our crew was Paul, Rob, Jesse, Alton. Seemed like we started pretty mellow and didn’t really get into a groove. I don’t really remember anything really. Rob and I played a game of SKATE which featured lots of knee pain, one kickflip, lots of no comply variations. It was pretty fun other than the knee pain. After that Alton learned his first nollie f/s flip, Jesse rattled off several flippers, I came incredibly close to switch f/s flip and Paul seemed close too. I was fully committing and watching it flip under me and there were a couple that felt like they could be makes. Gotta keep trying that one! Alton had a boss front nosegrind on the back of the tall ledge. I used his board and got a first try crooks on it and the madness was real again. I had a different setup because I didn’t want to put together a new one really. I didn’t like it.

(setup 2/10 null abstract33 8.3, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 149, 52mm spitfire f4 classic 99a, new balance numeric 288 sport white size 12)
(pain level 5/10)

After a late night I would meet up with Sean, Paul and Rob at dog park just as the normal morning crew was leaving. I had changed my setup to be like Paul’s, and I really liked it. I started out kinda quick and went on to have a good session. Sean and Paul had been there a while and were in their groove. Sean did the fakie nosegrind then halfcab nose manual 180 super quick. Not sure if he got over the hydrant, but his flippers were looking decent. Paul sat pretty quick, I didn’t see a whole lot but I know he had done some of his fast grinds he’s been working on. Saw Rob get some nollie lips, nose manuals, halfcab boardslides, crooks, front nose fakie, back 50 no comply shove and probably more I’m confusing with other sessions. I was able to kickflip onto the pad a couple of times. One of which felt perfect and I was able to back 180 off. Also go front 50 shove the pad, ollie up front shove off, noseslide further than normal above the pad, a crooks above it, committed to front 50s on the bench. Not to many flippers though even though they felt alright. Went home right after Rob did with the intention of skating more later, but didn’t at all.

(setup 7/10 8.25 null spanbauer dead spots, jessup ultragrip, ace 44s hollow kingpin, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classics, new balance numeric 440 white size 12 no insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Went to Boulder ditch on a hot afternoon after work and met up with Dave. We had seen the recent addition and wanted to check it out. I struggled to get an axle stall on it, Dave would get pivots. We were both pretty sporadic for a bit until we figured out what and how to skate some things. I had my contact ripped out of my eye by a pine tree. That kind of sucked, but luckily Dave somehow saw it drop to the ground and I was able to recover it. Dave had caveman 50s on the beam, steezy front boards, back board, nosepick and had some long lines. I had started out on 8.3 royals and changed to 8.25 ventures and liked it more. The rock ‘n roll, slide to fakie then switch nose jib was really fun. The noseslide to fakie took a while and Dave had left (as if most of you didn’t already know this since his truck was gone). Fun, different spot.

(setups argh 8.3 with royals then 8.25 with ventures, new balance numeric 272 teal size 12 half insoles)
(pain level 5/10 some left achilles pain)

After a really bad day of work I needed to get out. With only a few more days of campus being empty I pushed down the bikepath to Wilville on a hot evening. I started near the little round curb and did a little line of front smith stall, kickflip, nollie 180, switch 180, noseslide the flagstone. Oh yeah, I had assembled a totally different complete. 8.1 with Thunder hollow 147s. And I really liked it. Especially after what felt like the easiest halfcab flip of my life. I ended up at the main manny pad area although I didn’t really do much into it, just a nose manual or two. I skated the ledge a bit even though it’s crusty managed a couple really slow front 50s, nollie tails, halfcab noseslide and worked up to a f/s halfcab noseslide that felt awesome. I guess I did to a line of nose manual into the bank, curve around ollie up front shove which was supposed to go to fakie but I reverted and my feet were barely on the board and I managed to still make it off the curb and it made me laugh. I went to leave, but got motivated to try a line at the ledge area. Fakie varial flip, switch noseslide 270 shove, ollie onto a taller ledge which I’ve only ollied onto a few times. I couldn’t get the fakie varial flip though or even fakie flip. Lots of cracks messing up my flow. But I think I did get something like halfcab flip, switch nose jib, ollie on and I was hyped. My knee was hurting so I left. But I was happy to have skated and goofed around trying lines at a street spot.

(setup 6/10 8.1 null all you need, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 147, 51mm spitfire f4 classic 101a, new balance numeric 288 sport white size 12)
(pain level 5/10)

On a warm afternoon I met Cass and Rob at dog park. We had the spot all to ourselves for the first half hour and it was pretty awesome. I had some knee pain at times, but for the most part felt pretty good. Cass had some good back 50s and 5-0s, manuals, . Rob was trying nollie back smith, had good nollie front lip, halfcab 50, crook, manuals, boardslide the tall bench. I got a line that sounds okay on paper. Halfcab flip, noseslide to fakie, fakie 50 b/s halfcab out. The halfcab flip took forever. Also backside flip (to stop), halfcab noseslide, slappy crook. I finally committed to frontside 50 on the bench (even if I did 5-0s). Next step, to do it moving. had a fun crook on the back of the two tier. Was pretty hyped to see Phil randomly show up with his sons. It was fun he did the front 50 in about 5 tries and even had a decent slam. His kids rip, one had a really nice front 50 back 180 out. Paul showed up and shredded for a bit. Pretty fun session. Felt great to really skate again.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null abstract33, jessup ultragrip, royal 144 hollow kingpin, spitfire 51mm classic f4 101a, new balance numeric 288 sport white size12)
(pain 5/10 kinda funny that I felt “good” but compared to how it had felt it did feel good)

On a nice cool afternoon I went to Douglass after bring Ollie to the airport. I was not expecting much. I brought three setups. All 8.25 with different trucks. It was funny set them all down so I could only see the top and did an initial ollie on the setup I thought had the Royals and had no pop whatsoever. Turned out it was the one with Venture lows. Doh! Of the 3 the Ace lows had the best feeling ollie so I went with it for most of the session. I really struggled. My knee was hurting bad at times so I put some gamechangers in some new 288s and my knee started hurting less. I did a couple basic lines like ollie up the curb, kickflip, noseslide. Couldn’t get crooks and my boardslides were really weak as I would hit the front wheels on the way up. I tried front 50s for a bit and maybe about 10% close. Got a couple other flippers, but then left after an hour hoping my knee wouldn’t react negatively to a little skating again.

(setup 4/10 8.25 null, jessup ultragrip, ace lows 44 hard bushing, 53mm spitfire f4 classic 99, new balance numeric 288 sport white/grey size 12 stock / footprint gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 6/10 left knee at times was quite bad)

After some hesitancy I went to meet Rob and Mike and the standard dog park crew. Eric was there which was cool because it’s been a minute. The sun was out for a while, but then we got some good cloud cover that lasted for a couple of hours. I saw Eric get front boards on the taller concrete curbs and almost shove out. Didn’t see him get his patented quick heelflips which we’ll blame on an extended vacation. Rob seemed to rattle off the hits right away. Nollie front lip, nollie front 50 back 180, nose manuals, boardslide the tall bench, crooks, etc. It was good seeing Bratcher again as it’s been a minute. He switch ollied a parking block when I got there which he had never done before. Mike was getting his slappys on. I had a decent session. i think the clouds really helped out. Got a manual or two which has been rare lately, the best crooks I’ve done above the manny pad (which was only a couple of feet long and I have about 10 more to go but its progress) and finally got a Glen 50 on the bench which I’ve been scared of for months. i followed it with a terrible treflip. Mike and I went and played in the pond at the park for a bit. He had some good front slashes and a killer no comply. I did some axle stalls and took too long to do a kickflip fakie on a hump (what do you really call Evergreen skatepark’s “banks”? they aren’t banks, they aren’t quarterpipes they are just like dumb mounds that are sometimes kind of fun).

After some napping, cleaning and dinner I went to the side of the school with no real plan and did some flatground. It was a mellow little session with some dorking. I got 10 flippers total in an hour. Argh. Kickflip, fakie flip, b/s flip, halfcab flip, f/s halfcab flip, heelflip, f/s halfcab heel, varial flip, fakie bigflip, sex change. Was hyped to have skated.

(setup 8/10 null 8.25 spanbauer dead spots, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.2 v-cast low royal bushings, spitfire f4 51or52mm wheels 99a classic shape 4 washers inside, es melange black size 12 footprint gamechanger lite insoles)
(pain level 4/10)