The endless quest to like a bigger setup is ongoing. I tried the old 8.3 with venture 5.8 and wow the first ollie was so hard and I immediately disliked the venture high heft. But I stuck with it thinking I’d be able to deal with it. Jake and I started right in on a game of SKATE. It was not my finest game and flip tricks did not come easy. I took several tries to get a halfcab flip, never got a backside flip or heelflip, never got a treflip although did get my feet on a couple. Jake was close too. He ultimately won on a frontside flip that I couldn’t quite defensively pull off. Then we skated for a while. I continued to dislike the hefty setup and could not get good posted up crooks. Jake got a bluntslide on the curb, nollie back tail the metal bench. I had a funny nose jib on the picnic table. After a while I asked this guy if he could move his selfie tripod and it started a conversation that was rad, but went long enough my legs got sore. Then 3 older scooter dudes showed up and I was like hell no and left.

(setup null 8.3 vhs deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium hanger cast baseplate royal bushings flat top washer no big washer , 52mm bones stf v1 103a, 440 white/red size 12 half insole)
(pain level 3/10 so stoked)

On a surprisingly hot morning I went to Boulder park around sunrise. I had reached the point again where I had known that the Venture lows weren’t treating me well so I put some 5.6 highs on. I never liked the change except for on coping tricks. I could not get in a groove although I did do a backside bigspin over the hump which I’m not sure I’ve ever done. After a while I gave up and just tried switch flips on the tiny mellow bank under the triangle pad. A couple were close. I did also have my 8.3 with Aces and gave it a whirl, thought I really disliked it as well, but there was one little ollie that felt much lighter and planted a seed.

(setup null 8.1 all you need deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 hollow hanger cast baseplate royal bushings flat top washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 440 white/red size 12 half insole)
(pain level 3/10 !!!!)

Up early again feeling pretty good after a chill night where I did some real yoga for the first time in a while. I was running a little late and was going to hit SC instead, but it was cloudy which is so rare and made me want to go to dog park. My warm up was real quick and I did two warm up lines super quick that I was quite happy with. Pop shove, boardslide little flat bar, kickflip, noseslide, slappy crook. Then front shove, front 50 the curb, front nose to fakie the bench, switch front nose 270 out, fakie filp. Oh, yeah, I had another setup change. It was a minor one, but out with the 5.6s and in with the 5.2 lows. It’s just what works overall the best and I love how they look and feel. I tried to start a line with halfcab flip for a while, but I couldn’t halfcab flip. Argh. I hucked a lot of flip tricks actually. I didn’t land much, but it was nice feeling good enough to try. I was somewhat close to nollie flips and nollie varial flips. Had a line of backside flip then halfcab noseslide, both done badly. Some crooks, switch front noses. Made myself finally ollie the green cone to leave and it took a fun line to get the motivation. Halfcab flip, kickflip, ollie. Fun session indeed for once. After a big arthritis flare up like I just had it takes a while to get confidence so hopefully it’ll keep coming.

(setup null 8.25 vhs, pj ultragrip, venture 5.2 lows royal bushings flat top washer, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic shape, 440 white/red size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Woke up early and didn’t have any meetings for work so I went to dog park and was skating by 6:45. I had my 8.25 with 5.6 hollows and it felt better, but still difficult to maneuver. I didn’t skate great, but I did try harder and was able to get a few things. I had a couple of fun lines for warm up. They involved boardslides, 50s on the curb, noseslides and maybe a kickflip or two. I got a little line of backside flip then halfcab noseslide and probably a slappy crook after. I couldn’t get a halfcab flip, was close to nollie varial flip. Had a couple crooks, 50s on the lower ledge. Tried to make myself ollie onto stuff more often. Jack B showed up when I was battling the ollie over the flatbar. I used a little kodak courage as motivation, but didn’t have the desire to clean it up. After that it was time for me to head off to work.

(setup null 8.25 vhs, pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow royal bushings flat top washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, 440 white/red size 12 half insole)
(pain level 5/10 there were times when my knees had crazy pain)

After dinner I went to Douglass elem on a really nice night. I had thought of trying noseslide to crooks, but it turns out you have to be able to ollie pretty high there to get into noseslide and I only got up there once or twice. I had a pretty bad session really. Couldn’t crook, kickflip up a curb, in fact I could barely kickflip. I took like 10 tries to kickflip off the little speed bump. My knees hurt bad at times. I think in the past I would have never even attempting to skate in this much pain, but now it’s my normal and I only mark it 6/10 ha ha. Somehow I left not super depressed. Maybe it was still fun to street skate, maybe it’s because I knew I would be skating Ventures again.

(setup 8.3 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 440 size 12 white/red half insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After work on a very nice afternoon I forced myself to go skate even though I was doubting myself and pretty sore. I arrived to an almost empty and cloudy dog park and slowly worked into actually ollieing. It felt amazing, I was able to actually try tricks. I would get a few crooks that felt soooo good. Some of the best ones I’ve done in a while and I would normally line them out with slappy crooks for good measure. i didn’t have a lot of confidence yet, but I did do some tricks I haven’t tried in a while. Like even just a slow front 5-0 on the lower ledge and some back 50s on the lower manny pad. I had some struggles with flip tricks and I think the heft of the Ace highs were a bit much. But I got halfcab flip and fakie bigflip. After a while it got really crowded so I went over to the skatepark. It was crowded too, but not as crowded. Although the kid on an electric motorbike sure was annoying. I did a kickflip on the flat bank, ollied the euro a couple times and manualed the volcano before my knee started to hurt and I called it a session. Stoked to feel alive again even if most of my confidence appears to be gone.

(setup 8.3 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 440 size 12 white/red half insoles)
(pain level 5/10 it’s funny that pain level 5 feels good now)

After a fun morning doing a boxing photoshoot with Cass and Shad I went to Triple Nipple where I met Nick, Sean and Kevin. My body was hurting and I had two setups that I rotated between but mostly stuck with the 8.3. I really didn’t skate well and it hurt too bad to ollie. I would get a few switch front noses, crooks and close to nollie tres. Kevin was ripping and killed the ledge. Switch crooks, fakie 5-0 halfcab out, back smith, kick back tail. Nick had front nosegrind and nose manual no problem along with some seriously popped fakie flips. Sean was looking really good. Manual to 180 nose manual. Nose manual to tailslide, back nosegrind 180. Shad had shown up and it was so rad to see him shredding. He had some good front 5-0s on the steep bank, tailslides, fast grinds. Chelsy and Jenny ripped it too. Carves over the love seat, front tail the steep bank, some good stuff. I ended really trying to ollie up the ledge, but couldn’t make my knees work. I was so bummed.

(setup 8.3 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55, 51mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape, new balance numeric 440 size 12 white/red half insoles)
(pain level 7/10 and today marks the day I give up alcohol)

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Nice morning, went to dog park after working out too hard which made me pretty sore and tired for skating. But I wasn’t in a ton of pain initially at least. Jack and Salty were there, Nick showed after a while. I did not skate well and still wasn’t really able to ollie comfortably. But slappies were still fun as was the Natas spin. I think I got one fakie bigflip as far as flippers go. Jack’s boardslide to feeble variations on the parking block were so sick. Salty was charging, that dude shreds. Nick’s boardslides are so cool. His board rules too. 9.75 with 215s and 39mm wheels. I was able to kickflip it and tried to treflip it. It was crazy how good the larger board felt. I blame it for planting a seed to me wanting a larger board.

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After a while Bo and Noè showed up. Bo brings the energy and was popping things right away. I’m always amazed at how quickly he can pop onto stuff. Noè did like 20 tricks on Nick’s 9.75 then let me pick the first couple tricks for his mega line above. I seriously love his flip tricks.

We went to Arapahoe Ridge where I didn’t really skate, Noè did manual kickflip out then manual treflip out super quick. Then Kevin joined and we went behind the school where Bo tried to nollie shove the big 3 over the ledge. Noè manualled for a mile. I attempted some axle stalls without success on a curb.

Then to Douglass where we met Jack and he went right to work which didn’t go so well and looked incredibly painful. Kevin was shredding and also slammed hard on a wallie. He had a super good switch front noseslide. Bo filmed Noè get a sick line involving heelflips, but it didn’t come easy. Then Kevin, Jack and I hung at Picas until the rain started. Even though I couldn’t really skate, I still had fun.

(setup null 8.25 vhs, pj jessup ultragrip, thunder 148s hollow lite venom 88a bushings, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 440 black size 11.5 half insole)
(pain level 6/10)

Up pretty early went to dog park and attempted to relearn skateboarding. I had changed trucks to ace lows for some ridiculous reason. They felt amazing for about 5 minutes. Then, not very amazing. After some putzing around my first warm up line was front 50 the curb, 1mph kickflip, nollie back tail the little ledge. Next line was ollie onto the c ledge, front 180 off, terrible halfcab noseslide jib, back 50 the curb, b/s 90 flip on flat. I tried to ollie the little cone thing, but couldn’t commit to it. That was the start of me losing motivation to skate. Partly my body and lack of confidence, partly the setup. But I did a few more things, nothing really of note. The only good part was that my body didn’t hurt a ton after skating. Hopefully I’ll be able to really try again soon.

(setup null 8.25 vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, ace 44 af1 lows, 52mm bones v1 stf 103a, new balance numeric 440 black 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a hot afternoon still not feeling very agile I biked around looking for something fun to skate. I found nothing, literally nothing. Their asphalt is super rough. There was tennis courts everywhere, but I didn’t feel like dealing with that. So I ended up at a little space of concrete that wasn’t terrible although it was quite small. I felt so awkward and old when I stepped on my board. Like it would be impossible to do any tricks. I did one slappy axle stall on a curb that was kind of fun. Then some really slow 180s, fakie ollies, etc. I had put 5.2 high trucks on. I took a bit to get a kickflip, but it felt good when I got one. I would go on to do a few tricks. All incredibly slow. Shoves, fakie flip, b/s flip, halfcab flip, varial flip, fakie bigflip. The b/s flip, halfcab flip and fakie bigflip all felt super cool even if I was barely moving. This was all the skating I did while in NC for a week. I worked my legs good for a week. Swimming, running, exercises, walking on sand so I hope my knee starts working again.

(setup null 8.25 vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.2 high cast plate v-hollow hanger royal bushings flat top washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic, new balance numeric 440 black 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 4/10)