I work late this week so cruised across the street for some slappies at lunch. Todays setup change was to put 5.8 hangers on and venom 92a bushings. Immediately the bushings were too soft and I was getting wheelbite like crazy. Argh. Even when coming out of slappies. I didn’t really do much of anything and kept it pretty mellow. Got a front shove from the curb cut to the parking lot and a b/s flip out of the curb cut. Jack came and met up and skated for a bit too. He had a front slappy even though he says he sucks at slappies. He was ripping the flat ground. Heelflips, fakie tre, varial heel, halfcab flip, backside flip and almost got rick flip from curb cut to parking lot. Man it was good to see Jack again.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.8 titanium, vemon 92a bushings with flat top washer, 53mm purple swirl orb wheels classic shape, 3 speed washers on the outside of each axle, new balance numeric 288s jack curtain size 11.5, no insoles, incrediwear knee sleeve)
(pain level 5/10 some good sharp knee pain)

On a nice morning I had gone for long walk then decided to skate flat. It was still pretty early, around 10am. I was armed with a list of 15 tricks. I wasn’t limiting myself to a certain amount of tries, but if I wasn’t close at all I would stop around 10 tries. I had warmed up with a few kickflips and was skating the 8.25.
Halfcab flip – came quick and felt good
Backside flip – took close to 10 tries
Fakie bigflip – around 12 tries
Heelflip – came quick
Halfcab heel – didn’t get it, but it was close and I committed.
Front heel – not close. Feels doable, but never committed
Treflip – got a really bad one 20th try.
Nollie varial flip – can’t land this to save my life anymore
Switch flip – not very close
Switch heel – they flipped really well, but never committed
Varial heel – committed, got close, but never landed on the grip
Switch tre – not even remotely close
Frontside flip – got a decent one for me, but it was really slow
Nollie bigflip – not as close as I hoped
Heelflip body varial – the last trick was originally rick flip, but I swapped it for this one to try and get Dave a trick. I was close before I turned on the camera, and not that close once it was on. Doh.

After lunch I went to Rocky Mountain to meet the Daves. Max and Will would come about 30 minutes after us. The parking lot was almost completely wet from the melting snow. The drains from the roof sounded like rivers. The sidewalk was mostly dry except the ledge area which now had a pretty water gap added to it. It would let up later on and sound more like a babbling brook. Max laughed at that and said I should crook over the babbling brook. Ha. I did a little line of kickflip up the curb then noseslide to fakie over the water gap. Dave L was doing some good manuals. He had a nose manual that bonked off a grate then back to nose manual. Dave F had the sickest boardslides to fakie over the water gap and skates the banks like they are doable. Max and Will are on another level. They were doing really hard tricks immediately. Max had b/s flip over a median on the bank, ollied the bank flat gap, slammed super hard on front heel over a median, did a lot of manuals/nose manual spins on the median that shouldn’t be possible, back tails over the water gap so much more. Will was a little more low key, but was killing it too. Front 3 over a median, back tail the water gap. I’m forgetting other tricks right now, which is a shame. I managed to cleanly ollie onto the narrow ledge by the entrance. It hyped me up. I failed at crooks over the water gap. I blame my new wheels, narrow trucks and lack of skill. Dave had a nice front 50 over it as we were leaving. I wish my legs didn’t lock up at the end so I could have tried too.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 v-hollow trucks, stock bushings with flat top washer, 53mm purple swirl orb wheels classic shape, new balance numeric 288s jack curtain size 11.5, no insoles, incrediwear knee sleeve)
(pain level 5/10 – it was fine playing skate early, but gradually more sore at the school)

After 35+ inches of  spring snow throughout the week I went out on a Saturday afternoon in search of something dry.  I found the front of one of the newer research areas.  There is a ledge/manny pad/4 stair and a taller ledge with limited runway.  There was some snow melting and falling from the roof which ended up becoming so much that it prevented lines between the ledges.  Initially at least it was fine though.  I did a couple warm up lines.  Slappy noseslide to fakie the low ledge, switch 180, noseslide the tall ledge.  Ollie off the tall ledge, no comply 180, switch nosesslide.  Switch front nose the little one, turn around, crook the tall one.  Front 180 off the tall one, halfcab flip on flat, front 50 the lower one.  Oh yeah, I was on mixing boards again.  8.25 with 5.6 trucks and 8.38 with 5.6 trucks.  This happened because of how hard flip tricks were yesterday.  Neither felt great.  I came close to a slow front disaster on the 8.3, couldn’t do it on the 8.25.  Got close to back 50s on the 8.3, but not the 8.25.  The approach backside was terrible, uphill with lots of cracks.  I did a few of the worst front tail jibs ever.  A bunch more snow came and kinda prevented the line aspect.  I got pretty down and depressed about my skating.  Even with the smaller trucks the 8.38 felt hard to flip other than straight kickflips. At one point I did a halfcab flip on the 8.3 and then on the 8.25. The 8.3 worked, but the 8.25 felt good. So I kind stuck to it after awhile, the 8.3 just felt kinda large and unnecessary. Then I tried nollie varial flip for awhile and got more depressed. Although capturing the snow falling right behind me was pretty cool.

(setup mixture of 8.25 & 8.38 setups with 5.6 trucks on both)
(pain level 3/10)

Went out to the garage with the goal of all four varial flips. I had my quiver ready to go. 8.25, 8.5 and 8.75. I started with the 8.75, but after failing at some fakie flips I moved down to 8.5 and stayed there most of the session. Varial flip and fakie varial flip happened somewhat quickly. The nollie version started flipping right away, but I would never actually land it. It was so frustrating. I tried for about 45 minutes and just could not do it. I tried the 8.25 but got no closer. I partially blame the bushings for being too tight. My bones had broken so I went with stock Ventures and they felt too tight. I never got too upset and left peacefully when the Swervedriver Raise cassette ended.

(setup 8.5 null collage deck, venture 5.8 trucks cast baseplate with titanium hanger, stock bushings, 52mm bones easy street v5 wheels, new balance numeric 288s black jack curtain size 11.5, no insoles, incrediwear knee sleeve)
(pain level 3/10 but I didn’t have much pop)

Had the day off work, did some things then Jake and I rolled to Wilville on a really nice day. We started at the round curb thing. Oh yeah, I had a new setup. 8.25 board and trucks, smaller wheels. It felt good. Oh yeah, and new shoes! 288S. My fav shoe as of late. We both had front and back 50s. Jake was quick to huck some front noseblunts. Out of nowhere I had a really fun line. Front tail stall, kickflip on flat, ollie the 3 stair, noseslide the flagstone bench. Hyped me up. Jake and I also both did a bunch of front smith stalls. I got one in a line with no comply shove, shove the micro bump, but bailed front 180 on the 3 stair. Lame. I got a first try nollie back tail and came kinda close to kick back tail. Jake was sliding back blunts. He was trying a couple lines too. Uphill way – front smith, kickflip, nollie the 3. Never got the nollie. Then ollie or front 180 up the 3, some 180s then back blunt which he never really got either. I didn’t get up to the 3, but to my surprise I did commit and get very close. Which is kind of surprising because I was on a smaller board with smaller wheels.

Next we went to the rock area. There were a couple rippers there ollieing up the two sets of 3 stairs. Pretty sick. I got a fun line of dropin the tall rock, rock ride to fakie, switch ollie the two stair. Sounds like nothing, but the switch ollie was really fun. Then we both did lines to get down the 3s. Jake did a beanplant rock ride, ollie, olllie. I did drop in, really bad boneless rock ride thing, ollie, front 180. It was really fun. I hadn’t ollied those sets yet. Cracks make the first one kinda weird.

Then we went and played a couple games of SKATE near the food court. Jake got to SKAT quickly on a couple double or nothings. I think one was fakie flip. I won it on halfcab flip. The next game was no repeats. My knees had started hurting so it kinda messed with me. I didn’t really land anymore flippers except varial flip which Jake missed double or nothing then went on to get it in about 5 more tries. I got a letter on fs flip, Creepy spin a couple more and lost on fakie 3 shove. Twas fun. I did one nose manual at the end into the bank and we headed out.

As I walked to the house I noticed a bunch of people skating the curbs. Turns out it was Raul, Saul, Dave L (although I just missed him), Eric, Sawyer and Ethan. So I had to go say hi to a rad crew like that. I went with the 8.25 originally, did one slappy crooks then realized I wanted my big board to be lazy and slappy with. Eric did a long manual, some heelflips, a really good back slappy. Sawyer had some insane slams mixed with really good slappies. Ethan had good slappies too. Saul left right when I got there. Raul did some filming and some back 180 50s. I actually ended up not liking the big setup for slappies too much. Oh well. I had done a few of the norms, slappy front crook was the most fun.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate with hollow hanger, 1/16″ riser, 52mm bones easy street stf v5, 3 speed washers on the inside of the each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288S jack curtain size 11.5, no insoles at all)
(pain level 5/10 knees were borderline in too much pain at times)

On a cold and snowy day I met Dave at the dungeon known as the Steelyards garage. He was already warming up with noseslides and waxing up the other part for board slides. I had changed my setup. Again, yup. This time up to 8.3 with 5.8 trucks. It felt great and would feel great the whole time. The whole setup change thing gets out of control I know. But I think the smaller board with biggish wheels was the nail in the coffin that I dislike any setup with large wheels. Anyway, I got into 50s pretty quick and was reminded how fun that little curb is. Lines were fun, we both got going pretty good I think. I was hyped on trying Kevin’s trick (fakie back nosegrind), but man when I saw what it looked like I was bummed. Ha. I should have tried more f/s halfcabs off because the one was first try. Dave had a cool back 50 nollie shove, kickflips, front 50, front 5-0, back 5-0, His switch ollies over the trash can lid were so good. I started having fun with fastish ollies over the trash can lid to back 50 shove on the curb. Got one and it was really fun. I had tried a back nosegrind at one point and it really seemed to help me do back 50s better. Or maybe it’s the wall helping since I can’t seem to back 50 without one. We both tried switch crooks for awhile. We both got backside ones. Then switch frontside was fun. Dave had never tried them, but was getting up on them really well. I wasn’t as posted up, but did get a few to grind.

Then things had dried up and we went to this really hard bank to bar spot. Dave did the fakie tail every try. The nose stall to fakie didn’t come as easy, but he got a few. I tried some crook jibs. I never really got it. I posed some front smiths, but never got in.

Then I went to Saul’s for what turned into a quickie. I was so sore when I started, but watching Saul do the quick carve grinds so good brought the hype. I had a couple fun runs with carve grinds, a rock ‘n roll, axle stalls and a little front slash in the shallow. Then Saul had to go. Super fun day.

(setup 8.38 null collage deck, venture 5.8 cast baseplate with titanium hanger, 51mm bones stf v1 with all speed washers on the outside of the axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10 least in awhile!)

On a decent day Kevin and I rolled to Longmont to Indian Peaks on rumors it was mostly dry. And it was. We shoveled the hip part of it, but the main bank was mostly all anyone skated. I knew on my first push that my knees were totally done. I tried to power through it, but each push made my left (front) knee worse. Dave F, Kevin and I had been trying pop shoves to fakie. Dave did his right away. Kevin was struggling and Dave and I couldn’t believe it. I got one before Kevin and he was like “see I suck”. Ha. That might be the first time I’ve ever beat Kevin to a trick. The shove did feel good, but after that I tried a few kickflips then sat out the rest of the session after a boneless. Saul and Eric showed up. So rad. Street Saul had some nice bertleman slides, the handplant wallride thing was epic. I think he was 3/3. Eric went in on heelflips pretty quick although I’m not sure he got one, got back wallride, then got robbed on frontside wallride. Dave L showed up too. Man what a crew, I was so bummed to be hurting so badly. Dave F rattled off different shoves, the invert varial thing, back 360s, wallrides. Dude was shredding and looked so good. Kevin made most flip tricks look easy and did a really good wallride. Then got stuck on nollie tre for a long time, but man the one he got was so casual. Dave L managed to warm up quick and get some styley shoves and kickflips then close to inward heel. Then he did some quick feet action with kickflip and shove on the same wall!

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate/v-hollow hanger, 52mm bones v5 99a stf, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, new balance numeric 288 sport b/w size 11.5, stock insoles)
(pain level 9/10 – knees are toast. it’s the cupsole dilemna. they feel good for awhile then all of a sudden the pain is intolerable)

60 degrees in Feb! Oh, but of course the wind was howling. I have been super focused on flatground lately and decided to go into the garage with a 10×10 list and do some hucking. My list and results were:
Fakie flip – got it easy
Heelflip – got a bad one around 8th try
Bs flip – barely landed this one
Fs flip – total stretch to say I defensively landed this one
Sw flip – man I was close
Nollie front heel – not close at all
Halfcab heel – somewhat close
Treflip – landed on it, but not close which bummed me out
Switch varial flip – committed, but never got both feet on it
Switch front feel – not even remotely close
After the list I decided I needed to land a treflip. It took about 50 tries to get a super bad one and I was very bummed about that. My temper was raging.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 v-hollow trucks, 52mm easy street v5 bones wheels, 3 washers outside each axle, bones medium bushings, jessup ultra grip, adidas city cup shoes size 12 burgundy, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Later in the afternoon I woke up from a long nap and the wind had died down. I quickly rushed to Douglass for the remaining minutes of daylight and I brought my 8″ setup with me (now with high trucks). It felt good initially. I was hucking flip tricks like crazy although not landing much of anything. I was having a good time for awhile. Hucked a ton of tricks, but then the soreness really kicked in. Ugh. I tried to skate a little more, but ended up giving up and getting home in time for date night.

(setup 8 null dream machine deck deck, venture 5.2 v-hollow hanger and cast baseplate, old 53mm bones pj v1 wheels, bones medium bushings, mob grip, adidas city cup shoes size 12 burgundy, stock insoles)
(pain level 7/10)

Another cool morning, but the clouds gave a fun east coast vibe. I had new shoes ( Adidas City Cups, basically the thinnest cupsole I could find with a wide toe box ) and finally setup a new 8.25 deck. . I rolled around for awhile without much aim or direction, but was trying stuff. I tapped into my inner Eric and tried to front 180 the wallie barrier. I kind of got it, but never clean. I was trying it in a line. Crooks, 180, fakie nosegrind. After awhile I gave up because I’m trying to not spend a whole session on one thing. I tried front tails on the half cinder block ledge, switch front crooks on it. Tried kick back 5-0 on the regular one, never committed, got close to halfcab crook. Ended trying fakie front noseslides on the cinder block bench and got close, but had to leave for work. I had done a few flippers. Halfcab flips both ways, fakie flip, b/s flip.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture 5.6 v-hollow trucks, 52mm easy street v5 bones wheels, 3 washers outside each axle, bones medium bushings, adidas city cup shoes size 12 burgundy, stock insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

My OCD got to me and I just had to try the dog park on lows. In my head and past experience I thought I had more pop on lows. I put lows on the 8″ board thinking it was a good idea last night. But this morning I knew it was a dumb idea and was really hoping I would dislike it. And oh man did I ever dislike them. I basically didn’t do much of anything until I just started posing tricks. Kick back tail on the lower step and kick crooks on the cinder block bench. I got remotely close to kick back tail, but not kickflip crooks.

(setup 8″ null dream machine deck, venture 5.2 awake low trucks, bones medium bushings, old 53mm bones v1 pj stf, mob grip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, rubbery lakai insoles)
(Pain level 6/10)