Went to dog park after my first 4 day stint off the board all year I think. I hate not skating. I also hate being sick. Bratcher was there, Fergs too, Gordon after a while, Ace one of the only solo youth showing up by himself and totally ripping. I felt quite out of it and even dizzy at times, but skated okay mostly. Halfcab flips worked finally, crooks, noseslides, 50s on the lurb. Ace rattled off like 20 tricks in a row on the big wood ledge, it was crazy. And casually doing hard qp tricks too. Gordon had his good manuals and grinds and tried some other moves. Bratcher was getting his feet back after another bad slam. After a while Eric showed too, took a bit to get manual. I squeeked out a couple nose manuals. I battled front 50 on the annoying bench and was about to get very upset, but luckily put down a couple. One of which even felt good. It started raining and I was happy about that as I was beat.

(setup 6/10 8.25 null timewarp, jessup ultra, venture 5.6 v-hollow, spitfire f4 99a 52mm pink/green classic, new balance numeric 272 army size 12 with half insoles and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After Kevin flew in early, took the bus and got a new job we rolled out to Idaho Springs picking up Garrett on the way. To our surprise Mike was there too. It was mostly chill for quite a while. Joe would show about an hour into the session. Garrett didn’t have many issues getting used to the park. Wallie manual kickflip out, b/s flip the hip, back big, nollie big, nollie back heel the hip, everything so good. On the ledge halfcab crooks, sw crooks, back tails, whatever he wanted. Kevin was struggling a bit understandably considering he had been up for like 8 hours already at this point. But still crooks, back tail the ledges, manuals on the big ledge, long grinds on the diamond cut, back blunt on the bank to curb. I was getting used to a setup change of new 8.25 deck and Thunders. Meh. But I did get a first try manual on the little pad and a line I forget that involved a kickflip to fakie then a sw front nose. Took me forever to ollie up onto the main ledge. Had a fun line of ollie the 3 then b/s flip the mini hip. Also got a crooks on the ledge off the manny pad. Joe was funny. Did a trick on the ledge and said “this ledge is perfect” then proceeded to slam super hard on it next try. He ollied the big gap, back tails, front crooks, fakie hardflip the mini hip followed by a hilarious slam on a fakie shove.

After a long enough drive for soreness to really settle in we arrived at Breckenridge skatepark. I’ll just start by saying the new stuff is amazing. Kevin and I started mostly on the old though with tricks into the bank. His sw f/s flip was so good. It’s crazy how ugly my fakie bigflips have gotten. It was fun to roll in after a trick though. Had some fun doing some front 50s on the small noping in the old section and lining it with noseslide to fakie on the new bank to ledge. That bank to ledge is so awesome. Kevin and I did crooks doubles. His were actually good. I took a long time to get a front 50 on it. Joe had front crooks and back tail on the a frame ledge. Garrett put together the line in a few tries at the end after sitting. It was a fun session, fun day. Even a fun meal after that Zach joined us at after some random person came out of nowhere and insisted we eat at Albertos.

(setup 5/10 8.25 null timewarp, jessup ultra, thunder hollow 148, spitfire f4 99a 52mm pink/green classic, new balance numeric 600 black/gum size 12 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Went to the career fair at CSU, then hung at MRKT for a while. Hit Fossil for about 30 minutes. Had a setup change of ace trucks instead of venture. Disliked them. Started on the area up top. Did some 50s. Boardslide off the 1, noseslide, sw front nose. Kinda fun. On the lower side could not get a front 50, but did a few noseslides and crooks.

(setup 2/10 8.25 null time warp, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 44 hollow, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 600 black/gum size 12 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Woke up with such a painful and stiff neck. Tried to loosen it up throughout the day, but it wasn’t good. Went to dog park since Nolan was passing through and wanted to meet there. We had a heck of a crew. Ladd, Donnie, Nolan, Sean, Garrett, Joe, Will, me. We started at dog park initially, but it was really heated with some youth going hard. I had only done a few slappies and stuff. Over to Valmont where Will b/s flipped the euro hip. We skated in the pond for a while. Nolan easily did blunt to fakie along with other tricks so easily. Ladd had some big pop. I did some very tech axle stalls. I had some fun noseslides on the bump to ledge. Also some fun grinds on the little bowl area. Then I mostly just posed flip tricks on the bank with Sean. Except he landed his. I came remotely close to f/s halfcab heel and even closer to fakie hardflip. Sean did nollie back heel then f/s halfcab flip. Joe with the amazing every try fakie hardflip over the hip and ollie the barrier from flat. Donnie madman attacking the rainbow rail. The grind ollie grind was so cool. Nolan pole jam to manual, first try back noseblunt on the volcano then the funniest peter blunt ever on the rainbow. Donnie’s kid running to the plaza and Sean saying “See Donnie your kid wants to go to the real park” was hilarious. Garrett was slaying it. One of the best kickflips to fakie I’ve seen, hurricane the barrier, so much style. Sean ended the session on a very non-Sean like trick was a highlight. I gotta get one of those fakie hards!

(setup 8/10 8.25 null time warp, jessup ultragrip, 5.6 venture v-hollow with ace bushings, 52mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 272 army size 12 with half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 7/10 neck)

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to skate after my first day in the office after vacation in NYC. Nope. It was cool walking into a park and seeing so many of the normal crew though. Will, Ted, Steezy, Dennis, and more I’m not remembering. I had my new TJ Rogers bricks. I mean shoes. But maybe bricks is a more accurate description. They felt terrible to skate in. At no point did I do anything good and kickflips were impossible to flick in those shoes. Will went in on some flippers. He did switch heel, switch flip and switch backside flip. All while I think I only landed kickflip.

(setup 4/10 null 20 year 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium redrilled to v8, 52mm spitfire f4 99a pink swirl classic, es tj rogers b/w size 12 with currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After work met Dave at the fairground bank to curb spot. After some initial struggles things worked out pretty good. I went in on some lines. Got kickflip on a bank, noseslide to fakie, kind of a fakie/halfcab flip. Nollie bigspin then alley oop no comply to tail. Varial flip then slappy crook. Slappy crook then b/s flip kind of over a crack. Dave had some bangers. Back 50 to fakie off the front truck, switch slappy crook, slappy crook fakie, really good nollie back tails, front 50s, front 5-0, front tails. Ripping. I tried some treflips on the bank, but never got my feet on one. Still felt to get to the point of trying it at least.

(setup 7/10 null 20 years 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, indy forged hollow 149 with ace bushings, spitfire f4 99a 52mm pink/green classic, new balance numeric 440v2 wide navy size 12 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 5/10)

After dinner on a very nice evening I went to Broomfield and met Garrett. A few others were at the park, but it would clear out and only a couple others. I got there first, warmed up on the on the bank to curb, some quarterpotty, no pop tricks on the lurb. Garrett showed and I tried to back 50 the lurb before he started skating, but I lost. I did get one though and it did feel good. Garrett went straight to ripping. Halfcab nose manual revert, kf manual, kickflip nose manual. Garrett also killed the black ledge. Halfcab crook 180, sw crooks, kickflip 50, pop shove 50, so much. I struggled initially, but would end up getting several front 50s, even several in a row, a shove out, and one followed by a noseslide on the bump to bar. I was happy about that. Justin showed and went demo mode. I managed a very slow front 50 on the ledge into the bank. Garrett had so many good back tails and then a b/s flip out of the happy ledge that was so good. At the end I made myself do 5 flip tricks. I came somewhat close to some harder ones, but ended with the basics: kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, b/s flip, fakie bigflip. Fun night.

(setup 7/10 null 20 years 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, thunder T2 149, spitfire f4 99a 52mm pink/green classic, new balance numeric 440v2 wide navy size 12 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

After a work luncheon I met Dave at Erie park on a cooler day. It was actually kind of mellow as far as Lafayette goes. Seemed like we both started off kind of uninspired, but we would do some stuff. I had a setup change so was getting used to that. This is the one. Ha ha ha. 8.5 14.25 Thunder hollows. Dave had some nice tailslides on the mini qp. I had some fun wallies on the corner rock. We hit the little ledge up top for a while. Dave ripped it with noseslide to manual all the way to the bank multiple times and I think lined it out with a kickflip out of the bank. I did some okay front 50s for once, after multiple accidental 5-0s of course. Had front shove out and front 180 out too, but not to manual or even manual on the top. Dave also got switch front crook! I tried sw noseslide kickflip out and kf crooks but was not close to either. Dave came super close to a treflip out of the bank! Down to the spine area, Dave had some cool transfers in between flyout kids pushing through. I took a while to do an easy feeble stall then noseslide half of the hubba. Took a while to do fakie flip on the mellow bank then noseslide the hubba. Hucked a couple fakie tres. Back to the rock area Dave was lining out bigspins and front tails again. I managed a bad bigflip on the bank. Not too shabby of a session all things considered.

(setup 7/10 null 20 years 8.5/14.25, jessup ultragrip, thunder hollow 149, spitfire f4 99a 52mm pink/green classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 half 574 insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10)

After a crappy night of sleep Dave, Cass and I rolled east to Bennett to check out their new skatepark. Upon arrival I proceeded to immediately step in horse shit which covered almost the entire sole of my shoe. I was so bummed and it smelled bad. Luckily there was some wet grass and I was able to ignore the grossness and get to skating.

Gordon first since he was the first to leave. Some good front and back 50s, 5-0s, nosebonk over ledge to manual, tailslides I think, manuals, boardslide into bank, pop shoves up the manny pad.

Cass next since he hurt his back on a crook attempt and had to sit out the last couple hours of the session. Although he probably would have just been chilling anyway since he did so many tricks early. Boardslide into the bank, manual pier 7, really good front noseslides down the hubbas, back 50s, 5-0s, almost back 180 nosegrind the hubba, some really long crooks on the bump to ledge.

I really did not skate well. I was so tired, had a setup change, was in a foul mood after stepping in crap. I did a few things I liked though. Noseslide across the old pyramid to ledge was fun, kickflip to fakie and regular kickflip on the long bank, kickflip flyouts, noseslide to fakie the hubba, some front 50s, but no back 50s, no crooks really, lots of switch front noses, came kind of close to a rick flip, ghost front rocks were fun.

Dave did a lot. Hard to remember all the lines, but they had nose manuals, noseslides the hubba, ollied into the bank, tailslides on the bank of all variations, boardslides to fakie on the qp, ollie up to front boardslide into the bank, switch slappy crooks, slappy crooks, grind over the crazy drainage cover, kickflip on the bank, shove fakie on the bank, the list goes on. He even did ride on tailslides at the nearby stage that were amazing.

(setup 7/10 null 8.25 time warp, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 hollow 44, spitfire f4 101a 51mm classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 half 574 insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 5/10)

After work on a Friday I drove through gridlock CU football traffic to dog park just as it started raining. I managed a couple tricks as it started. Mainly some curb 50s, noseslides and crooks on the bench. Tried to front 50 the bench a few times, but the rain became too much.

Went to the garage again. This time did the 180 sw crooks shove first try. I had a setup change that seemed okay. 8.3 with 8.25 thunders. It flipped slightly better. I would get a few flip tricks before Dave showed and some switch front axle stalls. I would get a switch front pivot on a curb too. Dave warmed up a bit then quickly did some nollie over to crooks on the “bump to curb”. But he did it for a long time to avoid the hand touch. I fell into a rut of trying kickflip axle stall then treflip for a long time. The great news being that I finally landed a treflip. It’s been a long time since I’ve done one on flatground. Also got a front smith stall kickflip out. No heelflip garnish though. Dave also did nollie shove transfer to pivot and back 180 sw crooks. Also a bangin’ fakie varial flip.

(setup 5/10 null 8.3 time warp, jessup pj ultragrip, thunder hollow 148, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic pink/green, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 little half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)