My ankle was still hurting, but it was Go Skate Day and I thought I could handle some slappies.  I had my new setup and was blown away by how sharp the Aces could turn.  There was a big puddle from the sprinklers right in front of the main spot which would get much worse after the sprinklers turned on once again.  UGH!  I did a few front slappies, few slappy crooks and that’s about it.  I didn’t want to pop with my ankle feeling the way it did and the sprinklers kinda ruined it anyway.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, ace af1 55, spitfire f4 53mm classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a cloudy morning Kevin was asking if we were street skating or hitting parks so he knew whether to wear pants or shorts.  Ha.  Since it was cloudy I was in the mood for streets.  But by the time we got to a spot the sun was out and super bright.  We started at the case logic bank.  It’s just a little mellow bank to serve as a warm up which it did pretty well.  I was alternating between 8.5/6.1s and 8.3/5.8s and ended up on the 8.3.  Kevin was going between his normal 8.25/5.6 and a new 8/33 setup and ended up with his old one too.  I got a quick kickflip to fakie, Kevin got a quick nollie flip.  Nothing out of the ordinary for either of us there.  I couldn’t do a b/s flip on either setup and it made me mad.  I couldn’t get a back heel either.  Argh.  Kevin had done some nollie front 180s out, back 180s into the bank.

Then we went to the nearby ledge spot which did not have nearly as much shade as I hoped.  Kevin got the hang of the spot quickly.  50s, manuals, tailslides.  He was not affected by the tightness of it like I was.  I actually got really upset at how badly I was skating and had a nice tantrum throwing my board like a baby.  It seemed to help though.  I didn’t land much of anything before Kevin was ready to try a line.  I didn’t want to just film so we agreed on rotating and I came up with something.  I actually got it first try.  Ollie onto the pad, kickflip off, front nose 270.  Except that I was barely moving for the nose”slide”.  I was kind of happy though.  I would try to get a better line by doing front smith or back 180 nosegrind on the ledge.  Kevin was trying back tail, manual, back 180 nosegrind shove.  He would never quite get it.  After several tries I started getting a pain in my ankle.  Apparently I must have rolled it on the inside or hit the axle to my bone because I could barely walk.  Argh.  Kevin eventually gave up too as the heat and pain were too much.  Doh.  We left defeated and hurt.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nb abzorb insoles)
(pain level 3/10 then 9/10 after the ankle acted up)

After one heck of a sendoff from Liz I biked to Saul’s on a warm Friday afternoon. Rob, Saul, Kevin and Teddy were there. Teddy is a younger dude and since he left first I”ll start with him. He shreds! Boneless disasters, Jim Gray tricks, front smiths and much more. Kevin was on a mission. Switch disasters, pivot fakies, back smiths, back tails, some awkward slams and couldn’t quite reel in the front smith. Saul treated us to some of this quick carve grind action, back 50s and frontside Saul over the hip “that was an accident” ha ha. Rob had some steez carves, figure 8s and the sweet 16. I had one decent back 50, a few front slashes in the shallow end and some rocks that were not decked. Dave had joined us. He was getting into it, had some front smiths, decked rocks but then had a real bad slam on a rock fakie and hurt his wrist. Argh. He skated a little more, but definitely lost the edge. Then we all went to dinner at Darkhorse and it was a good time.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Up early again and biked to Boulder park.  I wasn’t the first one there this time.  There were a couple older dudes rocking the black shorts/royal blue shirt/full pads combo carving around.  Both of which were nice dudes. I was there for about 15 min before Rob showed.  My warmup wasn’t as tough as last time although my knees were in more pain and I would struggle.  I had some fun front 50s on the wide qp, still couldn’t grind the parking block qp, fun noseslides, some ghost pop ollies over the hip.  Rob got going with some speed carves through the old park and new park, qp back 50s, manuals.  Then had some really snappy ollies over the hip, boardslides, nollie bigs on the bank by the hip.  I got another quick crook jib on the bank to ledge, some crooks the bench followed by 50s the bank to ledge.  I wussed out on back 50s , but finally got some front 50s on the bump to ledge.  Only a couple of them were locked in good and I couldn’t 180 out, but it felt good to finally do the bump to ledge. 

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a hot afternoon I went over to the side of the school to skate flat in the shade.  It ended up being kinda cloudy and windy at times.  I had brought a bigger setup with me too, but ended up not even really trying it.  I did some basic warm ups up to the kickflip/no comply 180/fakie flip line.  Then I decided a 10×10 was in order.  I made a list.
Halfcab flip – got one right away, but my phone wasn’t recording so then took several tries to get another one.
Heelflip – got one in a few tries.
Bs flip – Got a terrible one and couldn’t clean it up
Halfcab heel – same
Treflip – same
Nollie tre – only one was remotely close
Switch front heel – not even close
Fakie big flip – took 20 tries to get the terrible one
Nollie big flip – felt close, but sure doesn’t look it
Back heel – not close

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Got up super early to beat the heat and biked to Scott Carpenter. It was 66 when I got there before 7 and it felt really nice. It would get hot quickly, but not 100 degrees hot. I had the park all to myself for the first 30 minutes and proceeded to stumble around unable to pop or land anything. Luckily my body would eventually get going and I had some fun. I tried to skate it differently and figure out some of the basics I’m too embarrassed to do when others are around. I was finally able to ollie up the euro pretty well. It should be easy, but it weirds me out beyond believe. I eventually started doing some basic crooks, noseslides, front 50s on the ledges. Then I took a bit to get a really fun line. Backside ollie the hip, front d the long qp, front 50 shove the bench. A few others had shown. I got a noseslide to fakie on the bank to ledge, crooks across it, accidental front 5-0, I couldn’t get a backside flip over the hip to save my life though. I think it was a little too early for that trick. I finished by finally managing the weird angle to halfcab noseslide the bench with. It was a fun time, I really like the new stuff. I didn’t really skate any of the old stuff once again, although I did take a couple warm up pump runs around it.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

On a hot morning I met up with Rob at Broomfield park.  Sean would arrive after a bit, Jack, Bo and Garret later on.  Rob and I were both pretty sore from all the skating the day before, but we pulled through and seemed to skate pretty well.  We also seemed to skate it in different ways.  Unfortunately I don’t remember many tricks.  Rob did a no comply to backside manual on the blue bank which was new for him, crooks, halfcab boards, no comply boards, halfcab noseslides, manuals and I think nose manuals, back 50 no comply out, lots of Rob goodness.  I started getting good feeling crooks on the up ledge and lined it out in different ways.  I got one really bad f/s halfcab noseslide and one treflip.  I had some heelflips in there too and my pop felt alright and I was able to 50 and ollie onto ledges.  Sean showed then him and I played a game of SKATE in which he pink slipped me quickly.  I got several letters on tricks I had already done.  Oh well.  Jack, Garrett and Bo showed.  Bo had brand new shoes and busted the best treflip.  Jack didn’t skate really because his knee was hurting.  Garrett’s smoothness is incredible.  Sean worked his casual ledge magic.  

Then we went to Emage and then the newish Rhino spot.  It was HOT!  Mid 90s hot.  Luckily there was some cloud cover at times.  We found a weird bank to garage door under construction and wedged some metal between the beams and had a really cool bank to flat bar spot.  Bo tried a few front smiths on it before grabbing the camera and filming.  Jack tried to get his knee working without much success, but still did a sick back feeble front 180 out.  Sean lined out the spot with an amazing heelflip and tailslide.  Garrett went in on front hurricanes.  It’s funny because we were talking about him doing it in a line once he figured it out.  Two hours later .. he landed the single trick.  Ha.  He battled, it was hot, he’s a champ.  Since Bo was filming I kept skating even though ollies or flippers weren’t really working.  I had a fun line of noseslide to fakie, switch 180 then the worst attempt at a crook ever.  There were maybe a couple that weren’t as bad as the one that was filmed, but they were all bad.  I also had a fun ride along a ledge with a bunch of skate stopper holes in it.  Bo would later basically do it first try, but that’s Bo.  I was hyped when I finally rode out of it. After Garrett landed his trick we called it a day.  

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Rob picked me up Saturday morning and we rolled to Evergreen to meet Kevin and Jake and eventually Cass. It rules being able to carpool again. Chatting with friends is great, especially Rob. We showed up at the same time as Kevin and walked into the end of an old guy session that Jake had joined. He was already popping on the ledges and the steep qp. The warm up was difficult initially, but with so few people at the park the freedom to do whatever made it nice. Kevin was quick with the pop over the hip. We tried 180s the hard way over the hip, me taking several tries. Rob was back 50ing the curb and manualling right away. Things get blurry after that. Jake and I tried kickflips over the hip. I was having fun lining it out with slow front 50s on the little fence ledge and got a kickflip that felt pretty good. Jake got a sketchy one that Rob called him out to clean up and then landed it next try. Rob had a poppy halfcab over the hip and treated us to a lofty beanplant over it. Kevin was getting close to a line with nollie tre over the hip and asked me to film it for “3 tries”. He had the same results as me a few days ago. I filmed way too much, but he was so close every time it was hard to think he wouldn’t land it. I mixed in some front heel attempts, some of which were remotely close, most of which were not close at all. I tried a few tricks on the upper ledge and was happy how easy popping up the curb was, but mostly didn’t land any grinds. Same problem I’ve been having recently, getting onto the ledge fine and then falling off. Jake did front blunt the small qp then front pivot or front rock the steep qp. Rob was going in on a battle of manual to boardslide up the curb to ledge. He was so close so many times. I tried to get a rock ‘n roll on the steep qp, I’ve never done anything on it before. The line was switch noseslide 270 shove the fence ledge, front slash the little qp, rock. I would eventually get it and it felt rad. Rob was still battling the manual to boardslide so I kept going to and tried to finish on backside flip the hip. Rob got got his pretty quickly at that point and man it was good. Then I battled b/s flip for wayyyyy too long. Landed one cruddy one with hands down and kept struggling until everyone was leaving when I finally put down a slightly less terrible one. Then we hung in the shade at Casa Tequilas and had a fun time hanging out and decent food. Oh yeah, I forgot all about Cass. Ha. So he had arrived and was in the warm up process when he broke his truck. Doh. Somehow Kevin had a pair of Ventures in his bag so Cass swapped out and tried to get going again on different trucks (he skates Thunders). But a couple minutes later he blew out a bearing so he packed it in. Doh.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10 quite a bit of soreness)

Worked super early so was able to leave work and be to Scott Carpenter by 3:30 to meet Dave for his “only 30 minutes” to skate. The park wasn’t too crowded, but the blond kid standing on the hip counts as 5 because he goes nonstop. Dave was mostly on the steep qp at the start. I saw a first try boardslide to fakie down it, then back 50 down it, then feeble, front smith up it, geez dude. Nollie back 180s the hip, nose manny the bump to pad, front 50 and front 50 back 180 the bank to ledge. Total shredding. I skated alright, it’s weird trying to figure out a new warm up routine at a new park. I took way too long to get a bs flip over the hip, some noseslides across the bank to ledge, had a fun long back 50 on the new qp, got some basic backside stalls on the parking block qp, posed a few nollie tres across the hip that felt doable, crooks the bench and had a really fun line to end it of crooks across the bank to ledge followed by 5-0 the bench. Dave had left, but well past his “30 minutes to skate” window. The new stuff is really fun. I was happy with how easily I was popping onto the bench, but unhappy with how little I was landing on it. It’s been weird lately my pop is better but I can’t seem to lock into grinds well. Maybe it’s because my trucks are so worn down, I don’t know.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, ace low barrel bushing and venom 91a small bushing, 52mm spitfire 99a f4 classic shape, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a very hot and sunny afternoon I met Rob at dog park. We were getting our legs going when Skelly walked over and invited us over to the construction to look at the skatepark. It was cool to see it in it’s dirt form with metal laid out. We chatted with the Evergreen dudes then got back to skating. Somehow it seemed the slight bit of shade from the structure helped cool it down. Rob was on back 50s right away and we both started trying lines that started with ollies over the stacked up parking block. Rob’s ollies were smooth, mine were sketchy. He followed his up with back 50 no complies or 180 and some boardslides or back 50s on the A-frame. I had some fun crooks on the new lower metal bench, didn’t totally suck at halfcab noseslides or flip tricks. Rob battled manual up/down the A frame then took off. I ended up skating for quite awhile longer having the park all to myself. I would get a couple dinky switch willys that were supposed to be switch crooks on the cinder block, a 5-0 on it (yes an accident). Then I took too long to get a treflip after boardsliding the taller bench. I was happy I forced myself to do it though.

(setup 8.38 null jack night skate, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate v-hollow hanger, bones hard bushings, bones 54mm stf v5, new balance numeric b/w/blue 212 size 12 with nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)