I got to Broomfield park around 11. The crew was already there in the heat of the battle. Kevin was trying nollie noseslides. Rob lining out to no comply boardslides. Dave L casual nose mannies. Eric was charging back 50s. I had a new setup that I pretty much disliked out of the gate. Of course. I think it was the new wheels/bearings combo which is tough at a skatepark. It was so smooth it felt like I was gliding on ice. Anyway, I started slow and never really got going. I had a goal of noseslide back 270 out which I tried, but did not get close to. I also did a PJ inspired crooks to fakie then fakie bigflip on flat (jessup had just posed him do a crooks to fakie then quick fakie crooks bigflip out and I figured I’d do at least 2/3 of the line (which has since been taken down so I couldn’t link to it)). Kevin also got nollie crooks. Rob put in a journeyman effort on pop shove llipslides. Man he was close. He also pounded out tricks like front tail, back 50 back 180 and many more. Eric heelflipped the parking block, crushed lipslides, back 50s. Dave L almost got nose manny nollie back 180 on the brown pad. I’m missing a ton. I tend to do that when I skate bad.

After lunch and some basketball with Ollie I went and skated flatground at the school.  I was feeling sore so started with nollie shoves, fakie shoves.  Then kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip took way too long.  Started trying the thing where the end of one 2 trick line is the start of the next 2 trick line.  So next was fakie flip then halfcab flip.  Halfcab flip then b/s flip.  B/s flip then fakie bigflip.  Fakie bigflip then varial flip.  Varial flip then heelflip.  At this point I was so dead from skating earlier and then basketball with Ollie.  But I went for heelflip then treflip.  I got so tired on heelflips that I would only even try like 1/5 of them and I missed the few treflips I tried.  I gave up, but was happy I skated.  I’ve come to realize that a lot of my sucking lately is because I’m too embarrassed to skate around people.  I wont try basics that I’m not good at and therefore I can’t expand upon them.  Argh.  I guess I need to just deal with it. 

(setup 8.38 null smoke valley, jessup ultragrip, 5.6 ventures hollow axle 3 washers on the inside of each axle, spitfire 51mm green slag radial 99a f4, new balance numeric 212 size 12 nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain 5/10)

Had the day off work. I met Hayden, Bo, Joe and Riley at Sping Canyon. Yes, Riley! I was wearing my 212s in hopes of better board feel, less knee pain, less frustration. They may have helped, I didn’t hate myself at least. But I was starting to try, starting to feel a little better when a kickflip primo’d and took out my elbow taking me down a few levels. Ugh. Hayden was shredding, lipslides down the pringle, mannies, tricks that may not sound that hard, but when you see the way he does them they are. Riley was doing lots of switch nose manual, fakie shove switch manual, smith and back tail the bench easy. Bo had his cruiser so wasn’t trying as hard as normal, but had some really nice ollies. Joe was skating an 8″ and trying hardflip manuals. And he was close. I came close to switch 180 manual and had a crooks on the bench first try, but other than that didn’t really do anything. I left unsatisfied once again, but at least not in a ton of pain.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 52mm classic shape 99a f4, new balance. numeric 212 salmon size 12 nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Made a wet drive to a somehow dry Frederick park after dinner to meet the Dave’s and Will. We started on the bank to curb area. Dave L and Will were going for slappies. I was trying kickflips to fakie. The key word there is “trying” because it took like 7 freakin’ tries to get a kickflip to fakie. i was about to lose it. Dave F showed and immediately did some long boardslides around the curb. The manny pad area was the only thing that was kind of crowded. Kids sitting on the rounded one was annoying. I never found any rhythm and the only thing of note was getting remotely close to a nollie inward heel over the hump. Dave F was doing amazing back tails on the curb. He would either land it or slam incredibly hard. It was brutal. He had front tails too. Dave L had front tail, slappy, kickflip the hump. Will had slappy feeble, 50’d the long narrow hubba. Dave L had to leave soon so he said “let’s play a quick game of SKATE”. Ha ha “quick”. Will joined us. It was a struggle for all of us. Will had rolled his ankle so can’t really kickflip which eliminated a lot of my tricks, but he subbed in heelflips. Dave was somehow the first one out. He stuck around to try and see Will and I finish, but we went so long he had to leave. Ha. I had gotten halfcab flip and heelflip, but didn’t really try much else. I somehow won with a f/s cab. I was hating the Lakai’s. After that I didn’t really skate, my legs had shut down and refused to ollie. Dave F had been ripping the whole time. Nose manuals, fakie ollies on the steep bank, kickflip on it, quick up to noseslide fakie, front 180 up the kicker. Dude is the best. Garrett showed at the end and did some pretty amazing stuff first try like smith the bump to ledge, bigflip the big hip, manual the tall pad, etc. I left feeling very depressed about skating.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 52mm classic shape 99a f4, lakai carrol xlk grey size 12 no insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

After another snowstorm dropped 9″ of snow the sun came out. It wasn’t very warm though so not as much had melted as I hoped. Liz had the car so I just walked over to the school after work. The area by the curbs was mostly dry, but the curbs had snow on them. I had some new shoes. Some Lakai Carrol XLKs. They seem potentially good, but were very weird on day one. Even though the sole isn’t physically thick, they felt really thick skating. I struggled to jump and flick in them. I started off really basic, struggled with the beginning of flip tricks. I did have a couple decent lines though. Halfcab flip (which took way too long), b/s flip, fakie flip in one line. Actually, that’s probably the only decent line ha ha. I would eventually get a rocketed heelflip followed by a terrible treflip, but everything was a struggle. Fakie flip then f/s halfcab flip. I would get a few more tricks, but couldn’t get nollie varial flip or tre, no front heel. I ended forcing myself to do fakie bigflip and f/s halfcab heel. I shouldn’t get too upset as I was on super rough uneven asphalt in the cold, but I was. Not a good first session in the Lakais.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 53mm spitfire f4 99a conical full red/blue swirl, lakai carrol xlk grey size 12 no insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On a nice day I woke up from a nap and decided on campus. I was really wanting to hit the hallway ledge and do halfcab flip then noseslide. I kind of lapped around campus before ending up at the little two stair to warm up. There’s a little bank up to the steps, so it feels like a bank to curb. A very mellow bank to curb yes, but I still like it. I haven’t really skated it that way before. I really want to rub brick/wax it up. I was hurting pretty bad still, started with nosestall 270s, nollie tails, eventually some pivots and front tails. Then trick kickflip pivot and front tail 270 shove for a bit. I went across the street to the hallway spot where I absolutely made a fool of myself. I was trying to fakie flip with the tiniest bit of speed and slammed in front of a window with a student sitting there. So I gave up on the 3 trick line and just tried the halfcab flip into the bank. It didn’t come easy this time, but I would get the line twice. I wanted to try treflip into the “bank” too, but I wasn’t feeling it. I did a really slow crooks then lurked some other spots. Most of which either had snow or sand and I ended up just going home feeling pretty defeated. I had tried some thinner insoles which did reduce some knee pain, but then seemed to make everything else worse. Argh.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 53mm spitfire f4 99a conical full red/blue swirl, new balance numeric 22 maroon size 12, footprint 3.5mm insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

On a somewhat cool day I met Dave F, Dave L and Rob at Rocky Mountain Elem. I had been called for work early that morning and didn’t get much of any sleep. I was the last one there. Since my 288S had finally bit the dust I was in some 22s I had gotten recently. I put some Lakai insoles and they felt good. Right near the start Rob did a no comply 5-0 on the curb to get things firing. L was doing his casual ripping with some shoves, back 50s, manuals. F was doing boardslides to fakie, front noseslides, kickflips, sex changes. Somehow I started off landing almost every flip trick I tried. Kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flip, heelflip, f/s halfcab flip, b/s flip. But things would come crashing to a halt pretty quickly trying front 50s as the exhaustion kicked in and my right knee really started hurting. Argh. Fuller went in on his incredible b/s pivot to switch crook down the bank median. He did one so good. Rob did back shove 50 on the curb, a bunch of no comply 5-0s, back 180s up the curb to cab kickturn on the bank, bigspin front nose. I would get a couple of the worlds slowest front 50s, one was followed by a kickflip off the curb, both were eventually followed by treflip fails. I did a line I was happy about, back 50 the curb, kickflip up the curb, decent crook the ledge (then flail a treflip of course). I tried front smith grinds, but I think all I landed was a f/s pivot. Still felt cool. F filmed L trying a line with a rock ride, some shoves, then back tail. He did it really good. This was when I went to leave which lead to chatting for awhile. I took a good two hour nap when I got home. And man my right knee was hurting.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 53mm spitfire f4 99a conical full red/blue swirl, new balance numeric 22 maroon size 12, lakai carrol insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Right after work I bolted to the curbs and saw Rob and Saul leaving.  Luckily Jake and Dave L were still there even if they were trying to wrap things up.  They didn’t skate much.  I saw Jake do a slappy or two and Dave get frustrated with nollie shoves and do a kickflip up the curb.  I did some slappies then tried to show off to Jake that I learned switch front slappies.  It took awhile and Dave had left, but I did get one and it felt pretty awesome.  I had some okay flippers too and got Jake to try heelflips in the grass.  He was close.  After Jake left I went to the side of the school with the goal of doing 4 two trick lines.  4 lines for a total of 8 tricks.  48.  Like my age.  Ha.  Might have to make this a theme for the year.  I got fakie flip then fakie bigflip pretty quick.  Then halfcab flip followed by treflip.  It only took 3 tries to get the treflip which really hyped me up.  I didn’t end up getting any more lines, but I was close to f/s halfcab heel and front heel.  Tried f/s halfcab flip followed by nollie varial flip but couldn’t get the nollie varial flip.  Hucked a few other things, but ended up getting tired and sore so I went home for dinner.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 52mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288s size 11.5 maroon no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a cold morning I woke up at 6am with the plan of getting to the dog park to do 48 tricks before work. I had made a list and everything. Mostly as a reference in case I blanked out and forgot what tricks to try. I would obviously have to stick to easier ones since I was on a time limit. I arrived shortly after 7am and it was 30 degrees. It didn’t feel too cold though. There was a rollerblader dude there. After posting up my phone immediately to film the slappy crooks I explained what I was doing. He offered to film me, but I would never put a stranger through that. Ha. He was cool. So yeah the video is mostly in order. I started with slappies to get the legs going. Most tricks went pretty well until the front 50. I just couldn’t commit with any speed. I was about to nix them when an accidental 5-0 worked out so I stuck with it until getting the shove out. The nollie front tail to fakie was also a total fluke, but I was happy. I had also done a switch front nose 270 out, but missed it when making the video. I was skating really hard, I was exhausted, breathing heavily and having fun. Flip tricks went okay. The treflip came in about 15 tries. I had to give up on nollie tre even though I was super close to a bunch of them. The halfcab heel took a bit. I wanted to ollie the barrier from the kicker as my ender, but I was tired and a bmxer had shown up and was hitting the kicker. I did about 53 tricks total so I’d have some to weed out. I got rid of a super slow front 50 and back 50, front 180 over the parking block, pathetic front board the new bench. I left feeling very happy, fortunate to be able to skate even if it’s not as good as I wish. This session was more quantity of tricks over quality though. I was very happy to have landed a treflip. 48!

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 52mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288s size 11.5 maroon no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

In what is becoming somewhat of a birthday tradition we assembled at Evergreen park on a nice breezy day.  It felt like we were the first people there since winter as there was pine needles and gravel around the park. It’s gonna be impossible to remember and document all that happened. I’ll start by saying there was a lot of people and for some reason the pressure of skating around everyone really got to me this time. I could just not get it going for the life of me. Kevin was the only one there when I showed, but Sean, Rob, Ed and Jake would arrive shortly. There were some others there and a decent sized crew of Evergreen youth would show up too. Hayden would show with Jake 2, Peyton and Bo too. Fuller and Simon would show when we were contemplating calling it a day. I’ll start by saying I was skating incredibly bad to start and it literally took my 15-20 tries to get a kickflip to fakie on the little wedge behind the hip that was supposed to be the start of a ‘fun’ warm up line. I was thinking in my head “maybe this will be the year I hang it up”. I’m not sure if it was a Rob bean plants over the hip or his back 50s, Kevin’s smile, Hayden’s treflips or Sean’s front 3s, but I did start to have fun. I still didn’t land much, but I did have some fun. The backside flip took longer than it should, but not as long as the previous time and I got fakie bigflip over the hip in about 5 tries. That would help me mentally. I was hyped to see Rob boardsliding the hubba. Kevin was shredding everything like he do. Sean’s warm ups would be my ender enders. His back nosegrinds on the aluminum bench were incredible. Bo’s energy is contagious. Lots of pop on everything, pressure flips, crooks on the aluminum bench were gold. Jake killed the steep qp, got fakie bigspin over the hip, nollie bigspin. It was rad that Ed joined. He had some poppy ollies over the wedge, grinds on the qp, boardslides. Hayden and Jake 2 brought the heat immediately and you could tell they were hyped to skate that park. Hayden still appears to have stolen treflips from Bo. Apparently Peyton hasn’t skated in months, but it didn’t show and he was shredding. I sat to eat a snack and Rob, Ed, Kevin joined me. It was looking like we might bounce, but then Simon and Fuller showed up. So we had to try to get it going again. I’m glad we did because the park cleared out a little and some fun was had. Dave and I played with various noseslide transfers on the wedge/back of hip. Kevin and I rotated filming for a bit until we got our lines. I was happy that the b/s flip came somewhat easy again, but getting crooks instead of boardslide after the nollie front tail was hard. Sean did like 100 front 3s and f/s halfcab flips over the hip. Kevin is a trooper filming him and even did pivot fakie while filming once. Amazing. Dave did a b/s flip over the hip which he doesn’t think he’s done before, also halfcab flip, bunch of switch ollies. When we left he was still skating and did a switch front 3 over the hip. Simon is so good, the back lip on the vert qp was bonkers. I was trying to get treflip over the hip and was almost committing when my board landed on my foot and hurt my toe enough that I basically stopped skating. It bummed me out that I didn’t ever get my feet on it. All in all a fun session. It’s weird though. Hard to live up to the hype. I skated mostly terrible, but felt lucky to have so many rad people to skate with.

(setup 8.5 null jack pro deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger no big washer, 52mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 212 pink size 12, footprint mid elite insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Feeling really tired after a week of work I went to Saul’s.  Jake and Saul were already there skating.  But we ended up mostly talking it seemed.  Saul had some fire though and did some good grinds.  I got one shallow end front slash and posed some Madonnas.  But I couldn’t even do the axle stall setup when Saul attempted to film me so I could see how far off I was.  Jake didn’t go too hard for him, but still rattled off a bunch of tricks I hope to do there some day.

saul 8.75 setup venture 6.1s 53mm spitfire conical full red/blue.  shoes: nb# 288S maroon size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)