Went out to the garage motivated to land a new trick. I started with a typical warm up and did a few kickflips before trying new stuff. Nollie flip, switch flip, switch heel, nollie varial flip revert, fakie geto bird. Nothing worked. Tried to just get a nollie varial flip and couldn’t do that either. Argh. I tried a few treflips in between stuff and couldn’t land one. I did get a rare 360 shove at least. Then I got really desperate for a new trick and started trying fakie heelflip body varial. I was pretty close, but could not get it. I eventually became too tired and gave up defeated, although happy I tried hard.

setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow, venom 88a bushings, 51mm spitfire radial slim 101a, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, es footwear memory foam insole then back to the nike sb zoom air which is so much better)
(pain level 3/10)

After a day of not being able to flip my board I went into the garage with my 8.25 setup and ended up landing a lot of tricks. Kickflip, fakie flip, heelflip, fake heelflip, f/s halfcab heel (first try!), b/s halfcab heel, halfcab flip, b/s flip.  I had tried several others. Didn’t get treflip, switch flip, switch heel or nollie flip. Got an over 60 defensive frontside flip. It was fun. Made me want an even smaller setup.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow, venom 91a bushings, 51mm spitfire radial slim 101a, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, es footwear memory foam insole)
(pain level 3/10)

On a cool morning I picked up Kevin and then we headed off to the new little Paco Sanchez park.  After being confused by parking because of the covid testing we walked up to a somewhat crowded park.  I was feeling very out of it.  I had tried some rubbery Lakai insoles in hopes of there being less pain.  It’s possible, but I also sucked so it wasn’t worth it.  There were a few dudes there ripping.  One dude TJ in particular.  Super fast grinds and slides.  Kevin hadn’t been to that park before.  He didn’t take long to rip.  Nosegrinds, lipslides on the flatbar, smiths, back 5-0s, basics, but done so well.  I took a bit to even be able to front 50. I really didn’t do much of anything.  Kevin suggested I do a halfcab noseslide on the flat bar since it was so wide.  Having never done one on a flat bar before I agreed.  And several tries later I did the shortest one imaginable.  Jack had shown.  He was being pretty low key.  But of course did a manual up fakie manual down the MJ ledge like it was nothing then a few minutes later casually did a bigspin front blunt on the flat bar.  He may have also done back 270 lip.  We left and went to West High where we all basically tried the same few tricks over and over for hours.  Kevin probably did the most tricks feeling out what he wanted to get for a line.  Jack was pretty much right in for noseslide nollie heel out the top tier right away.  He would get one quickly.  But then not another one.  Kevin and Jack suggested I try slappy crooks the ledge.  I have never done it on a ledge before, but it worked!  I mean it took a few tries, but eventually I was doing them pretty consistently and they felt magical.  I tried to back it up with a kick back 50 which I would only get into a couple of times, but never land.  I was really hating how slow the wider board was flipping.  Kevin was trying bluntslide, but that didn’t work so started trying fakie nosegrind 180 to begin the line.  He would get a bunch of those, but then rolled his ankle on a back 5-0 front shove out attempt.  Ouch.  And yet, somehow he kept going!  He defied all odds and skated for quite a while, but just couldn’t get the line.  I had moved on to fakie nosegrind which I didn’t like anyway then switch front nose 270 out.  I got the line.  I was happy with it.  Wished it had been the kick back 50 though.  Oh well, I’m not perfect.  Chad had met up with us briefly with a friend Jake.  They were cool.  All in all it was a fun day taking turns filming each other and everyone skating hard.  Bummed Kevin came up short.  But man slappy crooks on a ledge is a magical feeling.  Oh I forgot before leaving I also did the little granite window sill crook which was pretty fun.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium hanger with cast baseplate, venom 88a bushings flat boardside washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, rubbery lakai insoles at the park then nike sb zoom air insoles at the school)
(pain level 3/10)

Went out to the garage after work on a cold day. I warmed up slowly, took a bit to get a kickflip, got fakie flip quick. Couldn’t get a b/s flip, but got a halfcab flip first try. Couldn’t get a heelflip on the putter or my regular board. Then I randomly hucked switch varial heels. None were close although they kind of make sense. Got close to nollie varial flip and then couldn’t get close which cemented the bum out. No go on treflips or switch flips either. Made me question skateboarding. I definitely do not like the thicker insoles as much even though I have less pain.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium hanger with cast baseplate, venom 88a bushings flat boardside washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nb# abzorb insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

I haven’t posted a ‘best part of the week’ in a while. This is partly because nothing has really stood out to me and partly because a single PJ instagram story is better. Anyway, Dilo rips. He is refreshingly unique without being contrived. And man he has pop. It’s unfortunate he chose such a terrible song though, because this could be part of the year had it been edited to a decent song.

As I was finishing up work I got a text from Dave saying he was across the street. At first I wasn’t into the idea, but then considered how lazy I was and thought it was a good idea. There was a crazy plume of smoke coming from the nearby wildfire. I started pretty bad though not being able to front shove off the curb. Front slappies made up for it though they were feeling great. Dave started with a perfect slappy front crooks to fakie. I have only seen him do that once or twice before and he was doing a bunch of them. Also front 50 180s off the curb cut, super long slappy crooks, etc. Jake and Saul showed. Saul went right in to some great slappies everywhere. Painted or not. Jake and Dave did slappy crooks shove. I couldn’t quite get slappy front feeble. Jake challenged me to a game of SKATE. He went for double or nothing on fakie flip and was at SK quick. A heelflip and b/s flip later and he was at SKAT. I forget the trick I won with, but Jake was really not stoked. Ha. I guess it was a good reminder to me how that extra 1/8″ wheelbase on the 8.5″ makes things way harder. Alex was there. He did varial heel and treflip. Pretty rad. Jake, Dave and I played another game. It was a really long one. We landed on tricks a lot, but didn’t ride away. Jake got a f/s flip and Dave got a pretty epic make (I didn’t ). I spent a lot of my tries trying treflip and was very close on most, but couldn’t get it. I had gotten letters on fakie shove body varial from Dave, f/s flip from Jake and a couple more. I was hyped to get a helipop. Dave won the game on a fakie sex change. I was close to getting it 2nd try, but didn’t. Jake left after that. Dave and I skated the last remaining light away. He did front 5-0 shove a couple times. I tried a bunch of switch flips and did a new curb trick – slappy nosegrind to disaster. I suppose the term nosegrind is a stretch, but it felt cool anyway.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium hanger with cast baseplate, venom 88a bushings flat boardside washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nb# abzorb insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

I met with Sean at Broomfield park around 4:30. Kevin and Darin and others would show in an hour or so. I had put softer bushings in for my change of the day. Overall I liked it, but it did take some getting used to. After some warming up Sean and I played a game of SKATE. It was another game where I got pink slipped. I don’t remember the tricks, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Sean just landed some good tricks quickly. Then we hit the black ledge. Sean of course flew through his routine. Surprisingly I got on almost all front 50 attempts. I had some good crooks. I even lined some stuff out with a b/s flip out of the bank, boardslide down the little rail first try. I was feeling alright. Kevin showed and Darin too. Around then Kevin, Sean and I got stuck trying treflips because Sean wanted to learn relearn. I would get the first one, but it wasn’t very good. Kevin and Sean got fakie tres. I got a nollie tre that made me feel even better. Kevin and Sean got regular tres. Kevin went on to get nollie and switch too. All 4 tres! I came incredibly close to fakie tre. But then we moved on. We were at the manny pad for a while. Darin did bluntslide as Sean nose manualled it. Sean had a crazy line of front 180 the double set then fakie manual the manny pad. Kevin switch nose mannied it easy. After a while Kevin and Sean left. I tried some qp lines with Darin. He did back tail then back tail fakie. I did a few fakie pivots to fakie followed by some halfcab heel noseslide hucks. Most of which were not close at all. I came incredibly close to a switch flip. 303’s ‘Bama showed. It’s fun seeing shop dudes skate and rip. He is one of those dudes that goes for it on every try. Fun night.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium hanger with cast baseplate, venom 88a bushings flat boardside washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a cold morning with drizzle I was up early and feeling alright. I wanted to skate some flatground so I went into the garage. I listened to Psychic Flowers then Fluung on the old boombox. I took a bit before I would even consider a flip trick. And once I did it took like 10 tries to land a kickflip. Ugh. Although after that I did get my 5 in a row. Fakie flip first try. B/s flip took a bit. Heelflip even longer. Then I hucked back heel for and had a couple close one. Hucked switch heel and switch flip for awhile without being close. Nollie flips were the lat huck and they were close. I didn’t get my feet on one, but they were right there on a few.

Later on I went to the same school as the day before with and obsession of linking the new ledge to the flagstone bench. It took some effort and was a mental challenge to overcome the pain I was in to try the front 50. But I would eventually get a few of them, but my legs were shot and I would splat the 4 stair landing. Argh. I mixed in a few crooks here and there, but mostly did front 50s to start the line. The ledge is much harder to hit than it looks. The approach is uphill both sides and it’s a narrow sidewalk. I would eventually get the line though. I was gonna leave, but decided to document the pieces of it for my adoring journal fans. I would love to get more comfortable ollieing onto that bench and nose manual it. But for now just ollieing onto it was very scary to me. I have a fear of hanging up on ledges that aren’t long. Oh well, it was a fun day. I look forward to skating in less pain. Hopefully soon.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium with cast baseplate, stock bushings no big washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After a slow morning with some naps and not feeling great I ended up meeting Dave up on the hill. The brand new #calwoodfire was raging and it felt like we were skating in the apocalypse. I was very disoriented and sore for the start of the session and well, most of the day. Arthritis aint fun. It’s funny we basically did stalls on the curb for an hour or so. Dave did a bunch of 50 shove variations. I did a front tail shove. Dave did a first try switch nosepick. Doesn’t seem so crazy, but it is. I did the rock shove, fakie bigspin, ollie the 4 stair then went for the flagstone bench, but my legs weren’t up for it. Dave did the switch nosepick 270 (he can just learn tricks like this in a matter of a few tries), front shove, ollie the 4, front board the bench. The 4 stair is a weird one to ollie and took both of us a few tries. It felt cool though.

After that we went down to the school below. We messed around with some cali grinds, tricks into the grass. Dave did a much better shove into the grass that I missed. He also kickflipped in. I messed around on the double benches for a while. Boardslides and crooks weren’t working and I felt so sore and awkward on my skateboard. Then I started hucking backside flips off one of the ledges. It was fun, I had to swerve around a crack to get on it. It took a long time, but I did get one and it put a smile on my face.

Next up we went to the ol’ hip into grass hill spot. I was so ridiculously sore at this point I just watched Dave rule it with a line riding down the stairs, avoid the rail and bluntslide the hip into the grass hill bomb. After that we skated flatground in the basketball court. I didn’t think I would be able to after my first nollie shove attempt, but I stuck with it and would actually land some decent flippers for me. Kickflip, fakie flip, heelflip, halfcab flip, f/s halfcab flip, 360 flip, fakie bigflip. Dave had a sick line of kickflip, nollie back bigspin, fakie sex change. Unreal. He also had fakie varial flip, halfcab flip, regular sex change, a super popped nollie front 180 and much more. He also came incredibly close to switch heels. Seriously so close!

Last we checked out the plastic pool cover on the hill for a quick one. Dave front 50’d it and I crooked it. I’m glad I ended up skating.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium with cast baseplate, stock bushings no big washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 7/10 almost unbearable at times. good thing i’m stubborn)

On a very nice day Jake and I rolled to Westy park. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there. We rolled around briefly then I saw Jake do a line of f/s halfcab on flat, boardslide the flat bar then ollie the euro. Seemed like a fun warm up line to me and I got it a few tries later. Then Jake asked what was next. I went for kickflip on flat, axle stall the quarterpipe on top of the bank, then ollie the 4 stair. Initially I wanted to boardslide the ledge off the 4 stair, but that seemed hard so early on and we just ollied down it. Jake beat me by a few tries. Then it was hit turn and he came up with a really fun one. Front 180 up the euro, fakie flip on flat, halfcab boardslide the flat bar. This one took us a while. Jake had gotten it, but had a real quick pro push on the fakie flip. I got it within a few tries of him getting a clean version of the line. My halfcab boardslide was super bad, but counted. I barely had the front truck over the rail. Next up I set with b/s kickflip below the euro, boneless over the rail, crooks on the ledge. Jake would get it first. He had struggled with the backside flip and when he finally ‘got it’, he held onto the rest of the line for dear life. Ha ha. I would get it right after him I think, back to back. Next line Jake picked. Noseslide to fakie the concrete ledge in the middle of the park, halfcab on flat, front tail the ledge which is an extension in the bowl. We both got that one a couple times in various levels of cleanliness. Next up I set with pop shove on flat, front 50 the bump to ledge, then drop down and 180 off the next level. It took us some figuring out how to get the 50 out of the weird bump and then how to land it and be able to quickly ride off the ledge down to the next level. Jake improvised with boneless a couple times until a sketchy foot placement almost left him for dead. We would both get it and wow was it a fun and rewarding feeling. After that we played with some front 50s the long hubba. Jake got a little closer, but had a pretty bad bail. I was going oh so slow and only got up on it a couple of times.

We went to Lafayette after that and didn’t even get out of the car as it was totally packed with scooter kids. Then we went to Saul’s. The smoke had moved in and it was snowing ash. It was crazy. Saul had several of his patented amazing quick carve grind lines. Jake had a line with lien to tail over the hip and some additional radness. I was super sore and could barely carve around, but had a few fun scratch grinds and 50s. I ended with a non-decked front rock that somehow hurt my knee even more. Argh. We sat and chilled and had some good laughs.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 titanium with cast baseplate, stock bushings no big washer, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10 initially then 6/10 at Saul’s)