On the way home from my mom’s I stopped at the Leadville park. There was only one other dude there, but he had his wife and 3 kids and they managed to hog the park well. Like the wife would sit on a ledge to film him, the youngest kids would climb on something and then an older one would scooter or skate around. I thought they were nice at least, until the dude literally started trying whatever I was trying. That’s when I got annoyed. Well I guess I was already annoyed. I had felt good playing disk golf with my brother earlier in the morning, but as soon as I stepped out of the car to skate my right knee felt terrible. It’s that lovely arthritic pain that comes with wind and cold. Ugh. I had changed my setup on the road too. I swapped out the Thunder 151s for Venture 6.1s. Not necessarily by choice, but I wasn’t feeling the Thunders and I used some old 5.8 Ventures as completes for my brothers kids. The first few ollies felt so solid it was crazy the difference in pop. That didn’t equate to good skating though. I had a couple kickflips on the hump, noseslide and noseslide to fakie the bump to ledge, almost nose manual the curb. Was trying a line of ollie to fakie on a bank, halfcab noseslide the little ledge then crooks the bump to ledge. But I never got the crook. I may have settled for noseslide. The 6.1s felt very heavy. I tried to do switch 180 down the drop up top then ollie up, but couldn’t get the ollie up. This is when daddy hero came over and did halfcabs down it. I suggested he had to get the ollie up to make it count so of course he did that first try and looked at me confused that I couldn’t do it. Sorry dude I’m 20 years older and my arthritis has my knee all locked up. This session was one of those ‘maybe I don’t really like this park that much after all’ sessions. I rolled around aimlessly for awhile then got back on the road.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 6.1 stock bushings, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 5/10 arthritis sucks and takes away any confidence)

Steve was doing a little shopping after we played a round of disk golf so I ran over to the park and skated for a bit. They have added some concrete to make the flow a little better and some room for flatground. There is also a wood manny pad and miniramp now. I basically just posed noseslides down the hubba (only committed twice) and tried halfcab flips on the bank. I got neither. I did have some fun back 50s on the qps. Steve joined after a bit and had fun carving around. Then we left.

Later in the day I had to run an errand and decided I’d skated the miniramp for 10 minutes. It was a really weird ramp. Plywood surface and coping that sticks out with cracks between sections. I took a while to get a few of the basics like fakie back smith fakie and front disaster then I split.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 151 hollow light, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On the way to my mom’s in BV Steve and I hit the Frisco park. He doesn’t skate anymore really. He wanted to check out the bike park, but it was closed and a bit snowy. The moonscape of the skatepark is appealing to people that don’t skate much so he was down to check it out. We did hit the moonscape area some, but there was snow in the shady sides limiting things quite a bit. And most of it was too gnarly for my brother (and me). The skatepark was mostly empty. It was awesome. Steve would take breaks often and I skated quite a bit. I skated my 8.3 setup with the Thunder 151s. I ended up not liking it so much. Argh. It had weird crooks and I still struggled to pop onto ledges. I didn’t get kickflip to fakie on the bank, but did have some fun backside kickflips. I got the down rail first and every try. It’s tiny, but still fun. I did the front shove in a few tries, it was fun. Oh yeah I had new shoes. NB# 288s. They felt decent. Steve was having fun with the little early grabs. He had a couple sketchy bails, almost got a boardslide on the end of the flat bar. He had fun. I was hyped to get to skate. Right after the park Steve had to run some errands so I tried some flippers in the parking lot at Copper. I had locked up with soreness so just hucked back heels and switch bs flips. I wasn’t close to either, but it was fun trying.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 151 hollow light, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

And when I say brief, I mean real brief. I skated for about 20 minutes. It was mostly a session to see which shoes and setup I would want to skate next. I did one kickflip and several switch flip attempts. They felt best on the 8.3. I wore some old adidas 3st.003s.

On a warm day we gathered at dog park. For some reason lately on Saturdays I wake up without much desire to skate. This would be the same. I need to figure out why it keeps happening to me. I had a new pair of 212s, they felt large and weird. Rob and Eric were already there. I saw Rob get a nice back 50 back 180 and Eric heelflip a parking block before I had even stepped on the board. Sean, Bernie, Kevin would join shortly. Kevin and I played a game of SKATE. He had a new board, different trucks and new wheels. I had new shoes. I got him to SKA on kickflip, fakie flip and something else. Then he got his switch flip, nollie flip, janoski flip, switch front shove and something else to get me out. I was so bummed to get a letter on halfcab flip yet again. Shortly after that I would bail a front 50 or something and scream and throw my board. After that I just chilled for the most part did tricks that didn’t involve much ollieing. Jack had shown and tried a bunch of no comply flip 5-0s. Rob front boarded the tall bench and the tall part of the weird obstacle. Kevin did a no push line of back 5-0 the black ledge, front nosegrind the 2 step, back tail the tall part of the weird one. Sean ripped as he does. Eric had lipslides, wallie 180s, maybe a nosegrind, crooks, lots of charging. Bernie was adjusting to some new Venture lows (jealous) and still ripping. Near the end we all started hucking dream tech tricks on the black box. Rob was going kick front board, I was trying halfcab heel noseslide, Jack was trying Rick flip back tail, Kevin switch flip switch front nose, Bernie hardflip front nose, Sean and Eric were in it too, but I forget what they were trying. Jack and Kevin got into their tricks. Bernie and I got close. My mood would have changed drastically had I landed that. It felt good to huck and even commit to a few.

After some spot lurking we ended up at St Julien. Jack couldn’t get his mind into trying his trick. Joe had joined us. Most were trying fakie varial heels on flat. After Jack gave up I went and played Rick flips with Bernie. He got a couple, I kind of got one.

Next we went to Howard Huston. The struggle was real. Jack put an end to his beat deck after an awkward slam. Kevin was motivated to line out to a front blunt, but getting there was a battle. The front 5-0 shoves were sick. Sean had easy 50s, but mostly chilled. Bernie had a couple tails, noseslides, maybe a 50 or two. I couldn’t 50 the ledge to save my life. My legs were so sore from skating so much, but I was too dumb to stop. I did at least have some really fun crooks. Ventures pinch the crooks so well. Joe went off. Front 5-0, heelflip, hardflip front nose. He actually did like 7 hardflip front noses as he was trying to get into front crooks. He would prevail with a really good one. Bernie and I had made the silly decision to play a game of SKATE. It almost ruined me. I couldn’t land much of anything. I was hoping Bernie would land anything to get me out. I got a very defensive fakie heel. But ended up losing on something like cab flip? I don’t even remember. Ha. Long day. Tough day. Skateboarding is not easy. At least we had good company.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows, venom 91a bushings with roadside washer, 51mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

TGIF session at Broomfield. I arrived to a crowded park at the same time as Jake, Sean had been there. There were a lot of younger kids skating which was good to see. The quartapotty was crowded so Jake and I had to warm up elsewhere. We did the bump to bar boardslides and some basics on the black ledge. Sean was already past the tailslides and onto nosegrinds. Jake and I did the down rail which was our first time in long time. It felt cool. I had some decent feeling crooks on the black ledge, struggled with some front 50s. Oh yeah, I wore some other shoes since my 212s had died. They were some 379s which I had worn a couple times before and stopped because they hurt. This would be no different. After a while we played on the quartapotty then blue ledge. I had a goal of fakie 50 b/s halfcab out. I would get one in a line with a fakie pivot to fakie. It felt good. Jake got the same line too I think. Sean worked on nollie front 50 180. I also got a line of fakie front smith to fakie (been a long time) and fakie nosegrind. I had also done a disaster revert which I haven’t done in forever and some little nollie back tails and a bad back 50 or two. Jake had blunts both ways, pivot fakie super easy, blunt to fakie. Sean had some fakie front smiths. We tried to add flippers to the lines, but it didn’t work. Then we played a game of SKATE. My heel was hurting bad. Jake missed a few of the basics like fakie flip, heelflip, halfcab flip and was out quick. He went up top and conquered his goal of the pole jam which he did so good. I had also gotten a first try treflip which hasn’t happened in eons and made my day a little better. I forget the other tricks we did. I couldn’t land a fakie bigflip or nollie tre. Sean got me with fakie inward heel, halfcab heel and maybe switch back heel? My foot hurt really bad after that. Fun session.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows, venom 91a bushings with roadside washer, 51mm bones stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 379 grey size 11.5, thin rubbery adidas insoles)
(pain level 5/10 heel pain)

Feeling alright after work on a nice smokey day I went to dog park. Sean, Kevin and Eric would skate too. I had pulled out the 8.25 setup. It felt better. Sean, Kevin and I played a game of SKATE to get warmed up. I once again could not get a halfcab flip which darn near caused me to focus my board and leave. I was the first one out. I did not skate well which seems to be the theme as of late. Sean, Kevin, Eric were ripping. I’m writing this too many days after the fact to remember much about the session. Clearly from the clip above Sean was on fire. I had a bright moment getting an over 40 Rick flip in like 3 tries after seeing this PJ clip. I also got really close to crooks shove which I haven’t done on the cinder block shuffle before. Kevin got a switch front 5-0.

(setup 8.25 null spanbauer deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows, venom 91a bushings with roadside washer, 51mm bones stf 103a v1, 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

In my head for quite some time I’ve thought I wanted an 8.5 with a smaller wheelbase. I can’t change the board dimensions, but I do have control over which trucks I skate. I put some old Ace 44s on a 8.5 Lazer deck. The board was shot, cracked and very old so I don’t know how accurate this test was. I started with slappies. They didn’t go so well except for front slappies felt great. After taking several tries to kickflip I went to the side of the school for flatground. It was a different experience to say the least. I could tell the wheelbase was smaller, but it didn’t equate to easier flip tricks. In fact I didn’t really land much of anything. I went up to the rock in the back and could barely frontside axle stall on it. I really thought I was going to like this setup. I was able to kickflip and fakie flip well, had a first try heelflip but then could not do another one. I think I was 0-20 on halfcab flips although I didn’t have the normal problem I do with them. Not close to treflips either which was the main reason I tried this setup. At the time I was optimistic about the setup, but as I write this and digest the session it makes me want to go back to a smaller board and low trucks. Argh.

(setup 8.5″ old null lazer deck, ace 44s with doh doh/venom bushings, old 51mm bones stf v1, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10 although i got tired quickly)

After dinner I bailed on going to a crowded Lafayette (thanks for the report Garrett) and just went to the school to skate flat. The side of the school is lit alright, but not great. I warmed up with a few slappies that didn’t feel so great. I got the kickflip and fakie flip prereq then went in on an 11 tricks 11 tries list.

Halfcab flip- took like 6 tries to land one, but then I got like 4 more
fakie bigflip – Didn’t get one in 11 tries, but I mixed in a few with the next trick and got one in a few tries that felt really good.
Heelflip – Didn’t come easy, but landed one or two
Front heel – didn’t get close
Backside flip – took a few tries for a dumb tic tacy one
fakie varial flip – almost got it first try, then couldn’t get close again
Treflip – The lighting and shadow really messed with me on this one. Came remotely close, but never committed with both feet.
nollie tre – not even close
nollie flip – not even close
switch flip – not even close
switch heel – there was a couple that stayed under me but I never got my feet on it

Ugh right? I mean I tried a few tricks I can’t do, but I am really sick of not landing treflips. I hucked some random flippers in between tries. Got a few switch front shoves, kind of close to pop shove under flip.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 151 hollow light, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nikesb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Running late after a tough night of not sleeping I met Jack, Hayden, Bo and Riley at a new manny pad spot in Loveland. Yes, I said Riley! And it ruled seeing him skate. He switch manualled it like it was nothing. Fakie shove manual, gave me some pointers on switch flips and switch heels. It was great seeing him. He had to take off and around then Joe joined us. I had skated the old guy spot in the other corner of the parking lot for a bit. There is a fun bank to ledge, but it does require ollieing up a curb. There is also a nearby ledge and 3 stair. I got a no comply to tail on the bank to ledge then ollied the 3 stair. It was a fun warm up. That place would be really fun to try a harder line. Then I skated with the crew. Jack was doing the sickest wallies on this rock to quick nose manual. Hayden was doing manual shove manual. Whoa. Bo was ruling it filming. Joe was doing pop shoves up the ledge, hardflips off. I started with some slow ollies up and posing treflips off. Then started realizing I should actually try it. Eventually I worked up the courage to go fast enough to ollie up, kickflip on flat then treflip off. Bo was kind enough to get me in the rotation. I kind of landed it. Well, I did land it. My hands may have been down, but it still felt rewarding. Actually it was rewarding to be skating hard. Maybe Sean is right about me not eating enough protein after all as I finally had energy. Jack got robbed on his trick. Oh yeah I had worn some old 212s. My favorite shoe. Seeing as how I’ve still had knee pain wearing cupsoles I tried and really liked the added boardfeel. I was in more pain after this though.

Next up we went to the old Loveland library where Jack tried a few gnarly gap to lipslides. I worked on my studly base tan taking photos. Next up was a crazy little electrical box that I was too sore and sketched to try. Bo gave kickflip a few goes, but didn’t put it down. Joe didn’t get the back 5-0 either. Jack got the classic one foot nosegrind. Hayden felt out a few tricks then put down a solid boardslide to fakie. Bo went for front 5-0 and got so incredibly robbed. It was nearly dark so we went and got the classic mexican post-skate meal. Good times with good dudes.

(setup 8.38 null plant life deck, jessup ultragrip, thunder 151 hollow light, 52mm bones stf 103a v1, all washers on the outside of the wheels, new balance numeric 212 b/w/yellow size 12, nikesb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 4/10 felt good until I stopped skating)