On a very hot day Kevin, Eric and I rolled to 3rd St park in Greeley. Dave L would join after awhile. I had changed my setup to 8.3 with 5.8s. It felt a little weird, but not too weird. This was because I could barely ollie up to nose manual at Golden the day before. I didn’t have much juice and was having troubles committing to stuff. That seemed to be going around. Eric however went right for the hammer and did rock to fakie, back rock and front rock on the big bank there. He also rode up the bank then down into front 50 which was nuts. I fell into a zone of trying treflips up the bank. I was close so many times, but it took forever to land one and by then the sprinklers had turned on and we were gonna move on. Kevin had gotten a nollie tre up it, nosegrinds, 50 the long hubba. Dave L with super lofty ollies, casual manuals and switch manuals, pop shove and varial flip up the euro.

Next we went to Peak View park which was super fun even though the sun was so hot on us. I managed a backside flip over the hip in a few tries and did another one. Back 50s on the diamond cut coping were really fun too. I hucked treflip for a bit and got kinda close before overheating. Kevin got nollie b/s flip over the hip, pole jams, some nice grinds on the qp. Eric was trying boardslides on the spine, but was beat and it didn’t really work out. Dave had manuals, switch manuals, nice ollies, manual the china bank.

Then we went to the school. We warmed up with a game of SKATE. Dave was the first one out, Kevin got me out on heelflip. It was fun though, it definitely got us warmed up and I did a few flippers. Kevin went in right away on front 50s and was trying to come up with other stuff like back 180 out. But he slammed and overheated. Dave couldn’t quite get into boardslides on it. He had some cool drop down / up shoves and manuals on the long 3 stair though. I tried to drop down and kickflip up and struggled. Dave and I hit the 4 stair area for awhile. He had a sick ollie then front board pop out. I had ollies then back board or noseslide. Then spent a long time trying front 180 then switch front nose. I would get several, but none were very good. Got a couple flippers in between tries like heelflip and varial flip. Man it was hot. Looking forward to a break.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, spitfire f4 101a 51mm radial slims, new balance numeric 288s navy, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10 some soreness and mental fatigue from skating in the sun so much0

On a hot day after driving down from a fun night of camping (and bad sleeping) Kevin, Ollie, Eric and I met Sean and Dave L at Golden park. It was hard to get going for me. Ollie was cruising around doing his thing. That was all I really noticed since I hid in the corner manny pad spot for awhile. Ollie tried to manual it with me, but never quite got it. I might not have either. I took a long time to get nose manuals and was very frustrated. I was trying 360 flips too and not getting close. Just bumming overall. I joined Sean and Kevin in the ledge section for awhile and did nothing. Sean is so solid and awesome to watch. Kevin was shredding too. I hucked back 360 flip over the little hip for awhile and got kinda close. Then looked like a total tool going slow and did a treflip out of a mellow bank to relieve the stress of needing to do a treflip. It was another bad 270 flip. Eric had some good boardslide transfers on the spine. Dave L had rad manuals and nose manual on the bank to ledge thing.

Next we went to Superior which I’ve never been to before. We started in the snake run and man that thing is way more fun than I ever anticipated. The asphalt is a good surface for it, way faster then the brushed finish at the Estes Park one. Then I basically did nothing except pump around a tiny bit and do the worlds smallest flyout. Ollie cruised a little. Sean went up and down. Eric almost died trying to manual the volcano. Kevin had some nice back 5-0s out of the bowl onto the 3′ qp. JJ had the best noseslides. Can you tell I was super tired and not really paying attention?

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture awake 5.2 lows, 1/16″ riser, bones medium bushings, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 51mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288S size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a morning of stressing whether boards are coming or not Eric showed up and ended up bolting for Winter Park. We looked for a camp site briefly before going to the skatepark. At first it was pretty dead, but it quickly filled up with the 2-3 flyout kids and a couple snow bros it takes to ruin the vibe. We started out in the tiny qp section. Eric rock fakied the steep part. I did some simple tricks on the little parts. Ollie cruised around doing some 180s, f/s halfcabs, shoves. Eric went to work on the rock fakie. He took a couple slams and got shown up by snow bro #1 doing a pivot, but he got it. And it was sick. I tried and failed to nose manual a box for awhile. I tried kickflips on the steep bank for awhile. Got on that was about 1/4 of the way up. Ha ha. Also tried a line of backside ollie on it, kickflip to fakie, halfcab noseslide, but I just didn’t have the ability to pull the trigger for some reason. Ollie had a nice drop down manual. I started trying the line of back 50 then treflip to fakie. It took awhile, dodging lots of people and the weird layout of the park, but I got a really sketchy one and it was very relieving. Eric and I skated the ditch area of the park. He did the Sal flip and the Sal f/s flip. I took awhile to get a Sal f/s flip, but the one I got felt great. Kevin had shown up, tried that for a bit and did a couple slashes before we went on to have a great night of camping.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture awake 5.2 lows, 1/16″ riser, bones medium bushings, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 51mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288S size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means it doesn’t take long to break in)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: STYLE
Rating: OVERALL

This shoe might be the best vulcanized shoe on the market. It’s got a great shape with a wider toebox and lots of durability. There is a rubber internal toecap. The only two negatives I have to say about this shoe are that the sole goes bald kind of quick, however it still retains it’s grip so it doesn’t really matter. The other thing is it’s kind of a clumsy vulc. I think the internal toecap kinda takes away the flex in the front of the shoe. But really, the shoe is a good one. Really comfy, good durability and it breathes well.

Rating: COMFORT
Rating: BOARD FEEL
Rating: BREAK IN PERIOD (Good rating means it doesn’t take long to break in)
Rating: SOLE DURABILITY
Rating: UPPER DURABILITY
Rating: STYLE
Rating: OVERALL

I’ve had a couple pairs of the Westgates now. They are a good shoe. This pair with the yellow sole did not grip or flick as well as the previous pair I had with a regular gum/white sole. This shoe is very comfortable though. I could skate longer than normal in them. The board feel isn’t as good as the 288S or 533v2. But it’s still decent. They have a good heelflip.

On the first day of summer, Go Skate Day and Father’s Day my family drove to Denver. We were running late for the #pushforprogress and pulled up right as everyone was skating off. So we went right from the car to pushing a couple miles. I should have rode my cruiser, but instead I had my regular board that I had switched up again and put Venture Lows on. Anyway, I didn’t ollie or anything although did do a fun wallride on a jersey barrier. Ollie and Kevin were in our crew. Man it was cool. I was stoked all the Nullers were there too.

Then after a nice nap Ollie and I went to campus to do our annual Father’s Day skate session. The rain was threatening and we got in a few minutes on the narrow bank before the rain dumped on us. The lightning was so crazy. I had front shove to fakie and kickflip to fakie before doing fakie flips. We were trying to line things out going up a handicap ramp and off a loading dock. I couldn’t commit to the back 180. Ollie had some ollies. Ha. He got pop shove to fakie first try. He was close to front shove to fakie, but at least rode out a couple times turning around. He was popping his tricks way more than he used to.

Then we went to the engineering building to avoid the rain. It poured so much that it quickly limited the options at the spot. We had done a couple lines down the banks. I got close to kickflip into the first one, nollie the second then ollie up the 3. But the rain runoff stopped that. Ollie had back 180 into the first, halfcab into the second. Then we just played on the lower bank. Ollie tried kickflip to fakie for over an hour. He never got it, but he did at least land a kickflip and turn around. It was cool seeing him work so hard. I had the bad 3 flip out, but it felt good to land. The ‘tre a day’ thing is stressful. After that I got a heelflip, close to nollie varial flip and close to front heel. After Ollie landed the kickflip we headed home for dinner. Oh yeah, I had new shoes, my favorite as of late, 288S. They felt good.

(setup 8.25 null curby deck, venture awake 5.2 lows, 1/16″ riser, bones medium bushings, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 51mm spitfire f4 101a radial slim, new balance numeric 288S size 11.5, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a sunny day I went to Douglass running late as always. Kevin and Rob were there. Yes, Rob was there! So stoked to see him again. Carleigh, Dave L and Bernie would join us. Rob started out on the cruiser setup cruising around getting the feel for being on the board again. Kevin was doing lots of flippers and crooks. I was trying more flippers than normal too. At one point did a line with slow backside flip, switch 180 up the curb, heelflip, noseslide. I was struggling to get into crooks. Actually, the ledges felt huge the whole time. I would only get noseslides, a little crook and ollie onto one. Dave L and Kevin popped over the little wall like it was nothing. Dave manualled a bench, had some front 50s, back 50 I think. Kevin had good back 50s, back tail, lots of wallies. I didn’t see Bernie hit the ledges much, but he had some good manuals and flippers. Carleigh had a lot of good kickflips. I guess I was kinda unaware of what else was going on as I was bumming pretty hard on my skating. Rob broke out the regular board and treated us to a patented Rob back 180. Also some ollies, no complies, etc. Kevin, Bernie and I got into a treflip battle. Kevin’s was switch, but we’ll just ignore that. Bernie got his first. Kevin landed on lots several switch tres, but never rode away. I couldn’t even get close to treflip and it was infuriating. I had made a goal of ‘a tre a day’ during my furlough. Kevin did a quick nollie tre and reminded me that I didn’t specify which tre. So I tried nollie tres for awhile and after about 15 tries landed a terrible one. It did make me feel decent though. Bernie and Kevin were the last men standing trying flippers. Back to back hardflips! Back heels, frontside flips. The dudes were ripping.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate hollow axle, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, spitfire f4 51mm radial slim 101a, new balance numeric foy 306 size 12 blue, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a busy last day of work for 3 weeks I met the Dave’s in Gunbarrel after some dinner. We got booted from the mellow bank immediately. The ledge area was supposedly covered in water/gravel. We ended up at the weird spot in the clip. It’s hard to describe it so I’m glad I got a clip of them. Warming up was not fun. We did a lot of the mellow bank to step action. You have to throw down just right and be ready for the curb coming up quick. Dave F did both back and front pivots to shove/body varials out. I got a front tail shove that took awhile. Dave L did back tail and back tail to back tail on the side of the step. Dave L was the first to pop over the step both ways, actually the only. I managed to ollie the little part into the bank, but it wasn’t easy. Dave F did some cool Chico like lines, bonk into the pad, front shove, front board transfer into the bank. Also switch bonk, fakie big, front disaster 180 into the bank. I did a few kickflips into the pad which were harder than I had hoped for. There isn’t much setup and going over the crack is weird. They felt good though. I didn’t get a treflip, but luckily it wasn’t the official start of my challenge since I still worked today. I took a long time to do a front tail on the side of the step into the steep bank. I didn’t make it passed the crack. Doh. Dave F did it pretty easily backside. He also slammed incredibly hard trying a pivot on the side of the step. Dave L was doing crazy ollies sideways onto the step and then into the bank. Then they both got into the fastplant groove. It took them like 20 tries to be happy with it. Ha ha. Fun night though considering how tired and cranky I was.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, spitfire f4 51mm radial slim 101a, new balance numeric foy 306 size 12 blue, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a rainy night I went out into the garage after making yet another setup change. I had given Ollie the Enjoi board since I disliked it so much and assembled an old 8.3 deck with razor tail. I liked it though. I took a bit to get going. Did kickflip, fakie flip, b/s flip before setting into a rotation of 3 tricks. Varial heel, treflip and a random one to keep me interested. For awhile it was nollie flips and I got very close. I never landed a varial heel, but I was incredibly close. I got a couple bad treflips. Not really too close on other flippers, but it was a fun night.

(setup 8.3 null curby deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows, 3 washers inside each axle, spitfire f4 51mm radial slim 101a, new balance numeric foy 306 size 12 blue, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(pain level 3/10 getting sick of vulcs hoping these die soon)

On a warm night I met up with Sean, Kevin, Carleigh, Mike, Dave L. Darin and crew were there too. I had of course put some high trucks on after Sunday’s performance. I tried the 5.8s. They felt super stiff and terrible from the start. I tried to warm up for a bit, then was trying a noseslide on the brown ledge and slammed incredibly hard. Hard enough that people got my board and asked if I was okay rather than laugh. It took me awhile to recover from that. Mike was ripping, flying everywhere. Kevin too, he was adding in Janoski flips. Sean was mostly on the flip trick tip. His back heels rule. Dave was keeping it low key with little manuals and transfers onto the brown ledge. I got things somewhat into gear by doing some flip tricks even though they were not working well. Skated the black ledge briefly, had crooks and front 50. Mike did kick back tail. Sean did nollie back nosegrind shove. Carleigh showed and went in on disasters right away. She would get both. Also some good board slides and ollies into the bank. I had basically given up on my session and just tried halfcab crooks on the little blue ledge for awhile. I got one! Justin was there ripping. Dave had some really cool manual lines. I don’t remember a whole lot of what others were doing because it was weird being at a crowded skatepark again. I don’t think I’ll ever buy a non-Geneartor board again. I hate that Enjoi so much. Gonna give it to Ollie.

(setup 8.25 Enjoi Wallin deck, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hanger, spitfire 51mm 101a f4 radial slims, new balance numeric 306 foy blue size 12, nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 4/10 – since I slammed right away it kinda ruined me)