On a slightly cooler day I met Luzius at the Arapahoe bank/ledge spot around 11.  I was equipped with pants and vulcs for a better flick on the fakie flip.  We started with a game of SKATE that took awhile, but was a good warmup.  Dave was ready to go and got me with like 3 tricks before I was ready to pop.  Kickflip, pop shove and something else.  We would bail a lot of tricks, I would eventually get fakie flip, halfcab flip, heelflip and something else so it was SKAT-SKAT.  He won it on switch front 360 which on my second try felt much closer than I would have ever imagined.  Then it was right to work after a couple warm up lines.  It took me another hour and I was getting super depressed, not really enjoying skating.  But then I started getting close to the fakie flip and out of nowhere landed a really bad one.  Dave insisted I keep trying and a few tries later I got another one which felt worse, but was actually somehow was a little better.  I chilled after that.  Dave didn’t really feel like skating so we split.  

A few hours later I met Jack and then Fuller at the yellow bank to curb frontage road spot again.  I was not really feeling like skating. I got kinda close to lipsliding it again, had some funny nose jibs on the taller part.   It was fun watching Jack destroy it with wallie 180, wallie boardslide transfer, wallie to switch crook, boardslide pop out, and a line of wallie, ollie into the bank, impossible off the curb.  Dave had showed and was piecing together some rad lines so I filmed him and Jack.  Dave did a Chico line line.  Nollie back 180, switch front 180, lipslide, ollie onto the two stair then quick back 180 off.  Then I filmed him back lip the two stair as jack did a million no comply flips over the 2 stair and then put down one to manual that was so perfect.  What an amazing trick.  Stoked those guys stacked some clips.  Then we had a fun Null meeting later that night.  I love those dudes.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 306 foys blue with thin adidas insoles then 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a hot day I met Luzius at the yellow frontage road bank to curb/ledge spot near my house.  I skated my 8.75 because I hadn’t put bigger wheels on my 8.5, but I regretted it.  I never really made it past the warm up phase.  I couldn’t lipslide even though the bigger setup definitely kept it’s speed better.  Dave went on to do a sick front board pop out.  

Then we met Jack at the Arapahoe pipe bank spot with the ledge.  Jack and Dave setup new boards.  Dave had some good front 50s, but didn’t get the smith he wanted.  Jack did hurricanes super casual, super good back tails.  I had a line in mind and started in on the warm ups.  First was boardslide flop out then ollie to fakie.  Second was switch front nose then fakie ollie.  Then switch front nose 270 out followed by fakie flip.  It red for about an hour and a half, Jack was kind enough to film it, but I never got it.  I went through a stretch where I bailed the first trick like 20 times in a row.   It was so frustrating.  That bank is so hard for flip tricks.  I had a really god slam on one of the switch front noseslide 270 attempts.  After Jack left I was pretty over it, but Dave started playing around again and would do a line of front hurricane then ollie to fakie over a pipe.  It was really sick.  I went home and realized my legs were so scraped up and bloody from the day.  Argh, so much for skating in shorts.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 my legs got so bloody from so many scrapes skating the rough streets in shorts)

I had some time to kill before we headed up to the mountains to see my mom. I debated not skating, but ended up saying what the heck and went for it. I had wanted to switch out my wheels, but figured I didn’t really have enough time. I did grab my 8.75 setup with 54mm wheels just in case. The area on the side of the school was shaded, but had a lot of grass trimmings which was annoying. I started off okay, getting a few kickflips and feeling alright. But man, anything beyond that was a total struggle. I maybe got only fakie flip, halfcab flip and a bad fakie bigflip. I was trying a the ironman with the treflip over the uphill manhole. I never got a heelflip though, the treflips felt doable. After literally almost crying on a failed attempt at backside flip I grabbed the 8.75 setup and skated it the rest of the time. My kickflips were infinitely better, fakie flips too. I did a first try frontside flip (a Glen one with all 4 down then pivot) followed by a first try backside flip. I would finally land a heelflip too, but treflips felt harder. I blame the lack of grip on my 8.75 that’s a few years old now. I left completely frustrated with skateboarding.

(setup 8.5 & 8.75 nulls with ventures, spitfires, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a hot day I pulled into the new 3rd St skatepark in Greeley. Much to my delight Damon was there. He was ripping. Frontside flips over the hip, up the euro, etc. My hand was still hurting really band and on one of my first warm up tricks I slid out right to my hand. Ouch. But it showed me I could fall on it. I did a few slow flip tricks, a slow front 50 on the main ledge, a few nose manuals on the manny pad, nothing of real note. The Nullers started showing. Man it was great seeing all of them ripping. It took me forever to kickflip up the euro, but when I finally did it I almost lined it out with noseslide down the hubba then noseslide 270 shove. I would kind of get one noseslide 270 shove. I also got a front 50 on the weird banked ledge that was fun, but could only do it once super slow. Hayden did it all fast first try so stick. The dudes killed it. Jack back 50 up and down the euro. Riley every trick, nollie inward heel, varial heel revert, switch hard, switch f/s flip, etc. Garrett was killing it, nollie back heel the euro, blizzard flip the hip, halfcab noseslide 270 shove the mellow hubba. Sean back nosegrind the mellow hubba, heeflip up the euro. Peyton did shove late shove and back foot flip up the euro. Also a 360 flip to land then nollie shove. Jack learned bluntslide front heel out down the long rail. WTF. Bo has a mean ollie and crooks.

We went and looked at a weird bank spot that basically Riley was the only one that skated. He did a 5-0 to fakie on it, crazy.

Then we ended up at a weird two stair, flat gap, little plaza area. Jack did manual then backside flip so quick. Bo was quick on the filming so I messed around posing a gap to boardslide on a dumb rock off a two stair. I would keep trying it while so much happened. Riley hurt his knee again on a varial flip :(. Garrett kickflip, board break on treflip then setup a new board and land the treflip. Sean ollied a bunch of 3 stairs as did Hayden. Jack would go on to do manual then bigflip. Once Garrett did the treflip I had to land my boardslide which I would eventually do. It was dumb, but since Bo was killing it filming I felt like I had to at least try something.

Then we ended up at a total dream spot. Most people were beat. I tried to skate, but really struggled. I got a line of pop shove, ollie the 4 stair, boardslide the ledge. Would love to go back and do a 180 or something followed by a better trick. Sean and Garrett killed it with the tricks. Sean did front 50 back 180 out up the hubba. Garrett did wallie boardslide for like 20 feet. Hayden 50’d down it and almost got some cool nose manual drop downs. Long day!

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 5/10 hand and sore knees)

On a warm day Kevin, Dave L and I met in Golden at the univ. We just wanted something different. We started out on a set of long stairs. Kevin and Dave tried a bunch of 180s. I think Kevin may have gotten it all. Nollie front 180, halfcab, back 180, switch 180, switch back 180. I did a couple wallride nollies down a step. I was feeling pretty off. Next we ended up at this crazy manny pad. It was quick with a somewhat tall drop. I was feeling every bit of my cracked tail and had no confidence so I went back to the car to switch out my board. Kevin had already manualled it and switch ollied onto it and Dave ollied onto it when I left. When I got back Kevin said he had landed primo on a nose manual and was over it. We went to the center of the school which has a bunch of stairs. I warmed up on a 3 stair while Dave and Kevin went at a 4. Kevin had made it look so fun with a fun carve after. I got the 4 stair ollie and didn’t want to try any more than that. Dave would get it too. We ended up at a total Stubborns spot. A weird 2 stair with ride on ledge off it. I was skating really bad, but had a fun few runs. Pop shove, front nose jib a tall ledge, ride on back 50. Wallride nollie, front board, ollie the weird gap. Kevin went for a line swerving some tables, 50 a weird round bench then ride on back 5-0 front shove out. He wouldn’t get it. Jack showed up at this point. He did some good back 360s, wallrides. We got the boot from there and ended up at the steep bank that Nolan crook and 5-0d. I never got a wallride. Kevin splatted again, but got a good wallride. Jack had some really good wallrides. Then we went to the downhill ledge. There was a truck parked there, but he offered to move it so we had to skate it. Jack was on the back 50 immediately then went on to do several back tails that were all incredible. Dave, Kevin and I took some time to get anything or even try. It must have looked funny we would drop in like 10 feet from the ledge, roll a couple feel then stop unable to commit to the ledge. I would get a few noseslides and one to fakie. I was trying to slide them further but slammed into the rocks on top and messed up my hand enough that I had to stop skating. Kevin was going for crooks, took a horrendous slam and chilled for awhile. Then worked his way up to a good one to fakie. He grinded a long ways. Dave would get a couple front 50s and one with front 180 out. It was funny how distracted Dave would get. Any car in the distance, noise, etc. It was hilarious. We were beat after that. Street skating is hard, but rewarding.

(setup 8.5 curby deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a bright sunny day I met Dave L around 11 at Douglass. Dave was already back and front 50’ing the ledges. My warmup went alright. I got a crooks, ollied onto the ledge first try, had some noseslides. I started playing with my dream line there. Slappy up the curb, flatground, noseslide 270 shove. I did a few no comply 180s then halfcab flips as the flatground. Then I switched to heelflip which worked until Dave started filming. Ha. Dave filmed me flail for quite awhile, then I gave up and filmed him. He struggled with his line too, but then after a break started trying another line and I filmed that. He did it like 10 times, the last one being perfect. Drop down manual to ollie up the curb, boardslide, back 180, switch boardslide. So sick. After another break we gave my line another try. I had switch to no comply backside shove and for the most part that trick worked. I tried for like 2 hours. I got my feet on a couple of the 270 shoves, but never rode away. I’m 0-2 trying lines there. Argh. It was fun trying to hard though and my body felt good. Oh, I cracked the board really bad on a heelflip earlier which is partly why I switched tricks. Anyway, thanks for filming for so long Dave, what a battle.

(setup 8.5 nolan null deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Got out of work early and don’t have to work for 10 more days! Too bad I’m not getting paid for it. Anyway after working like 50 hours already this week it felt amazing to logoff early. Dave was in Boulder and I suggested the Table Mesa & Foothills bank to curb spot and Dave was into it. It was cool and cloudy when we started, but sunny and hot before long. Warming up was of course a battle. I had pulled out my Westgates from the closet as the next shoe I’d finish before being able to move on to new shoes. They felt great. We started with some slow boardslides and nose stalls to fakie and stuff. Normally we never touch the two stair, but this time around it was kind of the main attraction. I kind of got a manual on it. Also a boardslide onto it, but didn’t really ride out. Dave did some cool switch nose to front nose stalls. He also did front 50 transfer into the bank. So gnarly. I took forever to get a lipslide across the two stair, but when I did it was incredibly fun. I am not a lipslider so it felt extra cool. I messed around with some other lines and tricks, but nothing really happened. Dave was lining out a bunch of kickflips and shove and did a quick up onto the two stair to back 180 off. So sick. He would also get a quick up to back 50 which was the trick of the day. Fun session.

(setup 8.5 nolan null deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

After yet another 12 hour work day Ollie and I went to campus. We started at the c4c area and it was kinda fun. I took a few tries to get a ollie up the first step, ollie up the second, front tail stall the flagstone planter. Ollie was doing drop down manuals. I ollied the 2 first try, Ollie took like 3 tries. He was pushing regular a lot. Then he beat me to ollie down the 3 stair. We hit a random downhill area for a bit. We tried tiny gaps to manual down it. I slammed on my first attempt, then did almost all of it the next try. Ollie got kinda close minus some tilts. I did a slow back 180 into it. We ended up at the manual pad area where Ollie had several clean manuals and came somewhat close to manual front 180. I slammed super hard on a manual attempt and got close to front 180 nose manual 180. And that was that. Stoked to skate but work is killing me.

(setup 8.5 nolan null deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 255 b/w size 12, thin rubbery adidas insole)
(pain level 4/10)

On a nice Memorial Day I went to the Basemar area. I was just thinking of something different that was near the house in case I got called for work again. I arrived first and started messing around in the alley area. Just doing little ollies, manuals, side rocks and stuff. Carleigh showed, we chatted, did some warming up and Kevin showed. We tried to figure out how to skate this area. Carleigh had some nice bean plants off the door ramp, rode between the poles. Kevin had a nice wallride to fakie, some quick feet ollies, kickflip to fakie. I took awhie to come up with a line that we ended up filming. Cab side rock then back 50 between some poled. It was hard, but fun.

Then we skated the kicker area. My first couple ollie attempts were so bad. I beat Kevin to back 180, but his was night and day better than mine. No tricks came easy for any of us. Carleigh went to work on kikclifps pretty quick and was the first to land a trick. Kevin was trying nollie tre, but moved on. He tried several tricks, the line he got 180 then switch shove was really good. He almost got switch f/s flip too. I kind of got backside flip. Then tried treflip for a very long time. This random lurker in a new pair of Dunks was watching and encouraging me. It was cool and actually helped me commit. Kevin was bringing the hype too with the nollie flips to fakie then fakie flip line. It was the perfect storm to finally land the 270 flip. Ha. I was happy and bummed at the same time, then turned right around and tried again and got the slightly cleaner one. It made me happy.

(setup 8.5 nolan null deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, stock purple bushing bones top washer, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 255 b/w size 12, thin rubbery adidas insole)
(pain level 3/10)

Up early on a Sunday after working 12+ hours on Saturday. It was cloudy and rain was threatening, some of my favorite weather for skating. As I pulled into dog park I got called for work. I yelled a few obscenities then sat there for a bit debating driving right home or getting a quick cruise in. Luckily for my mental well being I decided to skate for a few minutes. Which turned into about 30 minutes, but it was all fine when I got to work. Those 30 minutes were good though. I skated with an urgency and anger I don’t normally have. I quickly ollied over the wallie barrier and would be 3/3 on clean ollies over it. Also tricks that normally take me a few tries came quick. Jake had shown up. I had a couple lines that really hyped me up. Fakie nosegrind cinder block ledge (2nd try), switch front nose new black box, halfcab flip. I would also finally back 50 up/down the a-frame ledge. Got it in a line, back 50 up/down, crooks the tall part of the two level ledge, kickflip over the mini parking block (first kickflip of the day), back 5-0 the low pad. Dave showed right when I left. I would find out my work wasn’t immediately pressing so I went back. As I was cruising around to do warm up boardslides I got called again. This time it was urgent so I just tried noseslide 270 shove on the tall part of the black two level ledge until I got one. It was sloppy, but that’s all I had time for. Dave, Eric and Jake were there, man I wish I could have kept skating with them. I didn’t really notice what others were doing since I was in such a rage and rush to get out of there. Argh.

(setup 8.5 nolan null deck, ultra grip, venture 5.8 custom hollow cast baseplate titanium hangers, 52mm spitfire green/yellow swirl classic 99a F4, new balance numeric 255 b/w size 12, thin rubbery adidas insole)
(pain level 1/10 no pain at all once i got going, just a little at the start of the 2nd session)