On a breezy day I went to dog park a little earlier than normal. Dave L was there, but not for long. Gonna have to start calling him Switch Dave though. His leg was hurting so he only skated switch, but man, he can skate switch good! Ollies over barrier, little metal ledge, switch manual, switch ollie onto the lower black step. All in one run. Then some high school kids showed up that were super gung ho, but pretty annoying never paying attention. I was sore, skating okay, not great. I had some front 50s quicker than I have in awhile, finally got over the crack near the north bench. Eric showed up after a minute and quickly did 50s, front tails. I was taking a few tries to get a fakie nosegrind. I tried a run for awhile of wallie the barrier, ollie the little kinked flatbar, nosegrind the lower step. Got kinda close. Had some funny ollies over the flat bar that were basically manuals somehow. Struggled with halfcab flips, back 50s. Posed some nollie bigflips and came somewhat close. I ended trying the Joe Hamilton on a cinder block bench. Never done it there before, but I got one and it felt pretty cool. Then it was back to work.

(setup 8.25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate/v-hollow axles, stock bushings, old 53mm bones v1 pj stf, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 5/10)

After work I was feeling alright and then I noticed this new PJ remix. I pretty much flipped out and went right across the street to skate some flat. I attempted to warm up with some slappies. I was more sore than I wanted to be. But I had kind of a fun slappy line. Cali 5-0 down the curb, ollie off the curb cut, backside slappy. Going the other way I had a few front slappies and posed some nollie cabs off the curb cut. Then I went behind the school line out some flippers. But the pain was too much. I realized I’ve hit that vulc wall where my body hurts too much to commit to tricks. So I rolled home and put on some Westgates I had and went back to the flatground. They felt way less grippy, but the pain level was way down. Tried a line of fakie flip then fakie tre, never got close to fakie tre. Tried a bunch of switch heels and flips. Never committed to the heel, but it felt close. Definitely committed to switch flip and was thinking I’d get one. Nope. I hucked a few other tricks, but mostly went in on heelflips as it’s been so long since I’ve landed one. It took forever, but I got one and pushed right on home and put smaller trucks (8″ high) to make it easier on me next time I try flippers.

Went to dog park on the first day of trying a 20 hour fast. Somehow I felt totally fine. We all arrived basically the same time. There were a couple others at times. Dave L switch ollied the wallie barrier! I tried to get his back with a regular ollie, but yet again I barely bonked the back wheels. I would never get it clean, but did get over it a few times. Eric snapped it clean. He 180’d it too. Eric had some nice front 50, 5-0 and tails on the benches. Dave back 180’d and kickflipped the small metal ledge pretty casual. I was kinda all over. Didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but was happy with 2nd try b/s flip, 2nd try fakie nosegrind, almost noseslide 270 shove, front 50 180 the bench, actually tried front 50 back 180 out. Bummed I missed f/s halfcab flips, 3 flips. Eric got on some back heels. It turns out an hour of skating is a pretty good amount of time for there.

(setup 8.25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate/v-hollow axles, stock bushings, 52mm bones stf easy street v5, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 4/10)

After a weekend of skating with so many people I wanted a chill solo sesh where I could do whatever. I went to the new hot spot, the research wood benches. I had put my newer 52mm bones back on and they seemed to help me get up the ledge easier, but man, they were hard to flip. I got phantom flips, but ollies did seem better. Weird. First warm up line was front 180 the small brick section, switch front noseslide, fakie flip. Took a few tries. Next was ollie off a ledge over a tiny ice gap, ollie onto another, off, crooks the low part of the main one, then backside flip on flat. The b/s flip happened 2nd try which hyped me up. Then I tried a couple lines going back and forth. Switch ollie the small brick gap, halfcab noseslide, 360 flip. Never got the 360 flip. Going the other way I tried to do the quick up then front 50 the top. Man it was hard. You all know how hard ollies are for me so to do two somewhat quick was hard. When I finally got it I was exhausted and took off. Maybe I shouldn’t do all my physical therapy exercises right before skating and tire myself out.

(setup 8.25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate/v-hollow axles, stock bushings, 52mm bones stf easy street v5, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 4/10)

Meeting up sooner than I wanted I got to the dog park around the same time as Sean and Garrett. Hayden, Bo and Peyton were already there. Jack would come about an hour later. My first kickflip attempt hurt so bad I didn’t think I’d be able to skate much. I mostly stuck to the little area on the easy side of the black two level ledge. The nullers were mostly doing ledge tricks or tricks over the orange barrier. They make it all look so easy. I ended up having fun as my legs began working. Had a fun line of noseslide to fakie the tall side, fakie flip. Fakie 50 then halfcab flip. Almost crooks the tall side then treflip. Highlights from the Nullers are Hayden’s full pull around the whole park, Jack back 180 switch crook, Garrett nollie front nose and fast casual smiths, Sean learning back smiths and doing 100 of them fast, Peyton front crooks shove and his patented sketchy landings (not a diss and he does land tricks clean often, but I love how he can land tricks most people wouldn’t), Bo has clean pop and solid tricks. I got front 50 and accidental 5-0 on the bench, crooks, halfcab noseslide, fakie nosejib. I hucked a dream trick – treflip noseslide while Jack landed (I think) fakie flip b/s nosegrind. Wowsers. Super fun session, it was hard to leave. I didn’t skate anymore after that. Jack got a good hammer. Sean ollied a monster flat gap. It was good times until it got cold again.

(setup 8.25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate/v-hollow axles, stock bushings, old 53mm pj bones stf v1, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 6/10)

On a cool morning we chose a spot that gets a lot of sun. I arrived at Platt first. I did a manual or two then was messing around the 3 stair area and saw that you could switch noseslide down it while holding onto the rail. What a perfect warm up. Ha. Dave L showed up around then. We both kinda just looked at things and checked out the spot. I had brought out the 8.25 again, this time with stock bushings. I had realized that I like the stability of larger setups, but the flippability of smaller setups. So why not just make the smaller board more stable with stiffer barrel bushings? It was a little weird at first, but it seemed to prove the point. Jack and Carleigh were next. Kevin and Eric awhile after that. Everyone was feeling things out, skating it pretty differently. Jack did back tail and kick back tail up the 3 stair. Dave was trying to grind down it and bonk a tree stump. Carleigh was ollieing the kicker and kickflipping down the 3 stair. Eric was on that heelflip tip right away and landed a couple I think. Kevin manny bonked the stump and did some funny kickflips down the 3. I had started trying to motivate myself to b/s flip down the 3 stair. I had done this several years ago. It took a boardslide and no comply shove as well as Kevin filming to get me to really commit. But I struggled so much on the no comply shove that I lost the trigger on the backside flip. Doh. It was cool trying hard and getting remotely close at least. After that I filmed everyone else. Kevin came up empty handed on nollie b/s flip. Eric didn’t land the heelflip again. Dave got a sick line though. Manual, nosebonk 180, switch 180 down the 3 then pivot shove on the bank to curbish side of the 3 stair. Carleigh threw down too and got the ollie and kickflip combo. Then I tried a dork line for awhile while Carleigh did no comply down the 3. Switch noseslide the 3 stair then go around the handicap ramp and wallride nollie off the 3 stair. Took awhile and I felt super dumb, but the wallride nollie did indeed feel awesome when I got it. We hit the manny pads briefly as it got colder. I took a long time to nose manual it. Dave switch manualled it and came close to nollie front 180 nose manual. Jack did the back 180 fakie manual 180 out. Then we went out for dinner. Yum.

(setup 8.25 null abstract 6 deck, venture 5.6 cast baseplate/v-hollow axles, stock bushings, old 53mm pj bones stf v1, jessup ultragrip, new balance numeric 306 foy white/gum size 12, nike sb zoom air insoles)
(Pain level 4/10)

Had a free day off work. Went to Berthoud park as it was kinda close to LOCO which I needed to bring boards to. Since I was running early I went to the park first. It was only 25 degrees when I got there. It felt quite cold. Although it looks sunny in my footage it wasn’t sunny most of the time. My first challenge was a stupid one. Front 50 the second step off the bank. It was so hard. Took so long. I got a few flippers going slow in between tries. Well, basic flippers. My board was feeling huge. Next line was manual the pyramid, fs ollie the qp, ollie onto the ledge, front 180 off, switch noseslide to fakie the tiny ledge. I should mention the main ledge had ice along most of it which was a total bummer. Then I tried a line of kicklfip the bs hip, boardslide the flat bar, kickflip the fs hip. But for some reason I could not kicklfip the bs hip. It was so frustrating. I got maybe 5/50 and was so angry at times. I never got the fs flip after and gave up and decided to try two different lines. Front board flat bar (super short jibs on the end), ollie to fakie the pyramd, f/s halfcab flip the hip. Got kinda close to that. The other line was ollie onto the ledge, kickflip off, bs flip the hip. I didn’t get that in one line, but I got all the tricks. After that I was pretty beat, cold and sore. I hucked front heels or treflips over opposite hips. never getting very close, constantly wanting a smaller setup. I ended hucking front smith on the bank to ledge, but never committed. I left not feeling very stoked.

(setup 8.5 null curby deck, venture 5.8 trucks cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, bones easy street v5 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 306 foys white/gum with nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 6/10)

Went to the garage on a warm enough night, but I was feeling kinda sick and didn’t want to go outside. Kickflip, fakie flip went alright. Hucked nollie and switch flip for a bit, both close, especially switch flip. Didn’t try heelflip but switch heel felt remotely close. Got a bad halfcab flip, b/s flip, treflip. Hucked nollie varial flip and fakie varial heel and didn’t get too close.

(setup 8.5 null curby deck, venture 5.8 trucks cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, bones easy street v5 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 306 foys white/gum with nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Wanting to enjoy some of the warmth from the day I went to the dog park for lunch. I got there shortly before Luzius. The warm up process feeling pretty overwhelming. I tried to huck some, start with a line of noseslide the black ledge, b/s flip on flat then halfcab noseslide. But I couldn’t get on the b/s flip with that big board. I think I just confirmed it’s too big for me. Dave warmed up with his smooth destruction over the parking block. Crooks on the cinder block benches were working okay, halfcab noseslides. I really didn’t do a lot, but I did skate with some motivation. Hucked a few flippers, none of which I put my feet on. Dave can 50 5/0 the benches so easily now. He also learned nollie front lip. I got the tiniest fakie nosegrind imaginable, a line with crooks then front 50 the benches. I ended hucking some 2020 dream tricks. Kickflip noseslide on the upper black ledge, kick back tail on the lower. I could really feel the hardness of flipping the board on the kick back tail. Then it was back to work, right about when I was warmed up.

(setup 8.75 null event horizon deck, venture 6.1 trucks, bones medium bushings, bones easy street v5 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 306 foys white/gum with nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 4/10)

Feeling alright after dinner and noticing it was still 45 degrees I grabbed my 8.5″ setup and went to the school. I started with some slappies which were pretty fun. I haven’t been there in awhile. I got a few basic slappies then went to the back area. The smaller board still felt big, but good. I had a few kickflips, fakie flip, still didn’t land other flip tricks. But since it was the second time skating today I was pretty sore. I struggled to ollie onto the easy rock, struggled to get stalls on the other rock, posed ollies over the big rock, came kinda close to a switch flip.

(setup 8.5 null curby deck, venture 5.8 trucks cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, bones easy street v5 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 306 foys white/gum with nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 6/10)

On a winter Sunday I went to dog park to meet the Nullers. It was windy and cold when I arrived and I couldn’t find the motivation to try whatsoever. I had an 8.5″ board and it just felt weird so I went to the car and traded for the 8.75 waiting for Riley to show up. Yes, that’s right, Riley! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him skate and I’m so happy his knee is doing better. There was a brief period where I was actually trying, it was only when the wind had died down. I was trying halfcab crook while Kevin was trying nollie 180 switch crook. Sean, Hayden, Peyton, Bo, Riley, Garrett, Jack were all there ripping. Peyton did the fastplant fingerflip pretty quick. Garrett had some pretty funny slams. I had a lot of trouble committing to a front 50, finally got a slow one at the end. It was great seeing Riley skate. He looked great on his board. Front blunts, back tails, switch flips, switch heels, halfcab crooks, 5-0 180s, just ruling it so hard.

Then we went to the new campus spot again. And it was just as cold as the week before. Luckily I skated for awhile and it was fun skating with everyone. They all skated the top ledge, I skated the ground level one. I locked into a couple fun crooks then started hucking crooks shove. In a reasonable amount of tries I landed one and even smiled! I tried crooks bigspin for awhile, but my knees started to lock up. Then I froze. I mean filmed. The dudes killed it. Jack’s blunt pop out was popped so high. Sean is so incredibly smooth and solid looking on his board. Garrett came up short, but had some entertaining slams at least. Ha. Peyton took a beating too, he almost put down shove late front shove. It was crazy how close he got and the slams he took. Riley was ripping and rattled off a few basics in true ripping Riley fashion. Bo had a sick front 50 kickflip. Kevin was ripping as well, he stacked a couple clips. The kick back tail was so good. He can get up ledges so easily. Hayden’s fakie 5-0 was bonkers. These dudes rule, but I am so over winter and freezing when not skating.

(setup 8.75 null event horizon deck, venture 6.1 trucks, bones medium bushings, bones easy street v5 52mm wheels, new balance numeric 306 foys white/gum with nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 5/10)

After working most of the morning I met Jack ,Carleigh and Ella at the meetup lot. We pretty much went right to the Baker ledge/manny pad area. It was quite cold out and the breeze did not make it fun. None of us were particularly motivated and it showed. I struggled with kickflips, but got a first try f/s halfcab flip. The bigger board rules for that. Jack had some nice back 180s, fakie ollies, halfcabs, bonks off the ledge. Tailslide up to nose manual, back 180 fakie manuals where he kept spinning on accident. They were funny. He also did a bunch of perfect front 5-0s on the ledge, front 5-0 back 180, front tails, front tail 270 shove. Carleigh had some kickflips, no comply off the ledge, noseslides. I couldn’t front 50 again. It’s frustrating. I think it’s partially a timing thing with big boards, I gotta get used to it. I couldn’t even front 50 up to manual. Came close to a manual to grind, had a fun switch front noseslide. Then the wind/shade dropped the temps and we left.

(setup 8.75 null event horizon deck, venture 6.1 trucks, doh doh 88a bushings, sml 53mm og wide wheels, new balance numeric 306 foys white/gum with nike sb zoom air insole)
(pain level 4/10)