On a nice and lazy day I set out to mostly just spot lurk for a bit. I found an old bank to curb that used to have u-haul trailers on it. I tried a couple boardslides, but it would have required some serious sweeping to be fun. I drove around some more and ended up at Platt Elem. What got me out of the car is they now have two manual pads in a row and the little kicker before the 3 stair is skatable now (it used to have a door stop above it that you could hit your hands on). I cruised the parking lot, there is some good flatground there. I started with a couple warm up lines. I initially had dreams of linking the whole spot, but that would mean landing way too many flatground tricks. First line was ollie the kicker, ollie the 3 stair, kickflip on flat. Second was ollie the kicker, front 180 the 3 stair, fakie flip on flat. The kicker is fun because it’s a mellow take off, but a quick landing. Anyway, rather than keep lining it out I started the tricks. As you can see the ollie up, back 180 and kickflip down took way too long. I thought it would be funny to show every attempt. I was skating hard, in between tries I would pose flip tricks and miss. After finally getting the kickflip I went over to the manual pad and tried some more lines to torture myself even more. I was so tired and sore I’m not sure how I kept at it. Anyway the line was, nose manual, treflip on flat, ollie onto the other manual pad and wallie nollie off, then back 50 the last one. While technically I got the line, the treflips were super slow, the wallie nollie barely a scrape. I tried some kick back tails and got kinda close. Fun spot.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 v-hollow highs, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, venom 88a bushings (no boardside washer), new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 5/10 sore from skating so much)

After an annoying morning that seemed to take forever to get ready I met up with Dave L, Dave F and Will from Seattle at Rocky Mtn. It was basically totally dry except for a puddle running across the runway to the ledge. To add to my morning my first attempt at a slappy would results in a full slam. Ugh. Rob would join us and hang. It was good to see him, hope he can skate soon. Kevin and eventually Fuzz would join too. I had decided to go for the marathon run to get warmed up. Ollie down the 2 and 3 stairs, flatground trick, ledge trick, bank trick, ride down the dirt hill, a couple little ollies, kickflip into the downhill sidewalk. It took a few tries, but I got it. The stair ollies, no comply 180, switch noseslide to forward, boneless on the bank, ollies over some puddles and stuff, kickflip. It was really fun. Kevin had shown up around then and was immediately ripping as always. Will had some clean ollies on the bank, popped over a median, had some good shoves, halfcab flips on flat. Dave L had a nice back 180 up the curb then fakie ollie onto a median and manual down it. Pretty sure I could never do that. He was also doing nice back 50s then trying to backside ollie onto a median and manual down it. It looked so hard. He wasn’t really feeling it and started filming Kevin and Dave F. Kevin had been doing a bunch of stuff, but went in hard on an insane line. Manual a rock to ollie a snow pile out, front tail to fakie, switch 180 off the curb, heelflip on flat, ollie up the curb and nollie flip to fakie on the bank. It was funny because he did it once, but bailed the little halfcab off at the end. Dave was doing these crazy cab manuals on the brick medians. He was also doing nollie 270 manuals. Tech Dave. He had a line with a fakie ollie onto a median and a front 50 on the ledge. I was struggling beyond believe, but managed to keep skating and have a little fun. I was having problems with kickflips up the curb which is normally an every try thing for me, especially at that spot. I had sworn off the 5.2 highs, but eventually started liking them. I did have a fun line of kickflip up the curb, manual a brick median, crooks the ledge. Then I just kind of skated the ledge slow and did flip tricks in between tries. I got a few flippers. Heelflip, halfcab flip, b/s flip, treflip. They felt good. Got halfcab noseslide, halfcab noseslide to fakie, switch front nose, slow front 50, accidental front 5-0 to tail, super slow back 50, close to noseslide 270. Overall a fun day even though I skated terrible. I should know to expect it when I make changes to my setup. Even though all I had done was put a high hanger on instead of a low. Same size even.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 highs, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 88a doh dohs bushings (no boardside washer), new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10 sore from skating so much)

After work on a Friday I met Dave at a dry hockey rink in Longmont. The temp was in the upper 30s, but it felt colder than that. I was pretty sore. Dave and I both struggled to get going. I quickly realized why I have moved away from low trucks in the past. Basically every little bump in the concrete becomes so amplified. And I really struggled with kickflips or anything. I guess except treflip, I got one pretty quick. But I couldn’t heelflip or halfcab flip to save my life. Dave had a good amount of flippers. Varial flip, sex change, fakie flip, fakie varial flip. He had some good lines with front shoves, switch front shoves, nollie cabs, cabs, fakie shoves, switch back shoves. Not all one line (ha ha), but some good ones. Then we decided to have a “quick” game of SKATE as the sun had gone behind clouds/mountains and it was getting cold. The “quick” game lasted forever. Neither of were landing tricks, and when we finally did the other person normally landed it too. Like varial flip and fakie flip. But we did get some letters. I only remember getting Dave with heelflip, but he did get to SKAT before I hit him with a 270 flip that took several tries. He had gotten so close on an earlier attempt I wanted to see him land it. He had gotten me to SKAT as well with tricks like cab, sex change, I forget what else. There was a trick I landed that I was totally surprised and stoked that Dave got, but I forget it now. Argh. Anyway, glad we skated, it was mostly fun. Ha ha. I did at least eliminate low trucks from the list of trucks for my 2020 setup. Yes, I am really trying to come up with a setup I’m happy with and stick to one size for all of 2020.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 awake lows, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 88a doh dohs bushings, new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10 cold/sore from a full work week)

Right after work on a balmy 44 degree day I went searching for dry. I went out towards the dog park with some hope that someone had shoveled. Nope. I found a building under construction that offered basically nothing but rough asphalt, big cracks and goose crap. And somehow I skated hard (notice I did not say I skated well). I started out with some nollie shoves, ollies up the curb, etc. Then took awhile to do a line of front 180 up the curb (close left), fakie flip on the sidewalk, switch 180 over a tiny snow pile. The fakie flip took awhile because the cracks on the sidewalk were horrendous. I had been doing some flippers on the rough asphalt and they were kind of working. Got b/s flip, treflip, halfcab flip. Then I tried a different line which was so hard. Kickflip up the curb, heelflip, back 180 the snow pile. It took awhile to get the kickflip up, the roughness and crack before it were terrible. I did eventually start getting up it with some good feeling kickflips. But I could not heelflip to save my life. Seriously almost lost it. Most bails I would do a switch flip after which felt pretty close at times. I eventually gave up on the line and did nollie shove then shove instead. It was a terrible line for a terrible spot. I left somewhat happy that I skated as hard as I did.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 awake lows, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 88a doh dohs bushings, new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

The snow finally stopped, but it surely hasn’t melted yet. Went into the garage before dinner. Started with the straight 8 then mostly random mirrors in intervals of roughly 10. This time I finally got a fakie heel, but it was terrible. The first heelflip came pretty quick, but I never got a clean one. The 4 hard ones were no closer, but I committed to all of them. Got a treflip pretty quick, switch tre was not close at all. Couldn’t get halfcab heel, nollie inward heel. Got a few b/s flips, switch b/s flip was not close. Really close to varial heel, tried it switch for the first time ever and was nowhere near it. But I feel like forcing myself to try so many GleNBD tricks can only help my board control and awareness.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 awake lows, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 88a doh dohs bushings, new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

You guessed it, another snowy night so I went into the garage. This time before dinner. This time maybe more motivated than the last couple of days. I started with a few 180s and shoves before going for the straight 8. I stuck with roughly 10 tries again. None of the 8 went very well and I barely got a heelfllip. Nollie flip felt close. I did a bunch of floppy varial flips in a row then got remotely close to switch varial flip. Landed on a front heel, kinda close to switch front heel. Took a bit to get a treflip, but got a couple in a row and it felt good. Instead of trying them switch I went for nollie and got somewhat close. The tightness of the garage makes that trick extra hard. Ended with a fakie bigflip then tried a few nollie bigflips before calling it a night.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 awake lows, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 88a doh dohs bushings, new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Out to the garage again on a snowy night. I had put some decent size wheels on my 8.25/low setup. I did a few warm up shoves then went in on flippers. I stuck to roughly 10 tries again. I started with a kickflip bail, then got 5 great feeling ones in a row. Switch flip felt very close and I had a couple commits. Fakie flip was good, nollie flip didn’t feel close, but there was one that was almost a make somehow. I took a bit to get a heelflip and was nowhere close on switch heel. Didn’t get fakie heel although I at least landed on it, nollie heel was not close at all. Then I tried some mostly different ones than the previous night. Backside flip felt alright and somehow I actually committed to multiple switch b/s flips. Switch b/s flip is now on the list of tricks to for sure keep working on. Didn’t get a halfcab heel or even close to nollie h/c heel. Got a treflip that took a minute, nowhere close on switch tre. Almost landed on a fakie lazer, it was so close. Not close to nollie big heel. And that was that. Flatground in the garage while listening to DJR rules. I liked my setup a lot too. Maybe I’ll finally just realize that it works best for me and stop feeling pressure to have a big setup like everyone else.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 awake lows, 51mm bones stf v2 wheels, 3 speed washers inside each axle, 88a doh dohs bushings, new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 3/10 knees was sore from two nights of flatground)

Went out into the garage shortly after dinner on a snowy Sunday. I had setup an 8.25 again, but this time with lows and 42mm wheels. I don’t really plan on skating 42s for real, but they had bearings in them and it was just easier. I had planned on trying tricks 10 tries. Everything regular then switch. I started with the straight 8. Kickflip, fakie flip and heelflip took longer than they should. I didn’t quite get a fakie heel. Switch flips, switch heel, nollie heel were not close. I committed to several nollie flips, but they didn’t flip enough. Then I missed treflips and didn’t get close to switch tre. I wasn’t all that stoked on the smaller board until I tried f/s flip which seemed worth it to me. I got a couple pivoted ones. Not close to switch f/s flip. Then I did a couple halfcab flips so easy that it made me happy about the smaller board. Didn’t get close to Janoski flip. Kinda close to varial heel, but not close to nollie varial heel. Tried fakie lazer which still somehow feel close. Ended with nollie tre which has still eluded me in my tiny garage space.

(setup 8.25 null nolan deck, mob grip, venture 5.2 awake lows, 42mm oj wheels, 88a venom bushings, new balance numeric 306 b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

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

The New Balance Numeric 379 is a slim vulcanized shoe with very little padding. It’s good for what it is, but my feet definitely wanted a little support. The shoe has a great flick. I feel like this herringbone tread pattern is not as grippy as the older vulcanized soles NB makes (255, 345). Anyway, a good simple shoe.

On the last forecasted nice day in awhile Kevin, Dave L and I went to Southern Hills. The wind had kicked in fierce. It was my bad for bringing everyone there. I was feeling pretty grouchy for some reason. I think I was still in need of a solo session or something after so much filming/socializing in ABQ the weekend before. Nothing came easy. Unless you are Kevin. Ha. As always he was ripping out of the gate. 50s, 5-0s, crooks on the benches like it was nothing. I had an alright warm up line of nollie bonk to manual down the handicap ramp, front 50 the step, crooks the bench. Dave L was doing lots of sweeping, then 180s, nollie 180s and casually ollieing up the 2. Jack and Fuzz would show after awhile. Jack pretty quickly got in and landed a couple kick back lips while Kevin was trying kick back tails. I started filming which made me extra grouchy. This is mainly because I had been skating so bad. Kevin got the kick back tail in a couple lines. Jack got the kick back lip and hucked a new trick for him after. Nollie back 180 fakie 5-0 halfcab out. He was so close. He was like “I’ve never tried that before”. Must be nice. Ha ha. Jack cheered me up by taking over filming duties for awhile. Kevin would get a rad line ending with front 50 up the low bar. Sean and I played a game of SKATE. I continued my terrible skating. Sean made it fun by keeping the tricks dumbed down for me. I couldn’t get treflip or halfcab flip, but I was happy to get f/s halfcab flip and beat Sean to varial flip. Sean ended me on f/s halfcab heel which I was quite close on. Fuzz and I skated the step for awhile. Some fun accidental front 5-0s for me. Ha ha. We both did nollie front tails too. Fuzz took a bit to get a kickflip.

Then we went to the bank and ledge spot off Arapahoe/55th with the pipes in it. First thing was Kevin wallieing off the parking block gap. So sick. Then we all went to work on trying lines. I was kind of bummed on how it went to filming. I was really craving a day of just skating and not filming I guess. But I ended up trying a line forever. Boardslide then no comply shove over the pipe. Never got the no comply, but the boardslides were really fun. Dave L was killing front tails and front 5-0s on the ledge, then ollie to fakie over the hole, or an amazing over disaster. Fuzz was going 100mph doing noseslide then bigspin fakie. Jack had done some great back tails and was trying ghetto bird over the pipe. But he rolled his ankle because my dumbass couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. He had a nice board butt focus after that. Carleigh went in on front noseslide then kickflip over the pipe. I’ve never seen her do so many front noseslides, it was awesome. After I had given up on my line I filmed Kevin for awhile get back 5-0 then ollie to fakie over the pipe. Carleigh got her line as the sun was disappearing. The minute after she landed her line the wind kicked in with the cold front coming. Whew. Love to everyone, sorry I was so grouchy.

(setup 8.5 null nolan deck, Venture 5.8 trucks (cast baseplate, titanium hanger), doh dohs 88a bushings no boardside washer, spitfire F4 52mm 99a green swirl wheels, new balance numeric 306 Foy b/w size 12, footprints gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)