After work my good friend Josh showed up and after catching up we went over to the parks. There was no one at Valmont so we started there. Josh went in on the pole jam first. He got it quick, also some of his patented no complies and bean plants. I had some kickflips on the flat bank. We did some stuff around the park, cruising, checking out the stupid curved quarterpipes.

Then we went over to Green Block. Josh was kind of surprised how hard it was to skate. But he still lined things out. Wallies, slappies, 50s, cruising. I was mostly struggling. At one point I was trying crook shove and almost did an accidental nollie heel out. Man I wish I would have landed that because it will never happen again. Josh and I made ourselves do some halfcab noseslides since he struggles with that trick too.

We went back over to Valmont as the toddlers had left. Filmed Josh do the pole jam then he filmed me do the crooks then kickflip.

(setup 5/10 null 8.25 time warp, jessup ultra, venture 5.6 v-cast no big washer, 52mm spitfire f4 99a classic orange/black, new balance numeric 430 size 12 b/w half insole currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Went over to the school to skate flatground. No real plan in mind other than to get 10 flip tricks. I started kind of slow though, took a bit to get fakie flip. But then wow, after that it was so downhill. For like a full 30 minutes I didn’t get beyond kickflip/fakie flip. Bailed trick after trick. Could not get heelflip, treflip. Eventually would get varial flip, halfcab flip, b/s flip, f/s halfcab flip and that was it. Went in on treflips and heelflips and could not get either. It was so frustrating. I felt like I was skating hard and having fun for the early part of this session, but wow did I leave depressed.

(setup 2/10 null 8.25 time warp, jessup ultra, slappy low profile 8.25, 53mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 3/10)

In the early evening I went to campus after some cloud cover moved in. But it was still really hot in the low 90s. My legs had nothing, it was surprising. I had a setup change and a new deck. 8.25 with slappy lows and 53mm wheels this time around. Will it be the magical setup that cures my madness? Doubtful, but I did like it this day at least. I started on the little curb on the downhill sidewalk. Did a couple 50s and kickflips then went over to Baker ledge. Never got a clean manual. Noseslides were a little weird. Crooks worked. Got a front axle stall, almost an actual front 50. Halfcab flips felt good. At the end I was super tired, made myself do a halfcab noseslide. Took longer than it should. Also tried treflips for a while and at least got both feet on, but no make.

(setup 7/10 null 8.25 time warp, jessup ultra, slappy low profile 8.25, 53mm bones stf v1 103a, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 half insole and currex runpro insole)
(pain level 4/10 but my legs had no juice at all)

Went to dog park around 10. Bratcher, Jesse, Gordon, Paul were there. I hadn’t bothered putting a new 8.25 together, so I was stuck with the 8.3 T2 setup which I completely disliked. I had very little juice. Jack got hurt pretty bad on a boardstall gone wrong. Jesse left. Paul and Gordon ripped some cool combos on the two step. I think Paul did noseslide up noseslide down. Gordon pop shove up, boardslide off. I tried noseslide to fakie then sw front nose and didn’t get too close. After a while I just gave up and resigned myself to trying nollie front tail front shove which I eventually did and was hyped.

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The Nebraska dudes finally showed, but it started raining. Some time later we said we were going to leave so that meant everyone skated harder for another 15 min or so. Lee sw front nosed the tall bar and front 50d the table. I did some of my easiest basics then tried to no comply flip a parking block and couldn’t do it. The young kids adapted and quickly landed their tricks.

Then we went to Willville after some lunch and rain. There was another crew there from Houston which was rad. They were charging. David killed it. I tried some switch 180 manuals, but was not very close.

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After jumping into Boulder creek we ended up at the bank spot out on Arapahoe. It was mostly chill. I did some axle stall and failed to no comply to tail or back pivot. David had a nice backside flip. Cooper a cool beanplant. Long day! Super fun.

(setup 2/10 null 8.3, jessup ultra, thunder T2 149, 52mm spitfire f4 orange/black 99a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

After work and a long afternoon nap I went under the shady trees across the street to skate some flatground. Nate had armed me with a 10×10 list, but I ended up not really sticking to it. I remember taking a few tries to kickflip which was the start of my demise. I guess halfcab flip and b/s flip felt good, but heelflip came around and I could not do it to save my life. I don’t know what it is about Thunders, but I cannot land heelflips with them. To make matters worse I went in on treflips after that. Never got both feet on one. Was super frustrated. Was close to nollie flips at least. Left at peace but slammed on a kickflip on the new street on the way home and focused my old board. Wah.

(setup 3/10 null 8.25 time warp, null grip, thunder team hollow 148, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 half insole and currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After a lot of sitting at work I went to dog park because it was cloudy and so nice out I just couldn’t resist. I started at Valmont very briefly before the toddlers annoyed me and I went to the ledges. Warming up was whatever, I definitely didn’t have much drive and I was sore. But I did rattle off quite a few basics that didn’t require pop. I had a couple back 50s on the curb that felt good, one with a back 180 out that felt good. There was a dude trying to ollie the hydrant that was not even remotely close. it was pretty entertaining. Paul arrived. For whatever reason we did some slappies to quick ollies the next parking block. I got slappy crook then front 180. Almost got a no comply flip, but it was not working. Randomly hucked a few treflip lips on the low flat bar that somehow felt doable. Paul did 180 then switch slappy crook. I couldn’t ollie the kinked round bar, but I did get a bonky first try ollie over a sideways element bar. I couldn’t heelflip again, but did get some of the other basics. Ended with the depression of trying to front 50 the bench which I would eventually do very slowly. Donnie had shown, cool seeing him even if his warm up exercises were longer than our skate session ha ha.

(setup 7/10 null 8.25 time warp, null grip, thunder team hollow 148, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After work i cruised down to Willville. The first part of the bike path is all downhill and so fun. I had put a smaller complete back together for reasons I don’t really understand. But I did like it. Anyway I went to the little ledge and was kind of going through an okay warm up. Got some slow 50s, nollie front tails felt good, close to kickflip back 50, a couple kickflips. When this rasta dude cruised up all hyper and excited to see someone skate the ledge he often rolls by. He joined me. He was quite drunk, but still rolled into the bank, front 50 and boardslides. I had done a nollie front tail 270 shove and he was so hyped. Ha. I didn’t really get much else, he left. I tried some manuals into the pad, but never quite got it. The soreness from 8 days of skating was getting to me still so I headed home.

(setup 7/10 null 8.25 time warp, null grip, thunder team hollow 148, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Yeah, another hot day on our 8th day of skating in a row. Thankfully we were skating street so my motivation was a little higher. Rob, Neil, Dave, Cass, Mike, Jack and I. We had messed around a little at UniHill elem. Neil rode through some grass. I had some of the new Thunder T-II trucks. They felt incredibly loose, but I did have a first try f/s halfcab flip that felt amazing. They basically seem like Aces, but with a lighter hanger that flips better. The pop felt the same as Aces. At Baker ledge everyone seemed to go in. Jack fakie shove switch manual several times. Mike did some ride on grinds and barrier rides. Rob was ripping. Manuals, noseslides, halfcab noseslides, barrier rides, I think nose manuals, no comply manual. Cass manuals and then went in on back 180 nosegrinds which he got cleaner this time. I had a pretty mid session, but some okay stuff like manuals, kickflips up the curb, noseslides felt good, some flip tricks worked. Barely managed the slowest and lamest of front 50s. Neil was charging, great front 50s, noseslides, manuals to grinds. His front 50s were seriously inspiring. As was Dave with his front 50s too, halfcab manual, switch ride on crooks, manual to front tail, fakie nosegrinds onto the pad, ripping so hard.

Jack left, we went over to the ride on ledge spot. Most were too tired to skate. Mike liked the nose bonk and ride on grind. Rob killed it with halfcab noseslide then back 50 down. Cass had some ride on 50s to tail. I took too long to do an ultra lame nollie back tail jib. That was it, we survived 8 days of skating! Wow friends! Good times, if I missed any tricks please let me know as I just wrote 8 journal entries in a row so I’m sure I missed a lot. Miss you already Neil and Jack, Joe as well. Can’t wait for next year.

(setup 5/10 null 8.3, jessup ultra, thunder T2 149, 52mm spitfire f4 orange/black 99a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Cass, Rob, Neil and I rolled to Evergreen to meet Jack, Garrett and Hayden. Everyone arrived around the same time. We had cloud cover most of the time and a few sprinkles that didn’t limit anything. Everyone can thank me for the cloud cover because I wore shorts. Here’s some stuff:

glen: struggled to get b/s flip over the hip but eventually did it and fakie bigflip.  kf up the curb to slow noseslide off.  tried some nollie tres, but never got close. struggled with everything else. had some slams that hurt way more than they should.

garrett: nollie heel, nollie back heel, nollie flip, nollie back flip, treflip, fakie treflip on the sk8 mafia board

jack: kf pivot on the tall mini ramp and nosepick, front smith so easy

rob: charged it.  lines galore.  beanplant, fast back 50 variations, back smiths, back 50 shove, back 50 180, nollie shove manual from the kicker.

hayden: style line back tail the qp, feeble the rail, back nosegrind, back smith, font nosegrind.  then the weird shotgun rail revert

neil: manuals, nose manuals, 50s, struggled from pain it seemed and didn’t get it going to hard

cass: front shoves again, crooks again, back big over the hip, no hardflip though

(setup 3/10 null 8.3, jessup ultra, thunder 149 hollow, 52mm spitfire f4 orange/black 99a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

After a nice breakfast at Southside we dropped Joe off to the bus and met jack at a newish spot in Louisville. It was sunny and very hot. Jack said he wasn’t sure he could skate and proceeded to do a gap to front board within a few minutes of us being there. Then went on to do some fun lines and even film a tech banger. Rob napped in the shape. I was jealous. Although i did have some fun with little front 180s and switch noseslide variations. Neil went in on some wallrides and front 50s on the lower ledges, lots of shoves all over. Cass showed up and went in on back 180 nosegrinds and kind of got some. At the end Jack, Neil and I played on the double stack curb in the street. Neil got a cool front shove then front 50 on it. I somehow eeked out a slappy crook that made my day.

Then Rob, Neil and I went to Willville. I didn’t do much, but came close to a halfcab heel on flat and some nose manuals. Rob did manual and no comply manual into the bank. Neil was feeling it, lined out some noesslides, ollies, kickflips, shoves and no comply fingerflips.

(setup 5/10 8.25 null time warp, null grip, thunder team hollow 148, 51mm spitfire f4 101a classic, new balance numeric 430 b/w size 12 currex runpro insoles)
(pain level 4/10)