On a hot day Ollie and I ended up at Kremmling park.  We had gone to Steamboat’s park, but it was mobbed with little kids in a big lesson.  So we started heading home and hit Kremmling on the way.  I had been there once before several years ago with Trick Factory for an epic session. We had the park to ourselves with the exception of a kid who was there for a bit.  I got my first couple axle stall on the bank to curb to warm up and felt good.  Then we carved the bowls for a bit.  Then I went to work on the kick back axle.   It took awhile, but man it felt cool to get one.  Because at first it felt impossible and I knew I had done it so many years ago and really wanted to still be able to do it.  Sure there was a huge lunch break, but it still felt awesome.  Really awesome.  Ollie was hyped which added to the stoke.  He had been doing lots of frontside and backside ollies on the mellower bank, f/s half cabs, cab kickturns.  He also tried a few kickflips.  he was having fun for awhile.  The other tricks were kinda whatever.  I wanted to try and grind the little bowl, but we needed to leave.

(setup 8.38 null event horizon deck, venture 5.6 trucks, doh doh bushings (88a boardside, 92a roadside), 53mm sml og wide wheels, 3 bearings inside each axle, mob grip, new balance numeric 533v2 pj grey size 13, currex run pro insoles)

Up early on a warm morning I met rob at dog park. I was hyped to see Aki was there too!  He was already popping and doing tricks.  Warming up was hard for me.  Took awhile before I could ollie.  Aki had a nice two bench run. Front tail then front board. He also had kickflip onto the manual pad, manual, back 50 on a bench.  Rob had back 50 on the step right away.  We hit the benches. I struggled with front 50s.  Had a line of front 50 then Nollie back tail.  Halfcab noseslide then crooks.  Couldn’t get switch front nose then fakie nosegrind.  Rob and I got a couple of sick lines ‘over 40’ style back to back. I got front 50 180 then switch noseslide 270 shove.  He did halfcab noseslide to fakie then halfcab boardslide.  We were hyped.  Rob did a bunch more smooth halfcab boardslides and crooks. That was pretty much it.  

(setup 8.38 null event horizon deck, venture 5.6 trucks, doh doh bushings (88a boardside, 92a roadside), 53mm sml og wide wheels, 3 bearings inside each axle, mob grip, new balance numeric 533v2 pj grey size 13, currex run pro insoles)

Kevin and I showed up with Christmas completes and had someone take a photo of us.  We were thinking it would be funny to just leave after that. Ha. Kevin had some Venture lows instead of his normal thunders.  I sized down to 8.3 with the new venture 8.25 trucks.  I had huge new wheels. 53mm SML wheels.  I was super hyped to support that company, but should have gotten smaller wheels as I really struggled for awhile.  Kevin on the other hand was totally shredding rattling off ledge tricks.  Nosegrinds, back smith, 5-0s.  Carleigh showed up and pretty quickly joined Kevin on the bump to barrier.  He did different tricks until she landed the boardslide.  The nosegrind was sick. Carleigh did the boardslide pretty quick.  There was almost no one skating so we told Rob to come back.  He did. Rad. Of course the crowds had reformed unfortunately.  The only thing I did that I was hyped on was the line Kevin filmed.  I did it a couple times before filming.  Way better of course (Just joking, but since there is no footage in my head it was better). Ollie the flat bar (hyped that this seemed easier on the smaller setup), wallie the barrier, nollie back tail the small narrow ledge, crook the black ledge.  Carleigh and Rob jumped on similar lines. Rob with the ollie then front 180 over the barrier.  Rob gots pop.  But it’s funny because he can’t wallie it.  Carleigh did ollie, wallie, front 50. 

Later on we met up with Jack at his wood spot.  It was so hot.  That spot is so hard. Well, not for Jack and Kevin. They were ollieing up the weird corner like it was nothing.  Both doing manuals. I think jack ollied the big two out of manual. Kevin did manual drop down to quick back 180.  Kevin ollied the flat gap easily.  Jack did a bunch of tricks over it. One of the steeziest backside bigspins I’ve ever seen, backside flip, impossible some more I’m forgetting.  Carleigh and I were struggling to get up the corner ledge. It was frustrating. I was posing ollies over the flat gap.  I eventually got the ollie up the ledge. Did a boneless down a level, then somehow made it over the flat gap. I say ‘somehow’ because what I did was not technically an ollie.  It was some weird awkward momentum that got me over the gap. It stoked me out regardless.  It also showed Carleigh that if she actually ollied she could do the gap. She tried that while I tried another line to clean up the ollie.  I tried ollie up the ledge, kickflip on the narrow ledge, ollie the gap. I got it and ended it with a back 180 off. It felt awesome.  Carleigh got the ollie too. Jack did a rad quick foot line. Ollie up, gap ollie, half impossible.  Wow. It inspired Kevin to switch flip the gap.  Unfortunately an hour and a half later he gave up after landing on several. Doh.  Fun long day of skating though. I like my new setup so far. 

(setup 8.38 null event horizon deck, venture 5.6 trucks, doh doh bushings (88a boardside, 92a roadside), 53mm sml og wide wheels, 3 bearings inside each axle, mob grip, new balance numeric 533v2 pj grey size 13, currex run pro insoles)

Had one of those lovely days where I woke up early, went to work early, skipped the gym in hopes of getting out early, but ended up working 10 hours. Argh. I was super tired and wanted to go home, but I stopped at the dog park and there were only a few people there so I went for it. Took a bit to get in the groove of trying things. Finally got the switch front noseslide then fakie nosegrind line. Had some heelflips, halfcab flips, couldn’t get treflip. Board felt huge for flippers. Got an accidental front 5-0 on one of the new benches. Didn’t try nosegrind. Tried a line of crook then kick back 5-0. Felt doable, but struggled getting the big board up there. Did some other stuff for awhile, struggled to ollie the tiny flat bar. Ended trying a few halfcab noseslide 270 shoves out (dream trick), but got so tired and left. Still so hyped on this spot.

(setup 8.5 Null Lazer deck, venture trucks 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger , venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones 52mm stf sidecuts wheels, new balance numeric PJ 533v2 grey size 13, currex run pro insole )
(pain level 3/10)

After work, nap, dinner I went across the street with an hour before family movie night. I was wearing the new PJ shoes, they felt good, but quite different than the 212s. I got into line mode pretty quickly. Took a few tries to get kickflip off the curb cut. Front slappys were still there, I don’t grind them very long, but man I’m hyped on them. Had a couple good feeling slappy front crooks. Tried a line of back slappy, slappy crook, kickflip on the tiny bank, 360 flip. Only got to the 360 flip twice. Going the other way I had been trying front 50 back 180 out then fakie flip out of the curb cut, but the sprinklers turned on and messed with that. Around then Ollie showed up. Whoa, two days of skating with Ollie in a row! He did lots of ollies up the curb and was trying his no comply 360 flip a bunch. I was really trying a line of front slappy, 360 flip on flat, ollie up curb, kickflip off the further kicker. Never got the 360 flip. New shoe blues. Well, and I haven’t been trying that trick much lately. Also the ground isn’t very good for flatground. See, I got excuses for days. Saul showed up too on a monster setup and went right into some long slappies both ways. Almost got slappy crook too. Ollie did some cool f/s halfcabs out of the tiny bank and dropped in on a wood pallet. I had gotten super tired. Then it was movie time.

(setup 8.5 Null Lazer deck, venture trucks 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger , venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones 52mm stf sidecuts wheels, new balance numeric PJ 533v2 grey size 13, currex run pro insole )
(pain level 3/10)

These two parts are incredible.

After feeling sick most of the day and Filmer Glen falling through I went out front to do some flatground to see how I felt. I was wearing some new PJ shoes. They felt good at first, I even hucked nollie heel actually committing, but it didn’t flip. The first couple kickflips didn’t feel great though. But by then I had realized I would be able to skate. To my surprise Ollie was down to skate campus with me. A few minutes later and my old shoes on we ended up at the weird little loading dock thing. We tried some chinese nollies to manual. Ollie kind of got it, I didn’t. But I was happy to get a couple ollies up and then follow one with somewhat of a nose manual. Ollie thought the back 180 thing into the bank was fun. We did some cruising and ended up at the long set of 2 stairs. Ollie basically did it first try and several times. I took a few tries, it feels way scarier than it looks. But it really is fun. There is a 5 stair after that I didn’t even pose an ollie down. Up by the basketball stadium I had a fun wallride on a jersey barrier. We took the fun ride down the hill and ended up in a super rough parking lot where I pretended to fall into the cart. We laughed. Some more pushing and we ended up at the last spot. Ollie spent most of his time trying no comply 360 flips and getting super close. I sat for awhile then for some reason started trying hard with a line of ollie up then front shove off. Never got it in a line, but did get a bad shove. Ollie’s 180 was first try. Lots of pushing back toward the car and I ended with a slappy crook again. I didn’t have a lot of energy, but man it’s fun skating with Ollie.

(setup 8.5 Null Lazer deck, venture trucks 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger , venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones 52mm stf sidecuts wheels, new balance numeric 212 grey/yellow size 12, spenco 3/4 orthotic and NB# PJ insole )
(pain level 3/10)

After work I stopped by the Dog Park on a cloudy warm day. Out of nowhere clouds came, thunder and then rain. But it didn’t saturate the place. Kevin and I played around on the kicker as a bank to warm up after doing some squeegee action. We did kickflips to fakie, nollie 360 pivots. Then the two benches dried up and everyone and their brother was there to skate them. We played with back 180 nosegrinds. Well, I didn’t get close at all, Kevin did them. Then it was line time with the masses. Kevin didn’t land much, but was trying hard tricks. I was happy to pick up where I left off with halfcab noseslides. Got a front 50, almost committed to nosegrind after. Got a few crooks, hucked kick back 5-0 after. Had switch front noseslide and still couldn’t get fakie nosegrind even though I was locking in. Kevin had nosegrind, nollie nosegrind, switch nosegrind 180, back smith, many more. Flip tricks worked okay for me. I guess I only got halfcab flip and backside flip. Couldn’t get treflip. Then the rain came in heavy and we left to check out the new cidery in Boulder.

(setup 8.5 Null Lazer deck, venture trucks 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger , venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones 52mm stf sidecuts wheels, new balance numeric 212 grey/yellow size 12, spenco 3/4 orthotic and NB# PJ insole )
(pain level 2/10)

Right after work on a hot, but dry afternoon I went to dog park aka greenblock aka valmont. It was chill when I got there. Just a few kids skating, but they would manage to constantly get in the way with no clue or concern about others. I almost died on a attempt to manual the tiniest manual pad. Great start. Sean showed right as I kind of started to feel warmed up. Of course he immediately surpassed me with one ollie. We started on the two bench area. I took awhile to start getting front 50s, but they started coming. Sean was going fast enough he didn’t have to push between tricks. He was doing back nosegrind then kick back 50 then back tail over the step. Wowsers. I was having fun with halfcab noseslides, definitely doing them the best I ever have. I worked on that then crooks to fakie which was hard on that quick bench. Tried front 50 then front crook. I never really got on the front crook, but it seemed like it could work. Then I started trying switch front nose followed by fakie nosegrind. Never quite got the fakie nosegrind. At that point it was just too crowded for me. Julian and Chris from Longmont had shown up, a bunch of college kids. It was too heavy for me. Sean front 180’d the picnic table and toyed with kickflip over it. Forgot to mention I had switched to a thicker insole, but it just backfired. The Nikes were too much and I had no board feel with the orthotics in there too.

(setup 8.5 Null Lazer deck, venture trucks 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger , venom 91a bushings with no bottom washer, bones 52mm stf sidecuts wheels, new balance numeric 212 grey/yellow size 12, spenco 3/4 orthotic and nike zoom air insole )
(pain level 3/10)