On a hot afternoon I went out for a quick skate. I started a lame alley. Couldn’t do any flip tricks. Was hating the big setup. Had some fun front smith stalls. Then I went into campus. Checked out a waxed ledge, but it was dry and surrounded by stop rocks. Ended up at a granite ledge that doesn’t have much room. I took way too many tries to do a line of crook, flatground kickflip, firecracker the 3 stair. I had also tried to ollie up the 3. Then I cruised home.  There was a fun little 5 stair hubba to roll down on the way.

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s with regular cast baseplate, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Had a few minutes right after driving to Iowa City. Grabbed my board and went for a cruise. Rode down a bunch of long stairs then ended up at this cool little spot. The ledge had a huge crack preventing it from being grinded. At least for me. I took a couple tries to get a crooks jib on the narrow side of the far ledge then ollie down the slight gap. Then I got the text to head back so I did.

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s with regular cast baseplate, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a long day of preparing for vacation and resting I went in front of the house.  I had asked Nate for a 10×10 list then ended up with the following list.  I did a few warm ups first then tried switch front bigspin for awhile.  Made me want a smaller board.  I’ll just add comments to each trick. 

front shove – got a few 

sw front shove – couldn’t get it

shove revert – struggled with this, but when I finally got it.  Made me want a smaller board.  

bs fakie bigspin – easy and fun

fakie flip – got a few with no pop

heelflip – got one 3rd try but couldn’t get another.  Made me want a smaller board.  

halfcab flip – only got one

Fs halfcab heel – got a really bad one 11th try

Rick flip – not even close. Made me want a smaller board.  

nollie back cab – got one shortly before the 10 try limit. 

Nollie front cab – maybe got one that would count on defense in an over 70 game of SKATE

tre flip – got a super bad one 10th try.  Made me want a smaller board.  

Nollie varial flip – I tried but it didn’t come around.  Made me want a smaller board.  

Switch varial flip – not very close

Nollie big heel – not close. Made me want a smaller board.  

Fakie hardflip – was tired and didn’t really try.  

So clearly you can sense I wanted a smaller board.  We’ll see if I make any changes. 

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s with regular cast baseplate, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)

(pain level 3/10)

On a warm morning Neil and I went to Dog Park to meet Eric, Dave and Rob. To our delight Collin and Dan were there too. There were a ton of puddles still and we did some sweeping to thin them out and dry quicker. Dan and Collin were going for ollies over a tall cone. Well, Dan was going switch and he did it. Wow. Dave and I warmed up on the kicker ramp. I was once again feeling a bit out of it and not as motivated as I would think. But we had fun. We did windshield wipers and all kinds of tricks like that, some fakie flips on flat, etc. Dave did nollie shove to rock fakie and I had to try it too. I got it a few tries and it was quiet fun. Dave did halfcab to rock transfer into the bank. After that we were all over the park. Neil was filming everyone as he had quickly worn himself out enjoying the spot so much. He got some good lines from Eric, Dan, Collin, Rob, Dave. Eric had crooks the butter bench, 50 the picnic bench, wallie 180 the barrier. Rob crooks the butter bench, boardslide the tall metal bench, 180 the barrier, back 50 shove the little metal ledge. Dave front board the kinked rail, quick up hippy jump the manny pad, no comply wallie the barrier, boardslide fakie the tall round bar. Dan quick up to boardslide the manny pad, back 50 the round ledge, nollie front 180 the barrier, switch backside flip the manhole. Watching Dan skate in person rules. He has the best east coast powerhouse style. Collin switch wallie the barrier and halfcab flip on flat. I was kind of hiding is a very depressed state struggling to land anything. Seriously though, I took like 10 tries to get a slow 50 on the picnic bench. I had one brief moment of skating okay with a first try front 50 shove then a halfcab flip. Neil get banging line or two. One foot off the kicker, nosegrind the ledge, quick up to nose manual the double manual pad, ollie the barrier like it’s absolutely nothing. He asked me to film a line and it was looking good at first. Crooks the picnic bench, kickflip over the parking block then ollie the little kinked rail, but I messed up the rail. Then I couldn’t do the kickflip again and lost it. Threw my board hoping it would stay in the rafters. Luckily it didn’t so I just went and sat down. After some chilling I joined Dave as he casually boardslid across and up the double parking block combo. I was only able to boardslide up it though, not the flat part too.

After some food and chilling we went to Glenn Close feeling totally exhausted. It was pretty fun actually. Neil just chilled. Saul joined after a bit. Rob had some good back 50s with the no comply shove out (I think), slappy crooks. Saul had his great slappys. I struggled with regular slappys, but had some fun crooks one and somehow managed a line for Neil of slappy front crooks then front shove off the curb cut. After that we had a nice dinner at Southern Sun and I said goodbye to Neil for awhile. Doh. Man it rules skating with him, such a skate rat, such great energy.

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s with regular cast baseplate, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After a fun wedding I had some time in the early morning before the big family breakfast so I went to this park. I didn’t think I would like it so I will say I liked it more than I thought I would, but that doesn’t say much. The fact that the weird china bank lines up the entire side is whack. It’s not very functional. But some of the other stuff is cool. The weird halfpipe at the bottom was weirding me out until I finally realized one side is a foot taller than the other side. How whack is that? I got to a point where I tried a line. Back 50 the halfpipe, noseslide down a hubba, step up onto the platform, front slash the top qp, then try to wallie into back 50 on one of the china banks. Never got the wallie 50. Then I had to go. I probably wont ever skate there again.

After a nice family breakfast then a drive to Evergreen I showed up at the park 30 minutes before Rob, Fuzz and Neil. I thought I was really excited to skate, but things felt off and warming up did not got well. I remembered I needed to do a nollie back 180 over a hip (challenge from Dave) so I did that. Came really easy, but it was scarier than I thought it would be. I did a warm up line that took awhile. Switch 180 the hip, rock fakie the qp, halfcab noseslide the little ledge near the fence. Then the dudes showed up as I was trying the next line. Nollie back 180 the hip, fakie rock, crooks the ledge. Took awhile to get the crooks and I was feeling the new truck no grooves blues. Fuzz chilled for a bit to get the vibes going. Neil’s of Fire was in full effect though. I was blown away. He was so quick to land so many tricks, had so much energy, was popping up / down / over so many things like it was nothing. It was inspiring. Rob had the juice too. Manuals, bean plants, 50s on the curb. I went in on another line, front 50 the little ledge by the fence, front slash the qp, kickflip the hip. When it took my ~7 tries to get a crappy kickflip I wanted to focus my board. Fuzz had joined and was shredding so hard. Switch boardslide the parking block, back d revert the qp, fast manuals, 50s, huge ollies over the hip. Neil was continuing his ripping. Huge ollies over the hip, tried front tail to nose manual, casual ollie over the parking block ledge. There was another old dude there charging and bringing some hype. Rob ollied the parking block ledge pretty easily. I took a couple tries and didn’t manage a clean ollie over. Neil had back 180s out of the little kicker, cabs, one foots. Rob had nose manual shove, back 50 no comply shove, halfcab noseslide. I got a line of front 180 the kicker, switch front nose, switch front 180 off the curb. Then we all went in on backside flips on the hip. Fuzz got several of them, but they weren’t to his satisfaction and he ended up kind of losing it, sat down for awhile, then got up and tried again until he got a perfect one. Rob had a line going into it and this annoying kid kept going and I think he can be blamed for Rob not getting the b/s flip. Neil was the 2nd to get one. No surprise here, but I was last. I had hucked nollie tres and varial heels over the hip going the other way and didn’t get close to either. After getting the b/s flip I just kept skating. I think finally not having incredible knee pain makes it hard to stop. I had a couple terrible ollies up the euro. Then I did a few tricks on the spine behind the hip. Back nose to fakie, switch nose to forward, front 50, back 50. Couldn’t get kickflip back 50 or front smith. Then we left and those guys ate gluten while I sipped water like Jason would. Ha ha. We had fun, but man skateboarding is hard these days.

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a very hot Saturday Neil, Fuzz, Rob, Kevin and I met Jack at a bank spot Fuzz has been wanting to stubborn at for awhile. I can’t believe I didn’t take a photo, but it’s basically a bank on each side. One side is mellow with curbs up top (but set back a little) and a hubba to do stalls on from the bank. The other side a steeper bank with a flat gap and chain for the kids. Jack of course ollied into a small part of it right away. The rest of us took a minute to adjust to the spot. Kevin wallied into the bank, Fuzz with the front axle yank to fakie on the hubba. Neil with cool ollies. I was enjoying my new setup and started with a little front pivot on a parking block. Jack did front pivot kickflip to fakie on the side hubba. Rob had some cool lines with kickflips on the bank, front tails, backside ollies. Fuzz was trying smith stall on side hubba and did a funny sequence of yank ins and other stalls. Kevin had some cool stalls on the side hubba. Front tail fakie, front tail back 270 in was so sick. Fuzz had switch nose stall 270 shove. I was trying no comply flips into the bank and got close then made the mistake of asking Jack to film it thinking i could land it. What a good friend for sticking with me as I kind of eeked out a heel drag version in about 120 tries before nearly puking because of the heat. Regardless, I’ve never done that trick into a bank and I was hyped to try hard. Kevin had also done a kickflip nose stall, but for the most part it was a sit in the shade and watch Glen struggle session for an hour. Sorry dudes.

Then we went to this spot. Super sick spot with so many different options. The heat wave was in full effect. Especially after Jack did a kickflip axle stall on the dumpster right away. I attempted to ollie, but was in so much pain from jumping into that little bank so many times. Rob and Kevin got the manuals quick. Rob’s was sick as he ollied the little crack gap in the middle. Jack did nose manual nollie heel, kickflip manual kickflip out. Fuzz started a 3 trick wave. He started with 180 up, 180 the crack, 180 off. Ha. The fakie ollie up, fakie ollie the crack, fakie ollie off was so sick. Rob had no comply up, kickflip the crack, his patented steezy back 180 off. Neil got a super sick line. Nose manual shove out from bank by the dumpster, front shove out of the bank, wallie the corner of the building. He also played the 3 trick game on the loading dock. nollie up, back 180 the crack, switch front 180 the drop. I had gotten my legs to kind of work, came remotely close to nose manual. Got a crappy backside flip over the hip. Jack went in on kickflip manual treflip out. He had one hilarious airwalk out, but was getting super frustrated. Luckily he knew to call it before the heat got him too bad. Fun day. Best crew. I would have liked to land that no comply flip better though. Argh.

(setup 8.5″ abstract 6 deck, venture titanium 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Went to the dog park before work on a hot friday morning. There was another dude skating. We chatted briefly, but it was a cool quiet skate by yourself vibe still. I was slower to start than I was hoping for. I know that’s always the case, but I wasn’t sore, just not able to mentally get into it. The other dude was hitting the kicker next to the table so I couldn’t arrange it and skate the bench part. Which was kind of a bummer because I had thought about halfcab crooks all night. I managed to finally like the 3 obstacles on the far side together. Slow front 50 the ledge, wallie, nollie front tail the short double sided ledge. Also did a front 50 front 180 out on the ledge where I was actually moving. Came even closer to nollie back tail shove on the tiny ledge. Front 180’d the little kinked rail. Got a heelflip and a couple halfcab flips. Went to work.

After work I met Neil, Rob and Fuzz across the street. Yes, I said NEIL! So stoked. Neil was going hard out of the gates. Lots of shoves, ollies, 50s. It was so good to see. He was flying too. Those curb cut ollies were so good. Front shove into the curb cut, back shove into the other one, ollie the little rock gap. But he can’t slappy at all. Ha ha. Rob was going hard quickly too. Front shove to the street, kickflips out of the kicker, slappy crooks, back 50s, front slappy, no comply shoves. Fuzz was shredding too. Powerful slappies. Got his line of ollie into the curb cut, front 180 the hard way out, fakie nosegrind 180. He added a front slappy on the way back for the cherry on top. He also had switch front 50, almost switch front 5-0. I was feeling very unmotivated and can’t think of anything noteworthy. Saul had joined us. His slappys are such a treat to watch. They are so raw.

Then we went to campus. We went in and ended up at the freshly knobbed Baker ledge. Fuzz broke his board on a nollie down the ledge pretty much right away. DOH! Rob almost got a long manual around some cars, noseslide and front board between the knobs. I got a really slow halfcab flip then Rob and I collided. It was hilarious. I was trying some deck check shoves, but never got it. Got the worst back 180 off the curb and a ‘scared’ Neil got my back with a way better back 180. I tried to kickflip up the curb, but the rain got us. Neil had been ripping too. Nose manuals, wallrides on the barrier, ollies up and down the ledge. Stupid rain.

(setup 8.38″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

Was borderline skating before work as I had some errands to do first, but ended up getting there around 8:30 on a warm morning. I had the place all to myself again except right at the end when a blue haired lady did some rollerskating in the corner. I started off feeling good and ended up having a pretty good session. Early on got a line of crooks the picnic bench, kickflip on flat, noseslide shove the ledge. It’s been awhile since I’ve done that trick and I got it first try. That put me in a good mood. Then I kind of mixed up two main line attempts. Front 50 the ledge then kick back tail the tiny ledge. Got remotely close. Going the other way crooks the picnic bench, back 180 a parking block, fakie flip on flat, halfcab noseslide shove. I had done the halfcab noseslide, but never got the line as thinking of the shove out messed me up. At one point I got a first try fakie nosegrind the ledge which was also another high point (even though it was garbage). Got a few crooks on the metal bench, didn’t land 360 flip after. Finally got a couple front 50s on the picnic bench. Well, one was an accidental 5-0, the other a slow and fun 50. This spot rules.

Then after work I met Sean there before a filming mission. I was sore and it was hot and kinda crowded. Sean was ripping. I didn’t do much other than try boardslide 270 shoves on the small flatbar and nollie back tail shoves on the tiny ledge. Got close to the nbts. And I wallied the wallie thing before we left. Sean ollied the table like it was nothing and got on the benches easily.

(setup 8.38″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger orthotic insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a somewhat cool morning I went to dog park before work. I am so floored by this spot. I want to skate there so much and hopefully progress a little on ledges again. Warming up seemed hard at first. I was wearing some gamechanger insoles in hopes that I would have less knee pain. They helped. I had the place to myself. I cruised around doing lots of basics and lines for awhile. It’s so fun. I got a few slow front 50s on the ledge, front 5-0 the narrow ledge, got a front 50 shove, a bunch of crooks on the table bench, ollies over the kinked rail. Couldn’t get 50 on the picnic bench or ollie the wallie thing.

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After work I was eating/chilling/doing laundry when Dave texted to go to Glenn Close. He was there with Saul and Jake. Turns out it was Dave’s birthday! Happy Birthday Dave! It was a really fun session. Saul had done his first ever slappy crook and I saw him get another (unfortunately not on film though). Jake did slappy blunt to fakie (twice). Dave was doing incredibly long slappy crooks and noseslides. I got a slappy feeble first try then slappy front feeble a few tries later. I was so hyped! Hadn’t done the frontside one there before. Saul of course also did regular slappies on the raw curb. Dave had some good 180 lines. Back 180 into the curb cut, switch back 180 out, back 180 fakie 50. Slappy front crook to fakie, switch slappy crook shove!!!! We messed around with a few more things near the end like slappy back smiths, etc. Fun times, HBD D!

(setup 8.38″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, footprint gamechanger insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

After work I went to the new Dog Park on Steroids. I pulled into the parking lot and saw ~30 people skating. WHOA! The secret it out! It’s hard to describe the initial feelings I had rolling into the crowded spot that used to be our little secret. But the obstacles are awesome and everyone was pretty cool and it ended up being awesome. Nate was coming so everyone in the crew wanted to see him so our crew grew huge. Saul, Eric, Rob, Fuzz (very briefly), Matt, Kevin, Jake, Jack, Carleigh, Ed and of course Nate! Wow. I’m sure you can imagine how hard it would be to remember what everyone did. Especially since I’ve skated there 2 more times since. I started off super slow and cautious. Eric was ripping out of the gates. Rob went through a similar initial bum out, but ended up shredding and loving it. Street Ed was rad to see. He has a clean ollie and 50s. Saul was on the slappys. I didn’t see much and he was the first to go. Matt went off! All the stock tricks on ledges done with such good style. Kickflip and nollie shove over the little wallie, also front noseblunt the butter bench! Dude. Kevin them stock ledge moves too. Front blunt the butter bench, switch ollie the wallie thing, nollie flips galore. Rob snapped over the wallie thing and got wallie over it too, front board the tall bench, boardslides, halfcab boardslides, halfcab flips. I didn’t skate well, but was happy with some of the things I did. Front 50 the ledge, wallie the wallie thing, crooks the low part of the picnic table, halfcab noseslides, crooks the metal bench. Jake went off too. A million ollies onto the picnic table, a bunch of tricks on the ledge. Jack did a back 270 to front tail on the butter bench. Unreal. He also did nollie 180 crooks, bluntslide to front board the kinked rail and ended things with a totally f’d up kickflip hot dog that I’ll post soon. I didn’t see much of Carleigh, but she told me she tried and did a manual! Ha ha. Eric also told me he did a wallie front 180 over the wallie thing. And I believe him because he was doing regular wallies like it was nothing. Lots of heelflips too, crooks the butter bench. This place totally rules. Nate and I ended with no comply flips over the parking block. What a fun crew to roll with. Sorry if I forgot someone or any tricks you did. Love you all.

(setup 8.38″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), bones stf v2 51mm wheels, new balance numeric 212 maroon size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 5/10 in the knees)