On a cool evening I went over to Saul’s and joined him and Ed for a sunset session. Writing about the tricks that happened is always short because it’s way harder to skate than it looks. Saul almost got a really long 5-0, he had the best back 50 I’ve seen him do, did his patented long lines with lots of carve grinds, a bunch of really good ride in grinds. Ed bailed a bunch of back disasters. Ha ha. He did some really nice looking rock ‘n rolls, long back 50s, but yeah, couldn’t reel in the back d. I enjoyed the bigger setup. I had a few back 50s better than I’ve done in awhile, a couple little front scratches. Tried front smiths for awhile, but never got one.

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), spitfire f4 radials 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels with 3 washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 tan/gum size 12, rubbery lakai insoles)
(pain level 3/10 some knee pain)

Man I love this part. Neil has such a classic street style. His ollies are perfect, he hops up ledges like it’s nothing, he skates fast. Neil rules. There are still DVDs available …

Went out to the garage and did a few manuals to warm up, then some kickflips and a fakie flip. I had put a washer on the boardside bushing to try and prevent wheelbite a little. It might help.

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), spitfire f4 radials 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels with all washers on the inside, new balance numeric 868 black/gum size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 6/10 knee pain)

Windy Sunday. I was surprised Rob and Dave risked the drive from Longmont. We all showed up at “Glenn Close” around the same time. I had switched to some narrower Spitfire Classics to see if it reduced wheel bite. It did. They didn’t feel as stable though. Saul was doing slappys no problem right out of the gates. He did some around the lower corner too. We all started out doing our own things. My knees were really hurting, most likely from the big weather change about to happen. I should have probably wore cupsoles. Rob was feeling the spot this time. Had some nice lines going with 180s out of curb cuts, no comply shove out of curb cut, back 50s quick. Dave went in on completely posted up crooks. They were amazing. Saul did a cool hands-behind-the-back slappy (I would later do because it looked so fun). I kind of got slappys through the corner, couldn’t get a front slappy, had so much fun doing backside ones. The spot is really cool how everyone skates it different. I was kinda caught up in my own line attempts so don’t remember a whole lot. I know Rob had done back smiths, nollie back 5-0, nollie front 50, front 5-0. Dave did a bunch of crook shoves was lining out with 180s and switch 180s on curb cuts, fakie bigspins, front shoves. The wind was super intense at times. I had a fun line of front 50, front slappy the curb cut, b/s flip straight out of the curb cut. Also a front 50 back 180 then a fakie flip off the curb cut that felt good until I rolled into the grass about six inches past the bump. Ha. Was also hyped to finally get a front shove out of the curb cut. I’m not sure how to differentiate between going straight out of the curb cut or going into the parking lot. Maybe only I will know. I also had a fun ollie over a water bottle, some good feeling slappy front crooks, front 5-0s, and lots of regular slappys. What a cool spot. We ended as Dave did his second switch slappy crook shove. Unreal. Fun spot, fun crew.

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, spitfire f4 classics green/yellow 52mm swirl wheels with all washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 tan/gum size 12, rubbery lakai insoles)
(pain level 6/10 knee pain)

I met up with Rob, Sean, Carleigh and eventually Fuzz (yes Fuzz at Broomfield park!) at Broomfield before 11am. Warming up was alright. Sean was doing his flip trick warm up. I was kind of all over. Rob was putting on a demo. Ha. Back 50 back 180, front 50 back 180, back 50 shove, manuals, nose manuals all happened quickly. Sean had some great looking flippers. The nollie heel was probably my fav. Carleigh showed and almost manualled the blue pad first try. She had some good boardslides and front 50s then did her disasters on the brick qp. I manualled the blue pad which is rare. Had a line with “nollie” front tail to fakie, fakie axle to fakie the quartapotty, fakie nosegrind (just a real quick jib). Rob was doing lines starting with the blue ledge and ending black and I wanted in on that. I know he had several back 50 shoves, a fakie nosegrind 180 or two, crooks, front boards. I got a line of noseslide the brown ledge, treflip on flat, crooks the black ledge. That line was the highlight for me. Carleigh worked on back 50s. Sean was doing tricks like nollie back nosegrind shove perfectly on the ledge. Fuzz had arrived and after starting off chill with some manuals and slappy noseslides he did a banger of a line. Ollie the little rail into the bank, ollie onto the happy ledge, back 180 off, switch front shove. Dude! Rob and I played a fun game of SKATE. I think we had a combined 20 tries before b/s flip was landed. I think I was the one to get it. I took awhile to get halfcab flip. Rob got me with 3 shove and fakie 3 shove. I ended up getting Rob with a no comply b/s shove. Fuzz had dared him to do double or nothing. Blame Fuzz. Ha. Really fun session. Had to get home and celebrate Ollie turning 17! So crazy. Time flies. Go skate while you still can.

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, spitfire f4 radials 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels with all washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 tan/gum size 12, rubbery lakai insoles)
(pain level 6/10 knee pain)

I’ve been wanting to try an 8.75″ board for awhile now. After dinner on a breezy Friday night with rain showers threatening I went to the research ledge. I started up near the long stairs and messed around for a bit. I was amazed how easy it was to ollie up a step. After a bit I went down to the ledge and tried noseslide and it stuck so fierce I almost flew into the wall. Yikes. So I waxed it. It’s not in that great of shape anymore. Saul biked by as the rain drops started, but the wind dried them up quickly. I had some growing pains with the big board, but for the most part it was a decent session. I skated the first half in the 379s, but since I’ve been so sore I also busted out some old 868s. They felt pretty comfy, but harder to flick. I did manage my best line in them though. Front 180 up the curb, halfcab flip on flat, crooks, sketchy treflip on flat. I also managed to kickflip up the curb which I was extra happy about with the bigger board. With the crack placement on that curb it makes me pop sooner than I want to get up the curb. I had a few bad tic tac’y back 50s, a not-posted-up-at-all halfcab noseslide, couple front 50s that didn’t really grind because the ledge up hill is garbage, was 3-3 on backside flips. I tried to end with some posted up crooks, but it was pretty dark and I didn’t have nearly as good of board feel in the 868s.

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, spitfire f4 radials 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels with all washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 / 868s size 12)
(pain level 5/10 knee pain)

On a nice day I went to the dog park right after work to meet Rob. I was quite tired and it was a struggle to get it going. We did some manuals. Rob’s were long. Warmed up to start trying kickflips and we played a game of SKATE. I was really struggling. I got to SKAT quickly with front shove, no comply shove and double on backside flip. Argh. Rob was being a gentleman and going for a legit 3 shove to end it, but couldn’t get it. I eventually came back with fakie flip, no comply 360 (can’t believe he didn’t get that one), he got two on halfcab flip and I think it ended on heelflip. After that I did the silly front flip over the bar and then we played with a few tricks. We both tried f/s halfcab heel. I landed on a couple, but didn’t ride away. Rob’s looked really close too. I couldn’t get a treflip, got a bad b/s flip finally. Then it was time to go and celebrate 21 years with the LZA.

(setup 8.38″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, spitfire f4 radials 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels with all washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, rubbery lakai insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a very nice night I went over to the slappy curb feeling lazy and to meet Saul. I couldn’t decide which size board to setup, but luckily I found an old 8.3 with a slightly cracked tail to mount up for now. I also put some old Spitfires on because pushing on that rough asphalt is hard on Bones. Slappies were working. Backside is so fun. Saul showed shortly after me. He was getting almost two sections. So amazing. We each had some okay frontside ones, but definitely not as locked in as backside. The slightly smaller board didn’t seem to flip any better. Maybe it’s the wider wheels. Maybe it just really doesn’t matter. I tried a few other slappies like switch crook, front crook, hurricane, but nothing really worked out. Saul had a nice slappy into the steeper curb cut. Also almost around the corner below. Fun mellow session.

(setup 8.38″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, spitfire f4 radials 52mm blue/yellow swirl wheels with all washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, rubbery lakai insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a super nice night I met up with Rob, Sean, Kevin and eventually Carleigh at a very crowded Broomfield park. Luckily it thinned out quickly, but it was chaos for awhile. The middle lane was kinda chill though and Kevin and Sean were starting off on flat. I joined in on the 3 makes program. Kevin was on nollie f/s flip before I had gotten to halfcab flip. Sean rattled off tricks too. Rob had done a few kickflips and was lining out the ledges. I was happy to get the halfcab flips and then went for treflip. Got two horrible ones and luckily the third worked out good enough. Carleigh had shown and was skating the bowl. Kevin and Sean were on the black ledge. Rob and I were around the manny pad. I got jealous of Rob’s long lines and tried to get some too. But it’s hard when you’re disappointed in every trick you land. Ha. Rob had front 50 back 180, fakie nosegrind, fakie nosegrind 180, back 50 the downhill ledge. Ripping. I think there was a b/s flip on flat too. I had a fakie 50 to fakie which I haven’t done in awhile, some terrible back 50s. Yikes, that’s about it. Then I started trying the black ledge too. Was trying a line of front 50, dork double rock the wedge, kick 50 the blue ledge. Got close. Then started trying kickflip to fakie on the wedge. Sean did that line above casually a bit earlier. Mike had come too. I didn’t even really see him skate before he broke his board. Kevin started trying nollie flip to fakie on the wedge. He got it quick. Then switch flip too. Carleigh took a bit to get front d, then did back d real quick on the brick qp. I had a pretty high percentage on front 50s for awhile, but then started to flail so started just ollieing onto the black ledge instead for the setup for the kickflip to fakie. Sean was doing a sick line to get to fakie flip on the wedge. Back 5-0 front 180 out the happy ledge, front 50 back 180 the happy ledge, fakie flip. He got it and added a nollie back heel to the line. Wow. I eventually focused my board after a failed kickflip to fakie. Then I borrowed Sean’s board and did perhaps the worst kickflip to fakie that’s ever been done. I was super sore, I need thicker insoles.

(setup 8.5″ null lazer deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside) no boardside washer, bones stf v1 pj 53mm wheels, new balance numeric 379 brown/gum size 12, nb# westgate insoles)
(pain level 7/10)