Had contemplated meeting Dave at Erie park, but I didn’t really have enough warning and it was cold and snowy. I had setup a new board. I decided to just cruise across the street and it had started raining so Erie was out anyway. My knees were still jacked. I did a couple slappies on some dry parts and a few switch front 180s off a curb. The rain picked up so I went in my garage and did a few kickflips, fakie flip, terrible b/s flip, even worse frontside flip, some shoves, hucked some front heels, tried one treflip and called it a night.

(setup 8.75″ null event horizon 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 brown size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10 in the knees, knees, knees)

After doing various leg exercises for an hour or so and an early afternoon nap I went to campus on a cold day. I started at the meetup curb with slappy crooks over and over. Then eventually worked into a line that I was happy go get. Manual a median, slappy crooks, no comply 180, switch front noseslide the curbba. Then I moved in to campus further.

Then I ended up at the ol’ bank to curb. I had seen an instagram post earlier with someone doing a front 180 onto a bank then a fakie nosegrind on a curb so wanted to try it. It took awhile, but I did get it. I tried to do it again for the camera, but ended up just using a screenshot from a close one. In between tries I did some flippers and was happy my legs worked enough to allow a few. Kickflip, fakie flip, varial flip, b/s flip, a great feeling halfcab flip, but couldn’t get treflip.

Then I ended up at the physics ledge. My legs were starting to get sore. I got a couple noseslides. Tried to ollie onto it and came very close. Seeing the clip was encouraging. I was trying to ollie a little metal flat gap before ollieing onto the ledge which was fun, although I never quite got the ollie. Then some people people sat on the ledge. I went up to the student center and almost died the first couple of times I tried to ollie up the 2. Then Sean came and we split over to the weird curved ledge with the rail along it. I didn’t do much of anything after that. Sean felt out some stuff that we might go back and film. Then it started to rain. It was a fun day. I’m glad my knees mostly worked, but man they still hurt.

(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 brown size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 5/10 in the knees, knees, knees)

On a nice day Mike, Kevin and I hit La Raza. Sean would show up shortly after us. After laughing at our warmup routines we started warming up on our boards. Kevin was doing tricks like nothing. Mike and I struggled with some basics. My legs were pretty messed up again so I didn’t except much. I didn’t do any flippers, just put my effort into the ledge. I got some slow back 50s, halfcab noseslides, an accidental front 5-0, front 50, close to a front 50 shove. Then my legs pretty much gave out so I stuck to switch noseslides where I don’t pop. Got a couple switch noseslide 270 shoves which had nice tic tacs in the landing. Mike was having new shoe blues and it was weird seeing him struggle. He slammed super hard on a back 50 right out of the gate. He got back 50s, front 50s, nollie front nose, nollie back tails, took a long time to get front 50 shove, b/s flips, treflips, sw varial heel. Kevin had done 5-0s on the upper deck no problem before I started filming. He had a sick line of crooks on the red ledge then ollie the 6. Also a line of drop in, nollie flip, kick back tail. Sean of course did the basics on the ledges and the upper ledge easily. He was trying a trick for awhile. Back tail gap down to 5-0, but he couldn’t get it. So he settled for a line instead which he also didn’t get. I went through 2 batteries filming him and Kevin. Kevin at least got most of his line. Then after some dinner, Kevin and I went to the Dickies demoish thing and watched Franky subtly kill it. That was fun.

(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 brown size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10 in the knees, knees, knees)

Had the day off work. On a sunny morning I met Dave at something different – Erie park. My body was feeling no better, but I still tried. There were a couple other skaters originally. They were cool. We were all having fun. Dave and I had worked into trying some lines. He was doing nollies into the bank, smiths on the qp, fakie flip on the far bank. I’m forgetting all of it, but he had a lot of moves. The front 50 up top to transfer into the bank was extra hot. I had done a couple runs with kickflips and bailed 50s. Did a few kickflips to fakie then halfcab noseslides on the ledge. Got one front 50 on the main ledge finally. Dave did a sick boardslide 270 on the upper deck of the little ledge. He did a few actually. Two other dudes had shown up. They made the session not so fun. They were mega trendsters and not friendly. But whatever, we skated some more. Well, Dave did anyway, my legs had kind of hit the wall. Dave did the noseslide 270 a few times.

(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 brown size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 7/10 in the knees, knees, knees)

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Still feeling arthritic I went to 303 to get some Nikes for their Zoom Air insole. I wore them in my NBs. They feel really good. I walked/cruised around a bit. Found the mellowest tiniest hip ever. Did a fun line of front 270 over it then switch front 180 off a curb. Was going to try and add to it with a manual but a CU van came in and parked on it. Like no hesitation just straight park right in front of me and didn’t even look at me. Then I saw the parking blocks and started trying Dave’s trick. The no comply body varial. It came pretty easy, but it was hard to not flip the board. I was going really slow, but it still put me in a good mode. Then I hit the Folsom bank. I had fun even though I couldn’t get a 360 flip at the end. Next I wanted to do a line at the rec center with a trick on the ledge, ollie a rock, back 180 the 2 stair, but there were to many rocks from the construction to battle through. I ended up at the tiny yellow ledge and took a few tries to get back 50 and front 50. Almost got a back 5-0 too. Then I walked back to the car as my legs were toast.

(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 brown 379s size 12, nike zoom air insoles)
(pain level 6/10 in the knees, knees, knees)

On a gorgeous night I went over to the school. My arthritis was raging pretty hard. I started in the Westgates, did a few regular slappies, but the knee pain was just too much. So I switched shoes back to the 379s. It felt better, but still hurt. I got a fakie flip, but couldn’t get another one. Tried a line for a bit of front 5-0, back 180 into the curb cut, fakie bigspin out of the curb cut. Bailed the fakie big one too many times and called it a night.

(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 913 westgates b/w size 12 and brown 379s size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 7/10 in the knees, ankles, wrist)

Feeling very arthritic with lots of knee pain I couldn’t avoid the perfect weather. I wore some new shoes in hopes they would help. NB# Westgates (thanks Tytus!). They felt incredibly stiff before skating, but they ended up feeling great the first session. I started at the curbs, did a bunch of slappies, a couple flip tricks. Tried some fakie 50s and nosegrinds. Got one front slappy. Then I went to the street in front of my house determined to do 10 flippers before going in. I had already done kickflip, varial flip and backside flip while skating the curb so I only need 7 more. I got fakie flip, f/s halfcab flip (first try!), halfcab flip, 360 flip, a weird heelflip that came quick and I credit the shoes for landing it for me, fakie varial flip and a terrible fakie bigflip. Then I went in and updated this journal. It’s almost like a real time update. Maybe some day in the future ..

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), spitfire f4 classics 52mm green/yellow swirl wheels with 3 washers on the inside, new balance numeric 913 westgates b/w size 12, stock insoles)
(pain level 7/10 knee it got less painful as I went on. Guess I’ll be on cupsoles for a bit)

Determined to get further than the school across the street I drove 3 minutes to Southern Hills shortly before dinner on a gorgeous Mother’s Day. I was feeling pretty out of it and bummed on the Nuggets losing. I took my time before starting the line game. Boardslide, front 50 the step, noseslide. Then the same going frontside. I alternated backside / frontside each time I got a line. Noseslide to fakie, switch front 180 on flat, crooks. Then I went in on the elusive front 50 in a line. For awhile I was trying switch noseslide, back 50 the step, then front 50. I got in a few times and bailed a couple because of how slow I was going and how chunky it is. Then I switched it to starting with front 50. It took me a few tries but I got a front 50 and it really stoked me out. I managed to get the rest of the line too, back 50, no comply 180, switch nose. There were a few intentional back 5-0s on the step mixed in that felt cool. Also some heelflips, f/s halfcab flip. Then I went for a line of halfcab noseslide, front 5-0 the step, ollie onto a bench. The ollie onto the bench is weird because of angles there. And halfcab noseslides aren’t easy for me either. I got a few of them, some of which even felt good. Most of which were bad. I had a couple scary attempts to get on the bench at first. I would eventually get on one and kind of come to a grinding halt on the edge, but I landed it and I was fine with that because right then I got the text that I needed to be home. As much of a struggle as it was, I’m glad I tried. Getting one slow front 50 after being 0-3 the last few times there felt great as did doing some intentional back 5-0s.

(setup 8.75″ null valley deck, venture ftc 5.8s, doh dohs bushings (blue 88a barrel boardside one, yellow 92a roadside), spitfire f4 classic 52mm green/yellow swirl wheels with 3 washers on the inside, new balance numeric 379 tan/gum size 12, fp 5mm insoles with heel pad)
(pain level 6/10 knee)

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On a nice day I met up with Rob then Sean, Matt, Dave, and eventually Fuzz across the street.  Rob got in the groove quick with back 50s variations like shove out, 180 out, no comply out.  Back 180 fakie 50 to a super cool late revert.  Sean didn’t ollie the sign out of the curb cut, but he did have some solid grinds right away.  Matt took a couple tries to get a treflip, but man that first one was textbook.  I was skating alright, pretty sore though so not flipping the board as much as usual. Regular slappies are so fun.  Dave waxed the curb a bunch as his warm up.  Ha.  He had some good long noseslides then even longer crooks and switch crook.  So crazy how he can post up so well on them.  Pretty sure he got shove out of both.  Fuzz arrived, had an awkward slam pretty quick, but started ripping.  He had gotten into this line of ollie into the curb cut, front 180 out of the next on the hard way then fakie nosegrind 180.  He got it once, but went to clean it up and mid fakie roll away after a fakie nosegrind jib he focused his board.  Doh.  He must have been on a bad one and he bounced.  The board focus was pretty impressive as he was still moving, but he slammed hard.  We tried to imitate it for a bit and just posing it was scary.  Back to it Rob was the first to leave.  But not until he had done a bunch more stuff.  Poppy ollies out of the curb cuts, bean plants, slappy crooks, kickflips out of the curb cut, a lot more I’m forgetting. Oh wait, actually Sean was the first to leave. He had done the line above as well as a fakie flip out of the curb cut to the parking lot that was so smooth. Matt was trying a line of treflip, nollie front 180, halfcab noseslide. It was funny though, Matt needs a taller ledge because he was struggling with curb tricks. He would get a lot of tricks though. Dave too, so many different tricks. Not sure if he got the front 5-0 shove though. In the end it was Dave, Matt and I. The wind was my excuse to not try a treflip out of the curb cut, but really it was all the knee pain I was in. I struggled to get the front shove out of the curb cut. I had a lot of fun slappies and got a few frontside ones. The only new trick I got there was a slappy to shuffle fakie into the bank. I tried so many of them, but only got one. I managed a couple front slappies at the end where I got on top. Dave had been lining out shoves and bigspins and switch slappy crooks. I know I’m missing a lot. It was a fun session.

(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, fp 5mm insoles with heel pad)
(pain level 6/10 knee)

On a cool, but finally dry day, I left work for a long lunch meeting Dave and Rob at Gray Skies. Dave was there first, Rob arrived basically when I did. We started our warm ups. Three dudes carving/manualling/turning around on flat. Ha. But things started to come together. I missed my first kickflip, but then got 3 in a row after that. Other flippers came pretty quick after that. Fakie flips. Had a line of pop shove, kickflip, varial flip. Got a treflip pretty quick too. Dave was last to get a kickflip, but then he started doing sex changes in lines after kickflips. He was doing them really solid. Rob did a crazy line. Fakie big, nollie shove, shove, front shove, no comply shove, kickflip then almost bs flip. He had gotten a few solid bs flips. Rob was also going for a line of back 180, fakie 3 shove, halfcab flip. Not sure if he got the halfcab flip in that line, but once he unlocked it he landed a bunch. And a heelflip too. Dave was popping nollie shoves, switch no comply 180s, front shoves, going for front bigs, had varial flips, almost fakie varial flips and fakie sex changes. I had gotten a couple f/s halfcab flips, finally a couple sloppy heelflips, halfcab flips, a sex change, bs flip, kind of a fakie big flip. Doesn’t seem like a long list, but it felt like I skated alright. I left right as Dave stomped a fakie varial flip. Fun day with the dudes.

(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, fp 5mm insoles with heel pad)
(pain level 3/10 knee)