Went to Safeway on a warm Saturday to meet Rob, Fuzz, Kevin and Sean. Kevin and Rob were there when I arrived. Kevin was already doing nollie flips and tailslides or something. I was feeling pretty good as I warmed up with the ol’ no-pop noseslides and went into some of my basics. Fuzz and Sean showed around the same time. Sean went on to totally destroy. He landed pretty much everything first try for awhile. Rob was in the zone for awhile. Cab front nose fakie, bigspint front nose to forward (Rob NBD), back smiths, nollie lips. Totally shredding. Fuzz came life and threw down a sick little line for the Stubborns. I couldn’t do kick back 50, but I did get a first try front 50 front shove out that felt really good. Kevin did a back tail shove. Sean learned fakie flip front tail and did it buttery ( that might be the first time I’ve used buttery on this blog). Oh yeah my 255s tore on the sole so I changed over to some old 212s.

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@baffoos fighting the good fight. Good times at La Raza yesterday

A post shared by Rob Helmstetter (@43shifty) on Sep 23, 2018 at 9:47am PDT

Then we went to La Raza. I was starting slow and Rob was feeling a trick so I filmed him get a line for the Stubborns. Back 180, halfcab board shove, no comply shove. The tricks alone sound great, but then remember that style king Rob did them and you can get even more excited for the video. Rob was also kind enough to film Fuzz after this go for a tech hammer while I warmed back up. Less than 20 tries later Fuzz put down a banger. Switch board to front board. Powerful as all get out. Dang, we stacking clips! Kevin and I skated for awhile. Kevin was trying a line of fakie bigspin over the weird crack then nollie nosegrind shove. He was getting close. I took a long time to get a regular shove over the crack then tried to follow it with front 50 or 5-0 shove out. I didn’t get it and started filming Kevin who eventually had to call it.

All day I had been thinking of a trick I wanted to try into this bank. Sean had said he thought it was possible. Having never been to this spot it was hard to say, but I wanted to no comply finger flip into it. When we got there the bank looked intense. I couldn’t even drop in from the top initially. But I stayed calm and played with it for awhile. Dropping in a couple feet further each time until I felt comfortable with the roll in. Kevin rolled in a couple times too. I started playing with the trick just to feel it out. It kinda seemed doable. The runway is absolutely terrible. It was super hot. There were ants everywhere. There was gum right where I wanted to push. But I kept at it inching closer and closer before getting a lame one. Thankfully Fuzz knew I could do better and told me to give it another try. I went for it that try, but the board didn’t flip right. Did I mention my fingers were bloody from flipping the board? A good slam and a dozen more bails then I rode away from a better one. It felt pretty amazing. What’s also amazing is the camera died on the roll away. Luckily there is enough roll away that it looks fine. But man I was happy as it comes. Everyone was. We stacked some good clips and had fun. On the way to the car Kevin did nolle flip and nollie treflip while holding onto a bottle. Ha. We went out to dinner and had some margs and it was a blast.

(setup 8.25 null lazer deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12 then brown 212s size 11.5, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 general soreness)

After work and a very long drive Rob and I ended up at Fossil. The whole point of going was really because I just wanted to do crooks on the main ledge. So to say I was disappointed when we noticed a flatbar sitting in front of it and bikers/skaters doing ledge to rail combos is an understatement. I had a new deck. Back to my norm of 8.25. It felt weird. I kept missing the tail initially. We were at the top area. Rob was hitting manuals and nose manuals right away. I did have a good feeling 2nd try nollie back tail on the curb. Chadman showed up. Hugs were had. He immediately went to work trying to earn his spot back on the team. Ha ha. He did kill it though. Ollies over the little ledge off the curb like it was nothing. The ollie over to nose manual was extra sick. He almost got it back 180 to fakie nose manual too. Rob was going in on nose manual shove to manual and getting super close. I had a few kickflips up the curb, but they didn’t come easy. Had some ollies up the 3 stair ledge, but never really landed the stairs. Rob got up the ledge too and managed to get down the stairs. Chadman switch heeled up the ledge! He was flying up/down the 3 stair. Okay, mostly just up it, he didn’t really do anything down it. Another dude joined us for awhile. Then we went down to the main area and asked if we could skate the ledge without the flatbar. It was moved and I got a great feeling crooks pretty quick to make the drive feel somewhat worth it. Rob kept with the nose manual shove manual attempts. Chad 50’s all of it, first try fakie 5-0, first try hardflip up the ledge, front 5-0, manuals, kickflips up, etc. He was shredding and it was fun to watch. I struggled even with front 50s on the lower part. The accidental 5-0 felt fun. Rob and I had a good laugh since he was the only other one there that knew it was an accident. I got a couple more crooks, but struggled with them more than I wanted to. I first try halfcab noseside cheered me up a little even it wasn’t posted up (since when have I ever posted up on the trick though?). It got dark. Chad switch pole jammed a deck that was placed in a crack. Good seeing Chad, but not sure the drive through Friday traffic was worth it.

(setup 8.25 null lazer deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, bones medium bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 ingrown toenail hurt and I just felt weird in general)

Went to Erie park after a run to boulder 303. I arrived to the park 30 minutes later than I wanted to, but I guess it worked out as Kevin said a bunch of scooter kids had just left. There were some youth with energy and pop ripping the park. I don’t really like this park much when it’s even slightly crowded. I kind of locked up and didn’t do anything. I tried to warm up with the dork kickflip off the little wedge to mellow bank. Kevin was shredding. Crooks, back 50s, front nosegrinds, halfcab into the euro. Dude kills it. There was another somewhat older dude there that was nice and fun to skate with. He had some moves like front 50 on the bank to ledge. Kevin had a good slam on a front 5-0 attempt down the little rail/hubba thing. I couldn’t even kickflip to fakie on the bank. The maze grip on my old warped 8″ board was driving me nuts, the print makes it so slippery. I didn’t do much other than a couple longer than normal noseslides. Kevin had a real bad slam on a back tail on the qp where he stepped on his leg. We thought he was done, but we ended up playing a game of SKATE that was the only part of the night I had some fun. The slippery grip got me a few times, but we still got through a lot of tricks. Of course I got letters on nollie/switch flip. I got him with halfcab flip. I got close but couldn’t land nollie varial flip and f/s halfcab heel. Kevin eventually won it, I forget the trick. Then we split.

(setup 8 null lazer deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, doh dohs 92 bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 2/10 but felt really off)

Went to Lafayette after work with rain threatening and some gusty wind. Since I had cracked my board and didn’t have grip I had mounted an older 8″ board I had in the garage. The park wasn’t too crowded. I had some fun little grinds in the fishbowl, almost a lipslide in it. A fun little backside ollie under the manhole bump, almost a kickflip to fakie on a bank almost front 50 on the granite ledge and then the rain started. I was kind of bummed since I was just approaching the warmed up stage, but also kind of happy to get home and chill.

(setup 8 null lazer deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, doh dohs 92 bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 pretty sore when I started)

After a long day of work and some soccer with Ollie I went to Broomfield debating just staying at home. There weren’t many people when I arrived. Justin and Darin were playing on the quartapotty/manny pad. Sean was dynamically stretching. Rob had been there a bit and was already sweating. Justin was on a bad one trying front 180 fakie manual over and over and not getting it until the inevitable board focus came. Darin had some tricks on the qp. Rob had a nice nose manual on the brown angled ledge, but didn’t get it again. He had some fakie bigspins and b/s flips too. Sean warmed up with flippers and played back heel with Darin after Justin left. I struggled with front 50. Argh. I was determined to get a line I’ve wanted to do for awhile. Start at the ledge and end at the six stair. Everyone else had left except Sean and I. He was trying a line of front nosegrind the happy ledge, nose manual 180 the brown angled ledge, switch back heel. He did it, but kept at it because the switch back heel wasn’t perfect. I had settled on front 50 front shove out, back shove out of the mellow bank, curve around the pool then ollie the six stair. I went through waves of problems with the front 50, but near the end I was somewhat consistent. I few tries before the make I snapped the tail real good. Kinda surprised there was any pop left, but it worked out. I didn’t know Sean was filming the ollie. Pretty cool. It was a really fun line even if I splatted ~10 times before riding away.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, doh dohs 92 bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 knees were sore at the beginning)

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Impromptu park session with @fullertrron after a long day of work. #accidentalwallie

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Sep 17, 2018 at 9:07pm PDT

After a long day of work and impromptu session at this little Longmont park went down. We were alone when we got there, but we had to deal with waves of scooter kids, one young one in particular that would not ever shut up. I went in pretty quick on the flippers. Had a fun line of front tail over the hip, b/s flip on a bank, kickflip fakie on a bank then fakie shove on a bank. Dave was doing long tailslides over the hip, bluntslides. Then we worked into the lines above which were fun for both of us. We took turns filming each other. It’s a lot easier to film when there’s just two people. Dave’s back 180s were gnar. Loved the switch hippy jump. I didn’t land many of the fs flips clean, but they were fun. I was also hyped to get the ollie up the taller ledge. After we got our lines first try (ha) we kept at it. I had a fun line of frontside tiny ollie the hip, front 180 off the curved ledge then a little switch nose jib. Dave was doing solid front 50s on all of the bump to ledges. We did some kickflip flyouts. I tried treflip flyout, didn’t get so close. I did a few front 50s around the C ledge that were super fun. Then we messed around with the silly ollie to fakie 50 well past the sunset and when we were supposed to be home. This park is really fun.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 2/10 a little knee pain built up over the session)

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#allhailcardio @baffoos @fullertrron @edhatesfun @43shifty @matthouse

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Sep 15, 2018 at 4:42pm PDT

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Boneless buddy line with @fullertrron at the Estes Park pump track. Repost since I hated the graininess of the compressed video.

A post shared by Ed (@edhatesfun) on Sep 15, 2018 at 4:52pm PDT

On another hot day Ed suggested heading into the hills and hit Estes Park. Seemed fun. A million texts later Kevin and I pulled into the park, Rob arrived shortly after us. Ed and Matt a bit later and then Dave eventually. Kevin and I chilled and looked around for a bit before skating. Kevin was doing all kinds of tricks on the ledge immediately. Back 5-0, front nosegrind, etc etc. I was feeling a bit awkward. Maybe it was the expected result from not wearing orthotic insoles or maybe even just being in the higher altitude. Rob, Kevin and I mostly hit the ledge. When Matt and Ed joined they did the same. I was struggling with front 50s, but landed all my crooks. Matt quickly did 50s, 5-0s, even a back nosegrind. Back tail takes him a bit now. Rob was shredding the qp. Front d and t. Boardslide, halfcab board and crooks the ledge. Ed had some smooth boardslides on the flatbar, ollied onto the ledge and front 50. I had a harsh slam trying to cali grind over the hump. Dave showed and didn’t seem to realize there was a ledge at the park. Ha ha, he hit the bank to curb and quarterpipes. The sketchy roll in was crazy. Other tricks on the ledge. Kevin nollie nosegrind, Matt front tail, me front 50 shove and 50 180.

Then we went to the pump track. There isn’t much to say about it other than it’s super fun and it burns the legs! Two laps really gets to you. Ed and Dave doing bonelesses was sick.

Lastly we played some flatground SKATE in a gazebo area with super smooth concrete. Dave, Kevin, Rob and I played a game of SKATE. Kevin went first and Rob was out not really trying the nollie flip/switch flip game. Dave had an epic switch flip where he rolled up slow to a picnic table and held on for a switch flip. Totally counted. I like trying the tricks I can’t do, the switch frontside flip felt doable. We played another game with no repeats. I at least got a few letters on Kevin this time. Even though he got 360 flip I was happy to get one and it felt so good. I got outed on nollie tre though which I just can’t seem to do anymore. Rob was working on frontside flips and getting so close. Then we bounced.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 4/10 especially after the pump track)

On another hot and sunny day I went to dog park after work. I did some dynamic stretching then started in on the basics trying for little 3 trick lines that got progressively harder. I knew I was feeling pretty good when I got the kickflip, no comply 180, fakie flip first try. And especially when I got halfcab flip first try (and most tries) as I put it down with backside flip. I went for heelflip then treflip and got a first try heelflip and darn near got the treflip too. But then heelflips became very hard and I don’t know why. I would get quite a few, but they were these weird primo catch and would somehow roll over. I started adding kickflip to the start so it could be an ironman line and ended up getting it. The kickflip was good, the heelflip was sketch, but man, the treflip felt incredible. When I would bail tricks in lines I would normally try a switch or nollie flip on the way back. I got insanely close to nollie flip, switch flips weren’t too far off either. I got another two tricker. Frontside halfcab flip then frontside flip. But the f/s flip was more of an over 80 defense kind of thing. Took awhile to get fakie flip then fakie varial flip. Tried a line of fakie treflip then halfcab heel, but gave up after awhile. I needed to get Dave a trick so I tried fakie bigflip for awhile and I couldn’t do it. In ~15 minutes all I got was this terrible one above. So then I went across the street to the manny pad and tried nose manny shove until I got it. Took about 10 minutes. Landing it was fun. It was another day without orthotic insoles and I felt great. I hope my body can keep this up because I felt great.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 2/10 a little knee pain built up over the session)

This dude is a shredder.

So I was super annoyed with the Es Swifts the night before. I wanted to try vulcs again. I pulled some lightly worn 255s out of the closet and put some Footprint 5mm insoles in them. I drove all over town trying to find something to skate. Valmont was dark, new ledge area is close to the police station, blah blah, I ended up back at research ledge. I set the board down and immediately felt better about my feet situation. I went to the front and rode down the long stairs as a warm up. Then down to the ledge. Much to my delight the student bus wasn’t parked there and would never come. Hopefully they stopped running it! I felt a little weird because of the different shoes, but for the most part felt great. I had some funny slams up the curb, but other then that I skated great. I was trying. I got into a back 50 right away, but didn’t land it. I would never get a proper 50. I was having fun forcing myself to ollie up the curb at a spot that was a little further than normal. The highlight was how easily I was getting onto the ledge frontside. I got into like 5 front 50s in a row. I only landed a couple, but the chunky ledge is partially to blame for that. I was even going a little faster than normal too. It was encouraging to say the least. I ended trying front 180 up the curb then halfcab noseslide the ledge. I got a very bad halfcab noseslide that took a long time. I ended with a couple fun crooks. I felt great in vulcs. My toes hurt less. My heel didn’t hurt. My knees were sore after though so we’ll see how long I could keep this up.

(setup 8.25 null perception deck, venture 5.25 awake lows, stock white bushings, 3 washers inside each axle, 51mm v1 bones stf wheels, new balance numeric 255 cream/gum size 12, footprint flat 5mm insoles)
(pain level 3/10 general knee and toe pain)