After a poor night of skating last night I wanted to blame my setup. Even though I know it was just me. I went in the garage and kickflipped all the boards in my quiver to see what was easiest and what worked best, etc. I had to assemble an 8.25 with 8″ high trucks to get a full range of sizes. And it ended up being the best feeling kickflip. My last setup of 8.1″ with 8″ low trucks felt pretty bad actually. But not as bad as the 8.5″ with 8.5″ trucks. Neat.

I’m always tired after work anymore. Today was no exception. On a cloudy and perfect night I forced myself to go to campus even though I wasn’t motivated and my knees hurt. I started out with some slappy crooks. I got quite a few that weren’t posted up very well. I was starting to not like how tight my trucks felt with the harder indy bushings either. After getting one slappy crooks I moved on to the two stair area I like. But someone was sitting there doing homework or studying for a final so I moved on. I posed some back 180s up a curb and wanted to ollie down a 3 stair, but there was a bunch of construction going on. I ended up at the little yellow ledge where I totally sucked. I got some front 50s and nothing else. I was having seriously mental motivation issue. When my legs hurt I should probably not skate, because it really takes me down. But I got a little motivation going. I was doing little dork plants off a nearby ledge, 180s, trying switch front crooks, got a couple kickflips and couldn’t commit to a treflip. Back 50s were scary. I only really committed to a couple of them and it bummed me out. Almost got some nollie front lipslides, backside hurricane, front tail. I took a few tries to ollie off this ledge. I was scared just standing on it. Ugh. I bailed more ledge tricks for awhile then I walked/rolled back to the car feeling really bummed out.

(setup 8.125 null inspiration deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock indy bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

Met Dave at Twin Peaks on a warm and muggy Sunday around noon. I had changed bushings yet again. This time stock Indy bushings I had laying around. I really want to avoid wheel bite and have more stability. These felt stable for sure. Dave and I started with a warm up game of SKATE on the bank. It was rad. We had quite a mixture of tricks. Shoves, kickflips, bonelesses, etc. I randomly tried a regular boneless to fakie and it ended up being really fun. And maybe the start of my comeback as Dave was looking to pink slip me. Dave got a letter on me with kickflip to fakie. Ha ha. He almost got me with fakie flip too, but luckily I had two tries. I milked the two tries a few times. I was able to get the worse “switch front shove” ever done, but it actually hyped me up. On fakie/switch tricks Dave was pushing switch like it wasn’t switch, I was pushing switch like it’s very hard. Ha. I almost went down a couple of times. Dave got me with fakie shove. I hit him with b/s kickflip, f/s flip, no comply shove to fakie, boneless to fakie (which he got later and it looks really cool) and the last trick was no comply bigspin. Kind of surprised that won it. Then we both tried 360 flips for a long time. I think we both got close. Neither of us landed on the boards though. I think that trick is way harder on a bank. Then some lady came out of the school and told us we weren’t welcome. Doh. First time getting kicked out there.

Then we went to this nearby spot. It was way worse than I remember. We struggled initially, but being the amazing street skaters we are we adapted and conquered. Ha. Okay, we didn’t conquer, but we did manage to skate it. Dave had the moves again. Manual around the basketball hoop, wallie nollies, nollies, back “360” off the curb cut and ollied up the tall part of the ledge! Conquered! I took a long time to kickflip onto the sidewalk, couldn’t noseslide the unslideable bench. I took a long time to do some 2mph ollies up a lower part of the ledge and did a very non-popped backside 180 flop off the ledge. It felt cool though. I tried a couple tricks on the bank to curb part of the ledge that I enjoyed like front 5-0 to fakie. On the way out I tried to kickturn the steep bank because Dave told me to. I forgot how steep it is. It actually took me a few tries to get it. Lame.

(setup 8.125 null inspiration deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock indy bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

I met Eric and Rob at Louisville for a flatground session to start the day. It was cool because Brian and Ric were still there after their skate lessons so we hung for a bit. I was still feeling sore from Saul’s. I thought I would loosen up, but I didn’t. I was really hard to skate being that sore. I got a few kickflips, fakie flip, halfcab flip. That was about it. I had put some Thunder bushings in since I remembered liking them in the warmer months of the year. But I didn’t like them. I had a new deck too. The Jason deck. I guess Jason never cared about flip tricks much so it makes since his presence didn’t help me. Ha. Eric and Rob chatted a lot. It still rules seeing Rob in the mix again. Rob got kickflips back, had some really long manuals, did the best backside 180s. Eric was getting denied on heelflips. All seemed right, it just wasn’t happening. After awhile those two went into the skatepark and I just stubbornly tried a line of kickflip, one foot then varial flip. I kind of got it. It was incredible how little I could pop. Then I joined those dudes in the park. I was happy to show Rob I can finally do beanplants like him on banks now. Okay, wait a minute. I just mean I can do the same trick as him, not with the same style obviously. I did some ride on grinds onto the ledge and some boardslides on the flat bar, but that was it. I went home pretty sad at how sore I was.

(setup 8.125 null inspiration deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock thunder bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

After work I went to Saul’s, but not after taking a brief nap in my car first. I was stiff and sore and it showed. The crew ruled. Allan, Ric, Saul, Eric, Dave, Mark, and young guy Will that destroys. It was a really lazy session. With that many people there was no snaking and pauses between runs. Dave was taking 2-3 times the amount of runs as everyone else. Dave ripped it. He gets better every time he skates. It’s not fair. Allan is still the king of speed. Ric is the inspiration. Saul does more grinds in one run than anyone else. Mark keeps you on your toes. Eric got the back d on the qp and had some good lines and still rules the funny slams. I totally sucked, had fun with carve grinds though. It didn’t take long for my legs to totally shut down. I don’t get how pumping can hurt my legs so much. Or maybe it’s the bails and running down the transition. Carleigh showed after a few people had left and the session got going again. Fun crew. Bum legs. I didn’t have time to go through all the clips so I just loaded the amazing line Dave did when I was just sitting enjoying the warm weather.

(setup 8.25 null fortune deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock venture red bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

Feeling even worse than the day before I decided to take it easy and not skate. Which I thought would mean just hucking a few 360 flips in the garage on the putter. Nope. It meant 30 minutes of frustration and only getting one crappy one with my hands down. I don’t think I can even count them anymore. I actually tried to focus the putter at one point. Luckily it didnt’ break.

(setup garage putter 7.5″ 303 board, 42mm oj wheels, small thunder trucks)

Sick day curb fun.

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on May 2, 2017 at 7:42pm PDT

Fighting a cold, but wanting to skate I went over to the school across from my house and started playing on the parking block. I had put the stock Venture bushings in to experiment with tighter trucks and see if they help flippers. I started slow, but eventually started feeling good so I set up my phone and ended up rattling off a few of my favorites. The nosepick shove was pretty random, I don’t know the last time I even tried that. I’ve been having troubles with kick back 50 on anything so it felt good to get that again. The kick back tail was incredible feeling. All day I had obsessed about that trick and how I want to shove out. I didn’t try shove out, but I was still hyped to get it. The last tricks was the front pivot kickflip out. That one is so hard. I tap the front trucks and lunch break it, but I was still hyped on it. Maybe my favorite day in awhile just because of the tricks I actually landed. I couldn’t do a 360 flip after that to seal the deal though.

(setup 8.25 null fortune deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, stock venture red bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

Stonehenge sesh for #rabethica

A post shared by Rob Helmstetter (@43shifty) on Apr 30, 2017 at 1:38pm PDT

And then the snow was gone. It’s crazy how quickly the CO sun can melt the snow on a spring day. A small crew gathered at Stonehenge. One of the greatest spots ever. At first it was just Rob, Jake and I. It ruled seeing Rob in the mix again. The crew grew quicky. Pat Wang, Uriel, Jack, Carleigh, Riley, Sean, Sam, Donnie, JJ, a bunch of kids, Fuzz, John, etc, etc. It was rad. The bank to curb session was pretty crowded. Jack was rattling off tricks. Pat was trying tricks regular and switch. It was great seeing him and reminded me of just how much we used to skate together. Carleigh had a good slam on a front rock then landed a few. The best part was how hard Sean slammed trying a front rock later on. So I forget what all tricks others had been doing. I was happy to get a hurricane and close to back nosepick to back disaster. After awhile Pat challenged me to a game of SKATE over on the flat slab. I was stiff and struggled to get my first kickflip, but then several others joined the game. I still struggled, but felt a little better. Got another letter on 360 flip though. Argh. There was about 5 of us still in the game when the little kid in the game did a sex change and beat us all. Ha. So awesome. I should have kept trying 360 flips after that, but I went and sat down. Watching Riley and Jack skate was a treat. Then everyone started working on the jersey barrier which turned out to be completely amazing. I did skate the bank to curb a bit more with Jack, Carleigh, John, Sean and Fuzz. Fuzz got noseblunt yank in, Carleigh with the steez pivot, John back blunt and no comply to tail to shove out, Sean front pivot back 180 out. Jack did a million tricks I’m saving for the stubborns including a first try kickflip front 50 which I spent an hour filming there once. Ha. The pivot to pivot to shove was my favorite. Super fun day, wish I wasn’t so sore, but I had skated a few days in a row and it was colder so I shouldn’t be too bummed.

(setup 8.25 null fortune deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, venom 91a bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

Jason Heidecker memorial skate jam!

A post shared by andrew (@angnovick) on Apr 29, 2017 at 1:31pm PDT

I am writing this way too late unfortunately and will voice right away that I am going to forget a lot of what happened. Around 20-30 people showed up at Launch to skate for Jason. Andy is one incredibly awesome dude and he let us have the place for a Jason memorial jam. I started in the corner that has the parking block qp and stayed there the whole time. So I have no idea what transpired on the ramp. Jeff, Jack, Carleigh, Nate and eventually Max stayed in the area too. Nate started it off with a tailslide off the deck of the ramp into the bank. Nate also did the sickest no complys. Carleigh was doing backside blunts so good, then did them in a line with no comply to tail and back d on the regular quarterpipe. Jack did all kinds of wallrides down to disaster, a million bigpsin pivots and one to nosepick that I missed on camera, frontside noseslide/bonk the wall, lots of funny falls. I haven’t seen Jeff skate in a long time and it totally ruled. Pivot to takie then fakie flip into the bank, frontside flip the bank, nollie flip into the bank, blunt to fakie, manual up/down, 3 flip into the bank, a million more tricks. It ruled seeing Jeff. I had done a b/s flip 1/4 of the way up the mellow 1/4 pipe then wanted to do kickflip to fakie on it. The only way I had the motivation was to line it out with a silly boring stall trick like front 50 yank in, front feeble, hurricane (most of which took longer than they should), but I kept not getting it. Dylan joined us for awhile, totally ripping. He did a switch flip on the qp and made me keep trying the reg flip and made me do some tiny ollies to fakie which ended up being the most helpful advice as I landed it a few tries later. I was quite hyped. I have never done a kickflip to fakie on transition before. Max had joined and did a million tricks. Wallride into the bank, super popped front noseblunts, noseblunt to nose manual (wtf) and also lots of funny slams. Brian had joined for a bit trying perhaps the craziest trick ever. Blunt to fakie on the parking block qp then fakie tail skid to blunt fakie into the bank. He had some horrendous slams, but he said they weren’t as bad as the last time he was there trying that trick. Crazy! He didn’t get it, but it was close for sure.

(setup 8.25 null fortune deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, venom 91a bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)

Went to Broomfield park around 11am on a Friday I had off work. It was beautiful outside even though the snow clouds were looming over the foothills. I was just me and another dude for awhile. I was still totally rusty, but started feeling better. I just kept skating. It took 5 tries to land a kickflip. Ha. I was scared to try lots of stuff, but I kept at it. I really didn’t land much in 3 hours, but I got some stuff I was happy with. Front 50s on the little ledge and even one on the black ledge. I haven’t done that “tall” of a front 50 in a long time. I can’t really think of any other tricks I was hyped on until the very end when I started dorking around with switch front crooks on the low part of the brown banked ledge. Somehow it worked, I got into a few right away and actually even landed one. It felt rad. Dave on the other hand was slaying it. Boardslide across and down the rail, almost feeble to boardslide down it. Solid 50s on the ledge, bag lady on the brick qp, so much more I’m not remembering. Oh near the end we tried a flatground trick, quartapotty trick, trick on the steep bank. Dave did back bigpsin, back d (I think?) then front tail on the bank. Gnar. I did halfcab flip, front feeble, axle stall (I think). It was so rad, Dave was landing back bigspins! I can’t believe I lasted 3 hours.

(setup 8.25 null fortune deck, venture 5.2 low awake trucks, 1/16″ risers, 3 washers inside each axle, venom 91a bushings, swiss bearings, 50mm spitfire classic formula 4 wheels, new balance numeric pj 533 black/white 12 stock insoles)