La Alma-Lincoln skatepark Denver

Made a run to Emage and they suggested I check out this little park. It was sunny and hot out, no one was there except a couple kids on bikes briefly. The little ledge is pretty good, but on more of a hill than it looks. Easy backside, hard frontside for me. The quarterpipes are a little weird too. I couldn’t really figure out the flow, but I didn’t skate them too much. I skated slow and had very little confidence and shortly the pain took over. Ugh. Tricks I got, noseslide fakie, front board, back board, front 50, intentional front 5-0, switch noseslides, halfcab noseslide. One crooks was fun as I was trying to go to fakie, but ended up doing a shifty out. Couldn’t manual it. Left not feeling very happy.

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.8 trucks, venom 88a bushings, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the outside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles and stock insoles)

~ it was super fun putting this little line together for the #bftriple challenge ~ thanks for 📹 @corpoglenny ~ yeeeee #thestubborns #shopownersthatskate

A post shared by Jeremy Frankovis (@_f_u_z_z) on Aug 12, 2017 at 7:02pm PDT

This was all I could muster. #bftriple #bakermaker #kindof #switchstance #slow #reallyslow #selfdeprecation #handsdown #bolts #nofilter #hashtag #thestubborns

A post shared by glen gillinghammer (@corpoglenny) on Aug 12, 2017 at 7:01pm PDT

After a morning of working on my mom’s garage then driving down from Buena Vista I eventually went to Broomfield park to meet Fuzz and Rob. It was dry in Boulder, but really wet in Broomfield. Apparently it had just hailed. I got to the park and one dude was skating through the puddles like it was nothing. I avoided the wet area below and just skated flat and the little hump which was dry. My body was feeling okay. I tried kickflip, nollie to fakie, switch front shove. Never got the switch front shove. Then I started to think about a line I would want to do for the #bftriple contest. So I mostly started doing halfcab flips and no comply shoves. I got a few then noticed the bottom area had dried up enough to skate. Oh yeah, I had put Venture wides on because I absolutely hated those Thunders. I can’t say I was 100% hyped on them because they are so big, but I can say they felt infinitely better than the Thunders. I started trying my line. Ollie up the blue bank, no comply front shove to fakie, halfcab flip on flat, no comply flip on the parking block. I got close a few times. Rob and Fuzz finally showed and unfortunately so did the loud weirdo beginner that was there last time. It took me down for a bit and I could not longer do no comply front shoves it seemed. As Rob and Fuzz were cruising the park I did manage to get the line. The halfcab flip was terrible, but oh well. So Rob started filming .. and filming .. and filming as I flailed around. I got to a point when halfcab flips stopped working (I should say I was hyped on how many I did though – they were feeling good) so I switched to the Brandow (switch front nose). 100 tries later I gave up and settled for the one above. Thanks so much for filming Rob! I went on to film Fuzz after that. He got a line 2nd try, but then improved it to what you see above. It was good seeing him work for it. Rob had some nice front noseslides, front 50s, front tail, halfcab noseslide, crooks, nose manual the blue bank. Yeah, shredding. After Fuzz got his line we called it. Kind of bummed I didn’t really other than trying that line, but hyped to get something for it.

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.8 trucks, venom 88a bushings, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the outside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, pinnacle powerstep orthotic insoles (which wasn’t enough as my plantar fasciitis pain came roaring back))

Sweating to the oldies #bftriple

A post shared by Rob Helmstetter (@43shifty) on Aug 10, 2017 at 8:33pm PDT

It was raining in Boulder when Rob texted about a Broomfield session. I was in disbelief it was dry, but I knew Rob did his research so I went. Rob and Eric were already ripping. Eric was getting into lipslides on the sad ledge and Rob was getting into nosegrinds on the blue ledge. I might not remember this exactly, but Eric went something like this. “I got a 5th try crooks on the ledge (actually he got two of them), boardslide down the little rail, heelflips, front tail”. Ha. He was ripping. Rob was too, front tail nose, front 50, front tail the black ledge, crooks. I was in pain. Trying to warm up failed. I had some slappy crooks, maybe a no comply flip. I was hating the Thunder trucks. Rob asked me to film this line for the #bftriple contest. It didn’t take him long, but I had locked up by the time he got it. Fuzz had showed, but I was super bummed on how much pain I was in and my setup. So I went home. Oh yeah, there was this really loud and annoying dude there that basically ruined the park for awhile. Rob and I couldn’t tell what drugs he was on, but whatever it was he should stop. He’s excited to learn how to skate and that’s cool, but man yelling non-stop is annoying.

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, thunder 148 raw trucks, stock bushings, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

I’ve been wanting 8.25″ trucks for a long time. I keep switching between 8 and 8.5 inch trucks. Found out it will be awhile longer before Venture releases 8.25s so I got some Thunders. I’m not a huge Thunder fan anymore, but they skate somewhat similar to Venture as compared to Indy. So I went to Saul’s with new trucks knowing it would be a struggle. Especially with the pain I was in. The first few runs were good though, the trucks turn tighter than Ventures. Carve grinds felt good. Eventually I would start to flail like someone should with new trucks and I started to get sore so I mostly slacked. Saul was ripping some carve grinds, back 50s in spots he didn’t use to stand up on, front slashes on the bricks, getting in to front 50s. Eric had some fire since it’s been a long time since he’s skated and was doing some really good back 50s and front slashes, but couldn’t quite get the back tail. Doh.

Then I went to research for a brief one. I was so sore. Did a few noseslides. Couldn’t switch front nose. Tried a line for awhile of ollie up the curb, little cali grind then crook. Got a couple crook bonks before getting a decent crook and went home. The Thunders felt really good ollieing up the curb so I’ll keep them for another day at least.

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, thunder 148 raw trucks, stock bushings, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

It was raining hard and I was feeling kind of lazy, but not so lazy to avoid skating. I went into the garage. Did a few manual warm ups then went into flip trick mode. The goal in the garage is to try tricks I can’t normally do because I have to go so slow. But instead I tried basic ones and got stuck on them. Kickflip and fakie flip were quick. Heelflip took forever. B/s flip and f/s flip weren’t too bad, but the ones I “landed” were terrible. Varial flip took too long, Tried fakie tre for awhile and got remotely close. Hucked nollie back heel for awhile, not close at all. Went in sore and wondering why I made flip tricks so much harder with the wide trucks (hint hint you know a change is coming).

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.8 trucks, venom 90a bushings, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the outside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

Met Rob and then Dave at Steelyards. I had played football with Ollie and was pretty sore doing that for some reason. But I still went skating. Or at least tried to go skating. The parking lot was pretty happening. I had put the tall/wide Venture axles on because I was hoping it would help my lack of pop. But as it would turn out I wouldn’t really get to the point of popping. I did manage to manual the pad the long way and a couple of kickflips, but the pain got the best of me and I would end up giving up on skating. Oh yeah Rob and I each did wallie/nollies into the parking garage. It was really fun and a little scary going into the dark. I watched Rob and Dave for awhile. Donnie randomly showed up for the furniture store and skated with us for awhile. Everyone was skating in their own unique way. Rob was doing nose manuals easy, manuals, nose manual 180, some type of caveman manual thing, kickflips, back 180s, ripping. Dave was trying front 180 nose manual, got fakie shove up the curb, was doing bigspins on flat. Donnie rips, tried manuals to wallride, was popping up to axle stall on the light post, trying halfcab flip manuals.

We got the boot after awhile. Rob and I tried to coordinate a quick double wallie/nollie for a photo. It didn’t work so well. My knee had totally locked up. We did get a “make” which I’ll post on the nullogram, but this grab is actually my favorite.

Then we looked at google and went to this bank to curb. I did a few scary rock ‘n rolls and decided to sit and watch Rob and Dave. Rob was going for back tail, but kept going Suski. The angles at this spot are weirder than it looks. Dave did a couple nosepick to fakie tricks, maybe a front crunt before realizing he was late for a radio program and ran off. Ha, good ol’ Dave.

setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.8 trucks, venom 90a bushings, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the outside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

Started slower in the morning than I wanted to. Met Rob and Jake at Broomfield on a warm day. Those guys were already there and warming up. Jake was trying real tricks already. But he’s only 30 something so that makes sense. Not too long in to the session I suggested a game of ledge trick/flip trick on the mellow bank/ledge trick. It ended up being hard. I think Rob was the first to come through with something like front board, b/s flip, crooks. He would get another line or two. The front big on the bank was sick. Halfcab noseslide to fakie. Jake was doing the best front 5-0s to start his lines, then kickflip to fakie then fakie nosegrind. He never got the fakie nosegrind in the line and he was really trying. I don’t think I ever got the line I was trying. I was mixing it up, but I know I would do noseslide instead of crooks when it mattered. Doh. Popping up onto that black ledge was not easy for me. After that we played another game that was my idea – SKATE. A few tricks in Rob’s knee acted up so he was out. Then a few tricks later Jake bailed a halfcab flip and it almost hit him in the face so he bounced too. Kind of a weird day, but it was fun skating with those dudes.

setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.2 AWAKE lows, venom 90a bushings, 1/16″ riser, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

Had the late shift at work so decided to hit Boulder park in the morning. I had about 45 minutes. There were 1-3 other people there, but it mostly felt like I had the park to myself. I had wanted to skate the ledges, but ollieing hurt so I avoided it. I didn’t carve much or do many transition tricks. Actually I didn’t even do an axle stall. Ha. I did some kickflips on the tiny banks on top. For awhile I did the ollie line I always do there. On the big hump, then f/s over the little hip, b/s over the little hip, then whatever comes next. I wanted to do a cab over it which I haven’t in forever. It took awhile. I just did lines of ollie to fakie on the west bank then cab attempts over the little hip. I got two or three terrible little ones. Yippee.

setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.2 AWAKE lows, venom 90a bushings, 1/16″ riser, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

Went to campus on a somewhat cool night. Cool enough to wear a long sleeve, but it wasn’t really cold at all. The meeting spot was the slappy ledge. I arrived first. Mentally I was ready to start trying hard, but it took awhile to get going. Jake, Rob and Dave showed up at the same time. I was feeling pretty good around then. Mostly tried a line of front 180 off the little ledge, halfcab flip on flat, slappy, then ollie up the nearby ledge. Never got the ollie up. My trucks felt so squirly all night. Not sure why. Had some front 50s and intentional 5-0. Jake and Dave immediately did slappys. Dave also did slappy crooks to fakie, slappy crooks, slappy front 5-0, slappy front hurricane. Yeah, you get the drift. Jake did slappy back 50 front 180 out and slappy crook. Rob was not feeling it and cruised around. We hung out with a family of racoons for a bit. Then went to find a curb spot on the Meta gam and it was less than appealing when we got there. It was dark and barely waxed. Dave was the only one really into it. He did some super fast and long ride on back 50s that were so sick. Jake and I played noseslide variations on a tall, but quick ledge. Jake got noseslide and halfcab noseslide. I got noseslide and noseslide to fakie. Dave did front board then died a minute later trying to boardslide the curb. For real though, it was a terrible slam. None of us saw it, but we heard him make a scary grunt and he didn’t move for awhile. Turns out he had hung up and slid on his shoulder/jaw on the curb. His shoulder was gnar. Get well soon Dave! After that Jake and I went to the bank. I had called out 5 flippers on the bank. It was a little darker than I wanted, but I still went for it. I got kickflip to fakie, b/s flip, fakie flip, f/s flip and fs halfcab flip. All of which were terrible. But it felt good to do some flippers. Oh yeah, we had seen a black fox run by. That was pretty cool. Pretty weird night, but I was mostly happy with how I skated.

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.2 AWAKE lows, venom 90a bushings, 1/16″ riser, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)

Went out in front of the house for a bit on a really nice night and totally struggled in new stuff. I had the new 533v2 shoes (thanks Tytus!) and a new 8.25 Jack deck. The shoes are more comfy for sure, but different. I didn’t get much chance to break them in so they were extra stiff. Got some kickflips, shoves, halfcab flip, but it took awhile. Landed on a couple treflips, but didn’t get one. Then just hucked one of every trick for a bit. Got close to a few, but never got any more tricks.

(setup 8.25 null jack spanbauer deck, venture 5.2 AWAKE lows, venom 90a bushings, 1/16″ riser, spitfire 101a 51mm F4 wheels, 3 washers on the inside of each axle, nbnumeric PJ 533v2 black/white/gold 11.5, spenco 3/4 thinsoles with stock insoles)