Did these silly little ride on grinds for awhile. Some turned into 50s. Some were longer nosegrinds and I would stick. Some I just ran into it. Oh well, it was fun.

(setup 8.5 Null Ollie deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 conical 99a pink/purple wheels, bronson bearings, NB# PJ 533 black/white 12 superfeet insoles)

I did so much to be able to skate this day. Yoga, PT exercises, Ming Chew exercises, foam roller, etc. I even changed my board to an 8.5. Ha. It was the board I started out 2017 on. With the bigger shoes again the wheelbase of the 8.25 feel small and I’ve kind of given up on tech tricks at this point. I just want to relearn the basics on a nice big board. I went to campus on a beautiful afternoon with very little expectations. I started with slappy crook. Got a few then rolled across campus to the stadium bank. Took awhile to get a kickflip that I was happy with, but it felt good. Did a few other tricks like fakie flip and boneless and then tried like a million treflips to fakie. I got close a few times, but eventually called it good. I ended up at the ledge spot. I took a long time to get a 50 even though I wasn’t having too much trouble popping in. Actually I was really liking the bigger board for that, but I kept sticking. The couple I landed felt rad though. I was gonna go try some frontside noseslides on a taller ledge, but decided I should not push it.

(setup 8.5 Null Ollie deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 conical 99a pink/purple wheels, bronson bearings, NB# PJ 533 black/gum 11.5 superfeet insoles)

Feeling incredibly sore all day at work I met up with Dave at the Blue Skies rink. I had switched back to bulky PJs with Superfeet insoles to try and help the pain. But it was too late. I couldn’t even bend really. If Dave would have been later I would have just left, but he showed up and my stubborn self skated with him. I managed a few terrible kickflips, some incredibly slow fakie flips, a few shoves and bailed a bunch of treflips and nollie treflips. I was in so much pain, I never should have skated. Dave skated pretty good. He had some funny kickflips (photo) and then some good ones. Lots of solid front shoves and a bunch of treflip attempts. Some of which were very close. He’s gonna be legit some day! Ha ha.

(setup 8.25 Null future deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 conical 99a pink/purple wheels, bronson bearings, NB# PJ 533 black/gum 11.5 superfeet insoles)

Went to Saul’s after work. I’m writing this almost a week later so my recollection of what happened wont be good. It was a fun session. All of us rolled in on the easy side. I had to do kickflips on flat to get myself hyped enough to do the roll in. Eric also rolled in on the gnar coping. Saul’s got back 50s on the gnar coping often now. I had some runs with more than one axle stall so that was exciting. Eric was trying to ride on grind around the corner, but never quite committed. I never quite got a frontside scratch grind in the deep end. Saul and Eric had a couple near death experiences. Maybe I should be trying harder stuff so I can get scared too.

I was trying vulcs with FP Gamechanger insoles. As I learned later in pain, that is not going to help my knee pain.

(setup 8.25 Null future deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 conical 99a pink/purple wheels, bronson bearings, Lakai manchesters b/w 11 FP geamechanger insoles)

After Dave bailed on me I went to the Dog Park on a cool day with a cold wind. I wanted to try some vulcs because the PJs with orthotics were just too much. I went for some old Lakai Manchesters with the Superfeet insoles and it seemed good. I skated for about 30 minutes. Took a bit to get kickflips. I had no confidence, but my knees were not hurting. It was kind of wonderful. I literally did not land much of anything other then kickflip. Some no complies, a bunch of 180s, one terribly slow backside flip. But it felt like the start of me being able to skate for real again and for that it felt awesome.

(setup 8.25 Null future deck, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 conical 99a pink/purple wheels, bronson bearings, Lakai manchesters b/w 11 superfeet insoles)

I’m going to miss this dude. He passed away a few days ago. I will make a bigger post about Jason at some point. But for now, watch this part again. He was the best.

I met Dave right after work. I’m not supposed to be skating yet, but I really felt like it. We met at a nearby parking lot. It had some ok red curbs with cracks in front of them. They would be great without the crack. I felt so awkward for awhile. Dave seemed to be struggling a bit too. I had done a couple slow kickflips, Dave had done a few grinds and then we moved on.

I had seen this spot years ago and made note of it. It was close so we did it. Dave was not hyped at first. It ended up being pretty fun. We skated it a few ways. Bank to curb, boardslides the curbs, bonk the crack into it, Dave manualled the stair into the bank (crazy), etc. I felt the best on my board I had in months. The stiff shoes still felt too much, but they allowed me to skate so if that’s what it takes I don’t care. I had a few slow kickflips, posed boardslide transfers, posed b/s flips over the curb into the bank and was 1.5/30 on beanplants when Dave was 1/1. Dave also did a crazy back 180 nosepick transfer. It felt great to skate for real and like I wasn’t damaging my body. It’s been awhile since I’ve had that little knee pain. I hope it keeps up. Oh yeah, I had put my old pink Spitfires on and they felt way better than the hard Bones.

(setup 8.25 null future board, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm Spitfire F4 conical 99a pink/purple wheels, bronson bearings, NB# PJ 533 black/gum 11.5 superfeet insoles)

Went to Saul’s later in the afternoon and it felt warm even though it was only in the 40s. It was more crowded then usual, but still mellow. Dave was shredding. My first few runs were basically me just sliding out and falling. I guess them Bones STFs aren’t so good for this. Saul was skating fast and doing longer grinds. Dave and Wrex were totally shredding in their different ways. Dave did a pogo. It looked so fun. Wrex was doing big airs over the hip, such casual long grinds, etc. There were a few people I didn’t know, all had some moves. It was a really good vibe. I skated bad for awhile, but near the end had a couple alright runs to make me feel better. Skating in the stiff shoes with orthotic insoles is hard, there is almost no board feel.

After the session Dave and I went to the nearby school. We waxed up a little curb and did some slappies. Even though we both first try kickflips (and they were so perfect ha ha) I felt even more awkward on my board here. The super hard wheels and super stiff shoes and the fact that I hadn’t skated in awhile got me. Dave had some great slappies and a sick back 5-0 back 180 out. I ended up getting a couple slappy crooks, but I felt so weird on my board.

(setup 8.25 null future board, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm stf v5 wheels, bronson bearings, NB# PJ 533 black/gum 11.5 superfeet insoles)

Went to Sauls on a cool day. It was just Saul and Bren which perfect since I hadn’t really skated in so long. Things were going ok. I felt super rusty, but it was fun. Saul was having some gout pain and a little timid too. Bren was linking some good grinds. Then my phone started blowing up. My friend Jason passed.

(setup 8.25 null future board, venture 5.8 wides, 3 washers outside each axle, Venom 88a bushings, 52mm stf v5 wheels, bronson bearings, NB# PJ 533 black/gum 11.5 superfeet insoles)

Pissed Jeans are one of those rare incredibly special bands. Their sense of humor, the self deprecation, the subtle intelligence, the complete rocking. It’s all there. This video helps cement them as an all time favorite. The new album is their most complex to date. It’s going to take awhile for me to rank it in their catalog, but I’ll just start by saying it’s incredible.