Got to dog park a little after 10 on a crisp Saturday morning. It was in the upper 20s which felt incredibly cold compared to the upper 70s of Hawaii. The colder weather surprised me how hard it made warming up. But things did get going and it was fun. There was a pretty epic crew of mostly Saturday morning peeps. Cass and I played a warm up game of SKATE that took a while. Not one of our best, but certainly not our worst. I would win it on halfcab flip or backside flip. Did some normal skating around then got in on the table session with Bratcher, Cass, Fergs and Sean. Cass got up onto it pretty quick as did Jack. Mine was questionable, but really fun and rewarding. Fergs front nose shove was sick, I was hyped to get his back with a little nose jib down. Sean front nosegrind up it was sick. I had to bounce to bring my mom to the dr. Fun short session.

(setup 5/10 null 8.3 abstract33, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-cast with royal bushings flat small washer, 51mm bones pj v1 with 3 washers inside each axle, new balance numeric 288s w/b size 12)
(pain 4/10)

Lots of rain on the last day in Honolulu. Neil picked us up and we bolted to the east side. After a cool visit to a Buddhist temple Neil and I ended up at the Kailua park. What a cool little park. I was feeling the sorest I had all trip and kind of not really wanting to skate much. But we did and Neil inspired as always. So did the others that were there. Another older dude warming up with ollie after ollie and working up to flippers and ledge tricks. Also a female skater popping front shoves really high as well as varial heels which were so sick. Neil’s front shoves to fakie were so good. Cab over the bump and then kickflip were tight. I had some noseslides and crooks when Neil wasn’t filming but was really struggling with flippers. I couldn’t do a kickflip to fakie on the bank. Neil’s nose manual to quick 50 was so good. Rain started so we bounced. Thanks for showing Liz and I so many amazing sights Neil!

(setup 1/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 4/10)

Neil had the day off and we headed to the north shore. We hit the park since it wasn’t raining while Liz slept in the car. It was a quick session, the park is really weird. Even though the other dude there that was shredding said it’s the best park ever, it’s not. Ha. We had fun though. Neil’s ride on grind was way harder than it looks, same with the no comply to tail. I took too long to get the same old Glen tricks, kickflip and noseslide. It was a fun session though.

(setup 3/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 1/10)

Seriously love skating random spots just cruising around a downtown area. On a hot day Neil and I started at a kind of random curb spot with some skate stopped ledges and a ride on curb that neither of us could quite get. We quickly went over to the downhill curb slalom that was super fun. We pretty much documented what we did. I wanted to add a fakie bigflip after the back 180, but couldn’t get it. I also couldn’t get a halfcab flip to start the line. I had some fun 5-0s on the first curb too. Neil was charging. His lines were FAST. He almost almost tried 50 gap over the curb at one point too. Paul met up with us and somehow struggled with the front 50 on the first curb. But he ollied the 4 stair first try as well as almost doing the 50 gap over the curb.

Next we hit the little downhill section and 2 stairs. Pauls ollie up and into the bank was so good. My jibs were fun. Behind that was a fun little bank to curb that was for real incredibly fun even if the cracks denied me.

Somehow then we got to skate the downtown plaza for a good minute. Neil was first with the no comply then one foot down the 3. Paul did the manual pretty quick followed by all the ollies which was trick of the day. I played around with the 2 stair then noseslide and could never quite get all the way up on the ledge. We got the boot, walked around some then called it a day. Man it was fun.

(setup 3/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 3/10)

After some fun snorkeling it was Saturday and Neil and I rolled to a dream spot. A long metal ledge that starts low and doesn’t get tall. There is also kind of a bank and some curbs to play with too. Oh, and the asphalt is new as well. The crew was Neil, me, Paul, Eric, Dave, Ian, Bronson. Everyone was chill, skating hard, having fun. When we first got there I was kind of overwhelmed with excitement. I did the switch front nose then fakie 50 right away. I would struggle to do some front 50s and kept doing 5-0s on a low part. Eventually when everyone was skating the tall part I just did the nollie front tail to fakie then switch jib shove and a few crooks. Neil was charging lines for days. Manuals, shoves, kickflips, front 50s, cruising, inspiring. Paul is one of my favs, his nosegrind was so good. Bronson is the only one in his 50s and he was killing it on everything including boardslides to sugarcane the curb. Dave had a lot of solid tricks, the front crook to fakie was so sick. ian’s back tails are amazing. Eric fakie nosegrind was hot. Eventually Neil and I agreed to hit another spot so we bounced.

Then we were at this school which was really fun, but man I was beat. Neil was flying around the spot and did the kickflip in way less tries than me. Loved his manual, shoves and speed. I had also done a line of noseslide to fakie, switch front nose, switch 180 off the curb then tried kickflip. Both of us were close to grinding the entire little curb, but didn’t quite get them. Then it was off to see the amazing spitting cave and a fun dinner at Kona Brewing.

(setup 2/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 4/10)

After a long day in the heat doing some swimming, hiking and the art museum Liz and I met Neil at Ala Moana. I was super disoriented and had to wear glasses because of a huge stye on my eye. I had also changed my setup to 8.5 with ace highs hoping that a whole trip on this setup would convince me I liked it. Neil was charging out the gate. he is built for lines here. He got the phone out pretty quickly and I think did this line first try. It took me a bit to get used to the wavy ledge. It was a fun session. I didn’t get any lines really, but managed to finally land a treflip in Hawaii going 1mph between peds. After this fun session we had some food and went to see Dinosaur Jr!!!!!!! Epic start to the trip.

(setup 3/10 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 hollows, 53mm bones pj v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12)
(pain level 2/10)

Sean and I ended up on campus after driving around looking for some dry. We started at the old meetup curb that has gotten much crustier thanks to some snowplow destruction. Sean easily did some manuals and popped over the median. I took too long to get a slappy crooks. Then we went into campus when my wheel locked up skating the little downhill curb. Then on the way back to the car to get a skate tool my wheel fell off. Argh. Aces I love you, but you quality control sucks. Anyway we went back and ended up at the downhill alley ledge spot. It was a really slow start for me. The pop of the low Aces wasn’t working to get into noseslide very well. I would go on to get a couple lines I really liked though. Halfcab flip into the “bank”, noseslide to fakie. Also backside flip, switch front 180 then noseslide. It’s not much, but it did make me quite happy. Sean struggled with front 5-0s but would get one perfectly when it came time to film it. He had front shoves, heelflips and f/s halfcab flips into the downhill. Also ollied up on to the ledge and off at the end.

(setup 4/10 null 8.3 vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 low 55 hard bushings, 53mm bones pj stf 103a v1, new balance numeric 288S w/b size 12 half 440 insole)
(pain level 5/10 was dying by the end)

After a bad night of sleep I met up with some mostly older folks at dog park. It was supposed to be super nice, but instead it was pretty windy which sucked the warmth out. Bratcher and Jesse were there shredding, working on crooked grinds when I first showed. Jesse was popping over flat bars like it was nothing. Jack apparently switch 50d the curb and had some nice back 5-0s that I saw. Paul was there shredding like he does. Back 5-0s easy, switch slappy crooks, nollie 180 switch crooks on the curb. Will showed up and casually front 50’d everything. Sean worked up to a line of ollie the hydrant, nose manual up the table, back nosegrind the bench, front 180 nose manual, fakie flip on flat. Wow! I had new skate shoes. I had given up on the Xeros. I had the one shoe closest resembling the fit I want. The New Balance 288 Sport. They felt decent. I wasn’t sure how they would feel after six weeks of Xeros so I paired it with an 8.5 with venture 5.8s that I immediately hated. I have no recollection of anything noteworthy that I did.

(setup 1/10 null vhs 8.5, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 v-cast/titanium, 51mm bones stf pj 103a v1, new balance numeric 288S size 12 w/b 425 insoles)
(pain level 4/10 body still adjusting to skating again)

After work I bolted to dog park/Valmont which to my surprise both were dry so I just went to dog park. Paul was there. I started on 8.75, then went back to the 8.5 setup. I hated my shoes and my setup. Paul and I tried nollie tail up to switch crooks. He would get a couple. I would get a lot closer than I imagined possible. I would get a couple 50s on the curb and lurb, but ended up bashing my foot and really being completely over the Xeros. I did string together a couple tricks I liked though. Front 50 back 180 out the curb then switch noseslide shove the bench and almost fakie 50 after. Oh I had a couple alright crooks too as did Paul who is somehow new to that trick. Robbie had some ultrafast front 5-0 back 180s on the bus station bench. Matt showed up with Teddy and we chatted.

(setup 8.5 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, ace af1 55 low, 53mm bones v1 pj, xero kelso b/w size 12 nike sb and xero insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Back in the garage on a winter night trying to get primed for Hawaii in a week. Didn’t go so well. I mixed setups but mostly rode an 8.75 with aces and 51mms. Meh. Got several kickfilps in a row, but that was about the only good. Couldn’t get treflip or b/s flip or crooks. Felt good jumping though. Starting to really hate how these shoes feel and having to double up insoles which takes away all the pop and board feel.

(setup 8.75/8.5 nullsssssss)