Ha ha, a big “old” crew as in lots of us are pretty old for skateboarding. Dave L was in town and had organized a session pretty early on a hot Saturday morning. I was dealing with the setup madness and had two setups both with Ace trucks. 8.3 with af1 55s and 8.25 with af1 low 44s. I rotated between the two the whole time without really liking or disliking either. I guess overall I liked the 8.3 a lot more, my feet just don’t like trying to maneuver the little 8.25 anymore. I didn’t do anything really of note. Dave L did a manual first try, he had nose manuals too, back 5-0s, 50s, casual kickflips. Man I really miss his casual style and ripping. Kevin was on one again, totally shredding and got the nollie front crooks. Ohio Nick had some manuals and 50s. Dave F did noseslide to tailslide on some parking blocks that were next to each other then went over to the skatepark. Cass always with the good front noseslides, was doing back 180 fakie 50 on the curb, front tails. Jack B on the barrier rides and noseslide/tailside parking blocks before retreating to the shade. Boulder Nick had the long boardslides almost every time and if he didn’t he was mad. Ha. Eric had a Christmas complete and went in on crooks the top tier. Can’t wait for him to get it. He was charging it as always. There were others there too, I’m probably missing someone. Sorry.

After a while Cass, Ohio Nick and I went to play a game of SKATE that Kevin weaseled into. Mainly because the ultimate insult happen when I set the first kickflip and Cass missed it. Then double or nothing missed it, all the way, tripled it and missed, then quad and missed and finally went for SKATE or broke and missed that too. I was impressed he didn’t focus his board because I darn near did when fakie flips were next and I had to quadruple or nothing it. I was really mad and throwing my board like a baby, but it was funny when I got the 4th one I just said “Hey I don’t have any letters”. We went on to have a pretty fun game. The highlight for me was when we all did heelflips in a row. Kevin won on switch tre. I had played that game on the 8.3, I played the next game with only Ohio Nick on the 8.25. I didn’t like it as much, but I did get a halfcab heel. Neither of us could get a treflip, but Nick got a fakie tre. I somehow ended up winning with f/s halfcab flip. Then we went to brunch.

(setups 8.3 / 8.25 nulls, ace af1 55 and 44 low, some smallish wheels, 288sport no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a nice night I went to tennis court which I thought was empty, but it turns out there was a family roller skating/scooting/baby strolling around it. It was fine with the exception all their stuff was sitting on a couple of the ledges. I was not feeling good and warm up was brutal, kickflips seemed impossible. The family left and I started with the old line game to get warmed up. First one was switch front nose, fakie flip, switch back nose. Then noseslide, kickflip on flat, ollie onto the wider ledge. The ollie up was so sketchy and bad, really can’t even fathom how I actually made it up there. Then crooks, b/s flip, halfcab noseslide which I would land, but the b/s flip flopped over and the halfcab noseslide was basically a fakie kickturn. I wanted to push myself to try and ollie over a ledge so I went at it with the goal of just popping over and kicking out. Except I couldn’t even get over it and the board shot into my knee super bad. I left after sitting in pain for a while.

(setup 8.25 null vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows royal bushings flat top washer, bones 52mm stf 103a, new balance numeric 288sport green/gum 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

Went to meet Dave after work at tennis court, but the rain settled in as I arrived. So we went towards Valmont and ended up at the parking garage that used to have a good parking block. There was a dude posted up on one end of the garage so it made skating near him kind of weird. We ended up just skating one little area anyway and it was super fun. We did a bunch of tricks early on. Pivots with shoves. Dave did a nollie crook. I did a front pivot back shove to rock. Dave also did a crazy ollie over the taller section to kind of a quick footed manual. Dave did switch pivot shove, switch feeble shove. Then we tried some 180 crook options that came pretty quick for us both. I did the shove out and it was honestly one of the funnest tricks I’ve done in a while. Now I dream of grinding it. Then Dave did the backside one. I posed smith kickflips out and got remotely close.

Then we went to Valmont park and had the park mostly to ourselves. After the long 4 minute drive we of course had to warm up again. I took way too many tries to kickflip on the hip that Dave varial flips. Dave actually did the varial flip like 5 times, but I think the last one shown above had the longest line. It was so good. I took too long to kickflip the b/s hip which I had never done there before. It was fun using the little qp above it as setup which I also hadn’t really done before. Dave also had some great lines using the volcanoes at the top even getting into back tail. At the end my knees had seized up in pain pretty bad. Argh.

(setup 8.25 null vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows royal bushings flat top washer, bones 52mm stf 103a, new balance numeric 288sport green/gum 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 6/10)

Went to dog park a little later in the evening than normal and the weather was pretty nice by then. Robbie was there and on one doing loops trying to get switch front shove fakie 5-0 so it felt kinda weird to skate the normal area. I didn’t skate well, I had that exhausted feeling and lack of pop I sometimes get. Flip tricks and ollies were hard. I managed a few my basics, nothing really worth noting. I did get a fakie bigflip, but treflips felt impossible. Ollieing up stuff still felt good on my setup, but flippers did not feel good at all. I also really dislike the 288 sports, but trying to skate through my last pair. Near the end I had a pretty bad slam on a back 50 attempt that slid out. Argh. Hurt my knee again.

(setup 8.25 null vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows royal bushings flat top washer, bones 52mm stf 103a, new balance numeric 288sport green/gum 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

Up early on a hot Sunday I went to Frederick to meet up with some old dudes and Cass. Ha ha, Cass really was the youngest one there until Garrett and Joe showed up later. I would go on to have a decent session even though I was once again denied on the front heels on the mellow bank. Cass and I did some lines between the curb/bank and the flyout bank. His hardflip out was so good. We did a lot of cruising around for a while I don’t remember anything in particular. We played a game of SKATE to get going after a short break and it was a decent game for me although I lost getting letters on treflip and losing on hardflip. Then I battled treflip flyout for quite some time. Well I guess according to my phone it was 15 minutes which really isn’t long, but for a trick I used to land much easier it is. After that I was beat and tried to skate the ledge without much success. Cass had a really nice fakie front board. We sat in the shade of the full pipe loop and watched Sean, Garrett and Joe destroy the little benches (see, we found a use for the full pipe!). Joe and Sean’s back nosegrinds were so good.

Then we went up to FOCO and hit MRKT. Then off to a covered 3 up 6 down where we got booted and finally a parking lot with some manual pads. Watching Noè rattle off flip tricks is always incredible. Everyone except Cass and I were skating hard in a hot asphalt parking lot. I pointed my phone at Noè and I don’t think he even knew I was filming and he rattled off a 3 trick line first try. Then would go on to rattle off a 8 trick line a few tries later for the Null video. Then we chilled and avoided heat stroke.

(setup 8.25 null vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows royal bushings flat top washer, bones 52mm stf 103a, new balance numeric 288sport green/gum 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 4/10 frederick 8/10 later on ugh)

On a hot morning I went to dog park and missed Jack B and crew. I had been sick/run down most of the week. I setup a new board and wheels and things felt dreamy as I skated for close to an hour by mostly myself. It’s crazy taking a few days off without an injury being a cause. I felt so excited and energetic skating. I would get a few basic flippers. Committed to most things way quicker than normal and did a couple lines I hadn’t done there before. Ollie onto the taller pad front 180 off then halfcab noseslide the new long bench, b/s flip, halfcab flip. I also finally started committing to front 50s on the long bench and was lining it out with manuals on the lower pad and it felt so great.

Then I went to the library spot and met up with Jack B, Kevin and Nick. We basically had the park to ourselves. Jack had front board up to fakie 50, deck check nose manny. Nick had an incredible frontside flip, nosegrind, several 50s, but couldn’t quite get a front 5-0. I skated okay, not as good as dog park though. I managed some tricks that were harder for me like front 50, halfcab noseslide, crooks are hard there but I got a few, came close to kick back 50 on the low one. Kevin was shredding some of the best I’ve seen him skate. He did everything except the Gish trick switch nosegrind 180 due to cracks making him grind it longer. The fakie 5-0 halfcab out was my favorite as was the kick back tail. Fun times.

(setup 8.25 null vhs, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollows royal bushings flat top washer, bones 52mm stf 103a, adidas puig b/w size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10 none initially but it got worse quickly)

On a hot night I was about to not skate again, but Dave and I rallied for a meeting point in the middle at the old Case Logic bank. There was a SUV parked in front, but we were able to avoid it. I started on an 8″ setup and realized after a bit that I didn’t really like it much and went back to the slightly modified 8.25. I had done kickflips and kickflips to fakie. Dave hadn’t skated in a while due to covid and brushed off the rust with some nollies into the bank, switch shoves, back 360s, switch front ollies. Then we kind of battled for a while. I was close to front heel so I setup the camera thinking I’d get it quickly. Nope. I was close, but nope. Dave went for switch back tail like Tiago. Then pop shove body varial. Then we did some other stuff. I couldn’t get a varial flip to fakie. Dave’s kickflip was nice. We ended up getting the boot as it was getting dark. Fun little session, surprised we lasted that long.

Oh yeah I was wearing some Adidas Puig’s. Trying to skate some of the shoes that have been sitting in my closet collecting dust. I don’t really like them much, but they aren’t too bad and they fit pretty well.

(setup 8.25 null stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow, bones 51mm stf 101a v2, adidas puig b/w size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10)

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On a hot morning Jack, Garrett and I rolled up to Laramie where we met up with Mike, Eric, Joe, Kevin, Rob and Neil at the skatepark. It had been 14 years since I skated there and there has been some new additions. They had painted some of it blue and the reflection was insane. I have no idea how others skated without sunglasses. Jack showed up and immediately went in on kickflip on the extension. Eric shot photos. Joe and I mostly played in the newest area figuring out the slappies. The others showed up. The newest area was pretty crowded at times as everything good was in one area. I got a line of nollie back tail a curb, crooks a bench, slappy the curved bank to curb, carve around kickflip to fakie. Kevin and I played off the little drop near the front for a bit. He switch flipped it. I kickflipped up it which hyped me up. Eric and I skated the bowl for a bit which was pretty weird and hard to skate and we didn’t carve the full pipe very well. Garrett got to 9 first try. Later on Jack would get to 10 on the top of it ha ha. The wallride was sick. Back in the newest area I witnessed boardslides from Eric (can’t believe he was able to skate after yesterdays slam), nollie front lips from Rob, boardslides on the bench lined out with fakie flips on the bank from Joe, Kevin had halfcab bluntslide transfer to back tail then back smith the qp, I managed to boardslide the bench and get a little crook jib on it as well as some front slappies on the bank to curb, Mike was front nose to fakie and a bunch of good slappies.

After some lunch we hit campus. Garrett, Jack and I hit an old area near some dorms I skated a very long time ago. I didn’t really do anything. Jack tried some front nose 270 shoves and some manuals down a 5 stair.

Then we met everyone at a really fun bank to curb where I proceeded to slam on my first axle stall, but then go on to have a lot of fun. Mike had great back 50s. Jack’s acid drops into the bank as setups were highlights on their own as was the grind to grind. Garrett smoothly did slashes, hurricanes, blunts, kickflip fakie, etc. Rob had steezy front tails and slappies. Neil with the fire beanplants, no complies. Joe kickflip rock ‘n roll. Kevin kickflip willies and kickflip axle stall. I got a couple front slashes, hurricane and a rock up to feeble to axle that was surprisingly fun.

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Then we went over to this crazy loading dock with wide round flatbars. Pretty epic spot. Epic stuff went down. Fun was had. Highlights were of course Jack’s epic grind to boardslide, but Kevin’s crooks was incredible too as was Garrett’s back 180 nosegrind. Joe got boardslide pop out and off the end. Neil’s knee didn’t let him land the noseslide even though he got into it perfectly. I had some little noseslide jibs and maybe something that resembles switch front nose. Jack also did some crazy hippy jumps and bluntslides. Garrett wallied up the darn loading dock too. What a great day.

(setup 8.25 null stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast plate titanium hanger, bones 52mm stf 99a v3, new balance numeric 440h b/w size 12 half insole)
(pain level 4/10)

On a hot day Eric, Joe and I picked up Rob and Neil and we headed to the Greeley plaza park first. Garrett met us there. We had the park to ourselves for the most part and two other rippers for a bit. Everyone else seemed to be ripping. Garrett obviously needed the least warmup and was backside flipping the hip, 50ing the upper level, manualling the bench right away. I’m not sure if he got his full line, but he did all the tricks. Nollie back heel up the euro, halfcab noseslide the long hubba, front smith the qp, back 360 the hip, front tail f/s flip out. So sick. Rob was getting up on the pad right away with manuals, 50s, boardslide the upper level, no comply up the 2, maybe even halfcab 50. Neil was looking good. Manuals, nose manuals, 50s, one foot up the euro, quick up 50 the top then one foot off, front shove off the manny pad. Joe front 50 shove and the Joe H on the upper level, crooks, front smith the ledge, kickflip fakie. I skated like dookie. Only things I liked were a couple crooks on the ledge and a b/s 90 flip flyout.

After some lunch we ended up at Peak View. It was super hot, there were ~20 rollerblader kids there playing bad rap music and a mixture of a few skaters and a little motorcross bike. Not the ideal environment to flame the stoke, but we did it. Eckert had the horrendous rock fakie slam. I was stoked to see him going so gnar, but he obviously didn’t skate more after that slam. I skated like dookie again, couldn’t do a kickflip on the bank and could barely ollie up the ledge. I did however get a noseslide 270 shove which put a smile on my face for a solid 30 minutes. Joe of course did his tricks on the ledge and maybe even did the Hoe Jamilton. He was pretty easily skating the ledge doing his tricks. Neil’s knee had had enough, but he still managed to cruise around and do a few things. Rob had some good manuals and I think nose manuals, front boards, kickflip the bank, one foots on the bank, some crail slides or something on the bank. Garrett had kickflip nose manual, switch crooks, halfcab crooks, all kinds of stuff. Pretty fun day we skated hard in the heat and earned our margs.

(setup 8.3 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast base titanium hanger, bones 52mm 99a stf v3, new balance numeric 440highs b/w size 12 half insole)
(pain 4/10)

I picked up Neil and Rob and we met Garrett and Sean at Fredeick park. We had two birthdays to celebrate. Neil turning 49 and Garrett turning 23. That’s a 26 year difference. Skateboarding rules like that. I had new shoes that felt mostly great, but started to feel too large as they broke in. I barely remember this session for some reason. Garrett was killing it birthday style. The back 3 kickflip and nollie heel 270 were money. Sean’s ollies over the pyramid as a setup to 50 the bank to ledge were so casual. Rob was shredding as usual and was on the double bank to curb right away. He did a manual to boardslide too. Neil was digging the park. His one foot off the kicker to quick nose manual to ollie up front shove off was sick. Look for it in the full video Neil makes. I skated okay, the kickflip on the bank took way too long, the noseslides were scarier than they should be.

Then us old dudes went back into Longmont and hit Rocky Mountain. I got really frustrated at first trying the old warm up line of drop in, slappy crooks to fakie, fakie ollie, switch front noseslide. Almost threw my board on the roof ha ha. But I would feel better after a while and skate pretty hard. Got a few flippers, but struggled to get kickflips up the curb or up on the ledge. At one point I did 3 f/s halfcab flips in a row (although there was lots of tic tac involved). No treflips either. Neil had some knee pain, but put it together when it mattered most. That halfcab noseslide is so good. Rob dazzled us with the back 50 to back lip. Also had manuals, front boards and much more.

(setup 8.3 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast base titanium hanger, bones 52mm 99a stf v3, new balance numeric 440highs b/w size 12 half insole)
(pain 4/10)