After a sleepless night for no real reason we stopped for some coffee and went to the bright and mostly dry Granby park. There was still a large pool near the manny pad. What a terrible drainage design. Anyway, my first dropin exposed some serious side pain that would prevent me from doing any real skating. I think the only thing I really did was huck nollie tres over the hip for a bit, none of which were close. There were a couple other dudes skating who were on family vacations. One was 40ish dude that was really nice and trying back 180 nosegrinds then b/s flips over and over. The other was a 15 year old kid that was a little ripper and surprisingly nice and fun to skate with. Both were great additions to the session. Unlike the random bike kids that would come through with no idea what to do at a skatepark. As you can see in the clips Rob was shredding. Bigspin front nose on the bank to curb was hot. Cass got a couple mega hardflips and got a pop shove underflip. All after doing back bigspin over the hip first try. Neil had some knee pain going, but that didn’t stop him from some manuals, one foots, and close to some melons, cabs over the hip and more. We were there quite some time then headed back down to Broomfield and hung out with Fuzz’s which was super fun.

(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 8/10 knee and side)

On a very hot morning Rob, Neil and I hit the road, picked up Cass and made our way to Granby. We arrived to a mostly dry park with rain showers threatening. None of us had even really seen this park before. There were a few kids on bikes. The hype was real and the approaching rain made for a frenzied and fun session. I was skating good for me and got a backside flip over the hip 3rd try. The bank to curb was perfect, but a little narrower and rougher on top than it looks. It’s hard to remember the difference in the sessions. Cass had front nose and tail on the bank to ledge, bigspin over the hip. Rob front tails the bank to curb, slappy crooks, manuals and nose manuals the little pad. Neil popping everywhere, manuals, nose manuals, noseslides, one foots. I lined out the noseslide and b/s flip as the rain teased us, almost got first try nose manual front 180 out. Neil took a bad slam on a wet pump bump. I took a bad knee tweak on an attempt to noseslide fakie the ledge off the manny. It was worse than I initially thought and would leave me hurting for round two after the rain and the next day.

After some chilling at a brewery and a dollar store broom investment we went back to the park. We swept puddles as a kid sprayed his little brother. Some dry patches started to form and we skated a little on the bank to get warmed up and I quickly realized my legs were toast. I didn’t really do anything beyond slappies. I don’t really remember what was different for others either, but they were having fun. The rain settled in and we went back to Winter Park and had a fun night of bro’ing down.

(setup 8.3 null vhs, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast base titanium hanger, bones 52mm 99a stf v3, new balance numeric 272/440highs)
(pain 2/10 initial session 8/10 second session)

Feeling somewhat run down I met Rob and Neil at the entrance to campus. It was very hot out. We quickly retreated to the shady hallway student center and skated flatground for a while. Unfortunately Neil quickly established his knees would not be working. He did get some cool nollie crack bonks, no complys, 180s, half cabs, fakie bigspins first at least. Rob got his quick footed magic going. Fakie bigspin, nollie shove, no comply shove. Wallie nollies, back 180s, nollie bonk shifties. I really struggled and it bummed me out. Fakie flips were hard. Argh. I had some fun though. The nollie crack bonk back 180’s were fun, got a couple halfcab flip, f/s halfcab flip, b/s flip, varial flop. I was not happy with my inconsistency. Then we went to the bank spot and saw they had stopped it. Such a bummer. We checked out the new spot, but our knees hurt too much to skate it. Ended up at a bench down stairs where my knees wouldn’t even let me pose noseslides down it. Argh.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate hollow hanger with royal bushings flat top washer, 51mm bones stf v2 103a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 7/10 knees ugh)

Arrived to dog park around 10 to an old guy session that was popping off already. Love the old guy crew that’s been skating there and they brought the hype again. I was very sore, started very slow and didn’t do much other than some crooks and a couple slow kickflips. Neil was charging! Nose manuals, manuals, 50s, one foots, ollies over stuff. Rob too. Halfcab 50s, almost halfcab 50 body varial. There were a lot of others skating, it was rad. Mike, old Jack, Salty, lots of gray that were charging and I loved it. Jeff showed and immediately made tricks like nosegrind 180 look easy, switch crooks, etc.

Then we went over to Valmont where I proceeded to do nothing then went and sat with Neil and Rob. Sean, Bo and Hayden had shown up and it would soon be a fun demo to watch and get me off my butt to film. Hayden with the steez indy flyout, pole jam nose manual and insane gap to back tail. Jeff switch f/s flip, switch hardflip and front big heel the bigger hip. Cass bigspin, treflip, kickflip. Sean front 3 the hip.

Then we drove to Jack and Joe’s new bank to ledge spot and oh man what a treat. The crew was large as we gained Jack and Joe. Only one person can skate at once which got to Neil. But he still pieced together a rad nose manual then no comply line. Joe did at least 5 hardflip nose body varials and grunted in disapproval on every one of them. Cass with the sick front nose body varial. Jeff right away front crook to fakie, then front blunt pop out which was soooo amazing. I did a slappy crook jib, noseslide, switch nose jib and had a fun line of noseslide to fakie then halfcab flip on the opposing bank. Jack struck out on the tricks he was trying for, but still did a back 180 fakie crook 270 out. Sean shut the session down with fakie back tail kickflip out done so perfectly the crowd erupted. Heck of a crew.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.6 cast plate hollow hanger with royal bushings flat top washer, 51mm bones stf v2 103a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a hot morning I picked up Neil! Was so hyped to see him, we did breakfast then connected with Rob and headed to Arvada. We had the park mostly to ourselves except for a few beginners for a while. Jeff and Cass showed and it was a really fun crew. Neil had a red eye flight and was still managing to skate pretty well even though it took a bit to ride over the spine ha ha. Rob had some good front board pop outs, front slashes, spine transfers, boardslides, backside ollies on nipples. Neil popped up the euro, up onto the ledge, noseslides, no comply 360, boardslides. I was feeling decent early on. Had a couple first try runs on film which never happens. Switch front nose, fakie flip, fakie board transfer. Crooks, spine transfer, front disaster. I couldn’t get the noseslide 270 shove, ollie onto the ledge or even a halfcab flip. Cass had a nice front noseslide shove and got a line with a nipple ollie, front 50 on the qp. Jeff switch manualled the box, nose manual 180, big nipple ollies, so much more.

After a rain and margarita delay we ended up at Parris’. Right away it was a fun session. The new pink curb was a good addition. Neil had that stoke going and was getting runs in right and left and it was good seeing him so hyped. The long back 50s around the pool coping corner were sick, ollies up/down/randomly, bean plants to gain control, front slash the rock coping every time. Rob was getting it too. Front slashes, high speed carves, pivots on the upper deck. Cass had some sketchy falls, front boards to fakie on the parking block. Jeff’s kickflip on the hip was so smooth, front 5-0 the parking block, much more. I didn’t skate great, but definitely had fun. Wish I could have gotten a more proper slappy crook, but the front tail stalls and back pivots on the upper deck were fun. Parris had some smooth lines grinding the curbs with easy. Local guy Kevin had the sugarcane out of nowhere. Overboard Kevin of course got the pivot to fakie. What a fun spot and session.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.2 low with royal bushings flat top washer, 51mm bones stf v2 103a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

It had rained at my house, but when I went to bring boards to Square House it was dry so I went to dog park and it was great. A little breezy at times with some little drops, but nothing that hindered skating. I had put 8″ low ventures on. I had mixed emotions, but I mostly liked it. Had a first try nose manual. Had some first try flippers, f/s halfcab flip, f/s halfcab heel, b/s flip. Took a long time to get halfcab noseslide on the new long bench, but they felt good.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.2 low with royal bushings flat top washer, 51mm bones stf v2 103a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

There was some cloud cover so Rob and I rolled into dog park at the same time, right before the clouds would disappear. It was hot. My skating was not. Ha, I started on an 8.3, but didn’t last too long on it. Did a kickflip then fakie bigflip first try on the ol’ 8.25 again. Then mostly didn’t have much drive and didn’t do anything. Had an okay crook and a couple slow nose manuals on the curb. Rob ripped it though. Nose manuals, almost nose manual 180, nollie front lip, front boards, back 50 combos.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, thunder hollow 148 venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm classic shape f4 99a, new balance numeric 440high b/w size 12)
(pain level 4/10)

Lazy day didn’t really want to skate, but did want to meet up with Nullers. Sean and I met up at dog park on a cool and cloudy day. I had nothing. Literally no drive or energy. Could barely kickflip, got one halfcab flip and came close to a fakie 50 creepy out. Sean ripped it. Garret showed and then ripped it. Those two are amazing. Then we met up with Jack who also ripped it at the ditch spot.

Then we went to a cali grind spot. Jack had the best 5-0 slam in front of a family. I wussed out on using any speed whatsoever. Garrett got a hammer. It was great seeing the dudes and having a weekend again. Then I watched the Avs win with my son. Fun day.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, thunder hollow 148 venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm classic shape f4 99a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 5/10)

On a nice morning I picked up Rob and Dave and we went to Greeley Peak View park where Dave wanted to celebrate his last day of 53. No one complained because this park is awesome. Less is more. Right out of the gate Dave had the fire. He didn’t stop and would be the last one skating some 3 or 4 hours later when the sun had come out. These clips are only a fraction of what he did. At one point we were all sitting except for Mike and Dave and he did a line of boardslide to fakie the ledge, fakie shove on the qp and then front crooks pop out on the ledge. Several long grinds on the diamond cut coping frontside or backside. He also got a varial flip on the bank, some great tailslides on the bank, 540 bertermanns, and that front board transfer ender was beyond insane. HBD Dave, you seriously shred. Cass did some tricks over the hip super casually before sitting down, bigspin, hardflip, kickflip, some frontside ollies on the qp. Kevin shredded like he does. Nollie front nosegrinds, switch front nosegrind 180s all easy, nollie flips, front smith the diamond cut, wallrides, wallies, couldn’t quite get the elusive kick back tail. I skated like dookie. Couldn’t even get a kickflip to fakie on the bank. I came remotely close to nose manual the ledge. I mean I never got into it, but it did feel close and I think if I would have gotten in I would have had it. Anyway I could barely front 50 it, but managed to get one good one. Rob styled out some wallrides, front 5-0s on the diamond cut, nose manuals the pad, kickflip on the bank, proper berts, bean plant the hip, much more that I’m missing. Mike ripped it. Wallrides, boardslides to fakie, switch no comply pole jam, slappies. Noah and Heroki showed and put on a demo. Wow those two are so good. It was a really fun day. Then we did some dinner after without the birthday boy that was quite yummy.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, thunder hollow 148 venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm classic shape f4 99a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 4/10)

On a really nice night I met up with Will. We had said dog park, but he was at an almost empty Valmont so we rolled with it and ended up staying there. We started slow, did the rainbow a few times before it got sticky and I could no longer do it. I had a couple kickflips on the bank and also some on the hump almost followed by halfcab flip on the hip. Will quickly did the ollie from high to low on the hip. I was working on the dump truck transfer when Ric showed up. Shortly after Eric did too and it turns out some of the other people there were the Venom dudes. It was a fun session. Ric was shredding, making little kid noises, having fun. Eric was charging and had some crowd pleasers. Will took a bit to get the kickflip, but it was rad. Ric ended it with the lipslide out of the park. Fun night.

(setup null 8.25 stumpy burnout, jessup pj ultragrip, thunder hollow 148 venom 88a bushings, spitfire 52mm classic shape f4 99a, new balance numeric 272 burgundy size 11.5 half insoles)
(pain level 5/10)