On a nice morning that was breezy at times I went to meet Bryan, Jake, Will, Rob at dog park. I’m alway late of course, although this time only a few minutes and everyone was at Valmont. I was hyped on the idea of warming up there and there wasn’t many people. I was riding my 8.25 setup this time. It was okay. Had fun pumping around a bit then getting the rainbow grind, kickflip to fakie on the bank, no comply bigspin on the bank, some fun axle stall on tight quarterpipes in the pump zone and would eventually get the noseslide then kickflip to fakie line again. But man I did it so bad. Bryan had some cool powerslides, almost pressure flips, quick turn arounds to cab bigspin on the bank. Jake did grinds in the deep end of the bowl, maybe a front blunt on the volcano. Rob had steezy carves on the barrier and almost got the rainbow grind.

Then we went to the ledges. Saul joined, did some slappies and more that I didn’t see. Rob continued his killing spree with nose manuals, back 50 nollies, nollie front 50 back 180. I didn’t really do anything I was proud of in any way except a 2nd try 3 shove and a halfcab flip in SKATE against Jake. Jake was ripping. Saw Will get some nose manuals. Bryan did his patented fakie bigspin tailslides.

• 

Saul and Jake were calling for HH so we did it. Sean joined. There were a few people initially, but they would leave. One of them had a cool old Null message in the bottle deck. It’s a weird park. I can’t say I like it, can’t say I hate it. The transition makes more sense than Valmont, but at the same time it’s really hard to get speed for a lot of it. Saul had some good lines though lots of his quick grinds and almost back 50 over the hump. Jake killed it front 5-0s, disasters, roll in, fly out nose grabs. I had fun, a dorky little kickflip over a mound, a few back 50s. Rob cruised it well as did Sean. Then I went back to dog park and just filmed then filmed at street spots. Garrett came up big. Good day.

(setup 8.25/8.3 null 5.8s with forged baseplates, 52-53 wheels, new balance 212s size 12 272 insole)
(pain level 5/10 ugh)

Not feeling so good on a cloudy Saturday morning I ended up at dog park and met up with Rob, Brian (and more from Square State), Eric and Jack. It was tough to find lines with the crowds, but it worked. Saw Brian rip the barrier with boardslides, front rock, also some feeble attempts on the beam and called me out for not smiling. Ha. I really didn’t feel well though so it was tough. I was on a different setup, imagine that. 8.25 with wide trucks. It felt good even though I didn’t land a whole lot. My flip tricks felt good even though I didn’t land much. The theme for me was to get close to a lot of stuff, but not actually roll away. I guess that’s okay. I did get the nollie front tail shove in a few tries, finally noseslid some of the upper deck, lots of fun front slappies, close to kick back 50. Rob had some good nose mannies, back 50 nollies out, back 50 180 out, back 180 fakie 50. Eric heelflipped a parking block all casual, mannies, 50s, looked good. Jack did a messed up line. Manual, bluntslide, pop shove crooks fakie. Also some solid flippers.

Then after a run to Sk8 Ratz I met Nullers at a barrier spot. It was fun. I just did some rock ‘n rolls on it. Jack did a messed up kickflip, blunt to disaster. I missed Hayden’s 5-0 shove fakie, but he also did back disaster revert. Joe was trying 50s from flat. Donnie had massive ollies and front 5-0. Garrett did front hurricane then one with a funny 180 out. Next we went to TVHS where I watched and filmed. Bo 50’d the rail! So sick. Joe got up on front crooks it was so gnarly. Jack warmed up with back 50, front nosegrind then got a couple bangers that will grace his Null part. Fun day with fun dudes.

(setup 8.25 glenosaur, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.8 v-lights, bones medium bushings, old 52mm v1 bones stf 103a washers outside, new balance numeric 212 cream size 12 with 272 insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

After dinner on a nice night I went to meet Rob at dog park.  There were a few bikers there making things a little weird.  I was warming up with some basics on the small part of the barrier when Rob left.  I kept at it not really skating well at all.  I had put cast baseplates on again thinking it would help ollies feel better, but really it didn’t.  I still couldn’t manual or nose manual the little pad or barely ollie onto the slightly larger pad.  Had an okay halfcab flip, but everything still required more effort than they should.  I switched from 288s to 212s at one point and skating felt less bad.  Also the bikers left which was nice.  Sawyer showed along with a couple other skaters that kept to themselves.  I did a lot of slappies since nothing else was working.  I eventually left since I had no desire to continue on sucking so bad.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer night skate, jessup ultra grip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, venom 91a bushings no big washer, 51mm satori achtley wheeels washers on the outside, new balance numeric 288S grey size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

On a nice night I went to the dog park for the first time at night in a long time.  The lights were way better than I remembered.  There was only a few people there, the dudes Denis and Paul who are fun to skate with and a beginner.  My new Satoris were already pretty flatspotted.  Argh.  Everything felt off initially and I had a pretty bad slam on a flatground pop shove.  I couldn’t land a kickflip either.  Not sure what’s up with that. At no point did I do anything great, but I did skate okay and do some basics I liked.  My board felt extremely slow and I pretty much hated the non F4/STF wheels.  I did one line that took way too long of switch front nose the metal bench then halfcab board the small flatbar.  Couldn’t get the heelflip after.  Had some okay crooks, front slappies, weak front tail attempts, slow front 50s, same old stuff.  Stoked on it being a good night spot.  Although the two loud dudes that showed up later were pretty annoying.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer night skate, jessup ultra grip, venture 5.8 titaniums, venom 91a bushings no big washer, 51mm satori achtley wheeels washers on the outside, new balance numeric 288S grey size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Had changed my setup to the 8.25 with new wheels on it and some new 288s. Went to the wood bench research area well after dark. Everything felt off. Smaller board, smooth wheels, thicker shoes. I wanted to land a bunch of flippers, but I only got kickflip and fakie flip. I couldn’t back 180 the little brick gap which was borderline setting me over the edge. I was able to ollie onto the ledge much easier than last time at least. I left after about 30 minutes realizing I just didn’t have the energy to keep skating.

(setup null 8.25 glenosaur, jessup ultragrip, venture 5.6 v-hollow bones medium bushings, 51mm satori atchley 101a washers outside, new balance numeric 288s grey size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 2/10)

Running later than anticipated I met up with Rob, Sean and Kevin at dog park on a bright and sunny Sunday. I was sore from so much skating the day before and would not skate as well, but still had a couple highlights for me. Kickflip to fakie a wedge followed by fakie bigflip. Also a line of front smith stall the little ledge, crooks a bench, nollie back tail the manny pad ledge. Not much else for me, I ended trying the nollie front tail 270 shove for awhile and would get a few before getting a clean one. It hyped me up. Rob was shredding. Back 50s, nollie lip transfer the green block, boardslide transfers, manuals, much more. Kevin was trying a board with a smaller wheelbase and ended up hating it. He tried to skate through it and still did some amazing stuff, but ended up sitting after awhile. He still did nollie front nosegrind, back 180 nosegrind, back tails, nollie flips, all kinds of tricks I’m jealous of. Sean is just getting back on his feet after a rolled ankle, but man he was looking good. Lines of nollie back nosgrind, front nosegrind the upper deck, front tail the tall bench, front tail the C ledge. Nollie back nosgrind back 180, halfcab nose manual 180. Some good flippers too. I did a kickflip on his board and it felt so good. Maybe I’ll try that same setup next time ..

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer night skate, jessup ultra grip, venture 5.8 titaniums, venom 91a bushings no big washer, 50mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 3/10)

After some work that put me in a foul mood I went to Longmont to meet Rob and Dave at Rocky Mountain. It’s the first time I’ve been there since they paved it an it’s oh so good. It was sunny and beautiful and a perfect temperature. Dave and I arrived at the same time. Rob was there already along with another dude. It was Rob’s first time on the board after a trip to Ireland. He looked great. Things seemed to start pretty good. I had some nervous work energy to burn and it felt great to push on some fresh asphalt. Flip tricks started working and would keep working. I had more energy than normal and wearing cupsoles gave me a bit more confidence. Rob had manuals, back 50s, back 180 fakie 50, boardslides to fakie, boardslide 270 I think, them famous back 180s, much more. He looked great for not being on the board for a couple months. I skated the best I have since hurting my achilles. Well, actually even before considering how long it was hurting. I had a lot of flippers, sometimes even doing them several times in a row like heelflip, halfcab flip, fakie bigflip, some bad b/s flips, f/s halfcab flips, one terrible treflip. I hucked a lot more. Got on front pivot on the ledge, an accidental back 5-0 that was supposed to be 50, crooks, noseslides, halfcab noseslide. Got a sketchy kick back 50 on the curb, switch front 50, slappies. At one point got a sketchy f/s halfcab noseslide on the ledge. Dave is the energizer bunny. He took awhile to get going, but really put some stuff down once he did. Lots of switch front noses on the ledge and curb, nollie 50, nollie 5-0, switch back 50, front 180 nose manual 180 the median on the bank. I was beat so sat and filmed him almost get a nollie front 180 switch 50, but he gave up and settled for the long noseslide through the grate and the back 180 fakie 50 shove. He got a cleaner one too. At that point I got up and skated too, mostly just slappies. We did the run up to switch ride down the median, Dave got the halfcab out. Then we was beat. Such a fun day. I needed it so bad after a tough week of work.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer night skate, jessup ultra grip, venture 5.8 titaniums, venom 91a bushings no big washer, 50mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 288S maroon size 11.5 no insoles)
(pain level 1/10)

After another terrible day of work I went to Broomfield park shortly after dinner on a cool night. There was just a few other people there besides Kevin. I had changed my setup once again. 8.3, venture titaniums, 50mm wheels. It felt mostly dreamy. After a brief stint in the blue pad / quarterpotty area I followed Kevin over to the black ledge where he was trying to do his age in tricks (36). I hadn’t skated a tall ledge like that in months. Kevin was rattling off tricks and verbally counting. I had some fun noseslides, crooks. Took a long time to get halfcab noseslide, couldn’t get crooks shove, struggled to ollie up onto the pad but front 180’d up first try. Didn’t get many flippers even though they felt alright. Took a long time to get a super slow front 50. Kevin had finished his 36 tricks with a banger two in a row – kick back tail then front blunt. Wow. All in all I’m happy I skated even if it was terrible. Pushing felt fine at least and I was starting to pop again.

(setup 8.3 null spanbauer night skate, jessup ultra grip, venture 5.8 titaniums, venom 91a bushings no big washer, 50mm spitfire f4 99a classic shape all washers on the outside, new balance numeric 272 black size 12 custom split insole)
(pain level 2/10)

Made a tiny bit of space in the garage on a colder windy night. I was feeling a little run down so didn’t want to go out in the cold. I rotated between my 8.25 and 8.5 setups while warming up with some ultra basics. Work has me down. When it came to kickflips I took several tries. I got one on the 8.25 and a few on the 8.5. Went inside very bummed on my work/life/skate situation.

(setups 8.25/8.5 and new balance 272s)

After a long drive down from the mountains with my brother I got away for about an hour of skating at valmont/dog park. I started in the park at first. I was on my 8.5 setup. It felt big and also better. I had a couple kickflips to fakie that took more effort, but felt really good. Also a few grinds, but the pump trackers showed up and made it not worth it. Went over to dog park where I still did not skate very well, but somehow had more success with flippers. Kickflip, fakie flip, halfcab flips both ways. Halfcab noseslides felt better, pop was okay, hucking was kinda fun. Achilles didn’t feel very good.

(setup 8.5 null smoke valley, jessup pj ultragrip, venture 5.8 cast baseplate titanium hanger, bones medium bushings, 50mm spitfire f4 classic shape 99a, new balance numeric 272 black size 12 custom split insoles)
(pain level 4/10 achilles and soreness everywhere probably from drinking and eating like crap)