Skate Log: #9, Back to Volcom

Love that peanut bowl, and board control is definitely coming back. Spent the weekend building a 1/4 pipe, should be able to finish it all up this afternoon and have a little something to session at home. Did a couple grinds in the combi-bowl and just dropping way better flow in the peanut. Funny thing, found this vid out on youTube and it's me running the camera and providing commentary:

Skate Log: #7, Back to Volcom

After a few sessions of flailing around Etnies looking for a good line, I headed back to Volcomm to session the kidney, and had a pretty solid session. Not sure if it was the time off (almost a week since I rode), or just easier terrain, but all the stuff that seems so sketchy at Etnies just flows better here--more on top of grinds, clean axel stalls (as it should be), 50-50s, etc. Added in pivot and pivot to tail, and close to getting f-side grind to tail back. Rock-n-roll is still fail though, very annoying, just a fat mental block. Forgot a knee sleeve, but rode anyway and all feels good a day later. Finally putting things together in back-to-back fashion, stall, grind, grind, carve, 50-50, b-side d, rock2fakie, fakieD etc. w00t. Etnies tomorrow again, see if I can't grind that bowl and get some flow on.

Skate Log: #4, Now we're getting somewhere

Saturday afternoon, weather cooling, kids at a party, I've got time to stretch and prepare, and skate as long as I want. The park is semi-busy, and there appear to be a few old-timers like myself. I've picked up a good line from watching the locals, and now I'm getting some good speed in the kidney and ripping around the bowl. Nice! b-side D, continuous motion, 50-50s wall-to wall. Lien-to-tail laugh er, but I rode it in. Hit the big bowl, f-side grind on the face wall, posed a f-side air, maybe that will be a while coming...

Knees: still good! Slams: 1 minor one.

Trick List: Axle-stall, b-side 50-50, f-side grind, rock-2-fakie, fakie disaster, b-side disaster (smooth!), lien-2-tail.

Skate Log: #3, Stay with it!

Couldn't quite drag myself out after work during this past week, my lack of confidence combined with my aversion to traffic keeping me on the sidelines. I packed the family up and drug them all along today, hoping Max might get fired up with a trip to the park. He's not quite ready, and we stayed less than an hour, but we'll see how he progresses. For myself, things came a little easier this time, I only added 1 more trick back this week, but I felt much more comfortable riding and dropped in on the big bowl this time, carving the corners and hitting the face wall.

Knees feeling good and no slams!

Trick List: Axle-stall, b-side 50-50, f-side grind, rock-2-fakie, fakie disaster, b-side distaster (ske-etch-y!).

Skate Log: #1, Back on Board!

After viewing the Vans ProTec pool party again, and seeing former friends still getting after it, I realized I needed to get back out there. Opportunity knocked in the form of an afternoon off after a training class got out early. I had been thinking about the Costa Mesa skatepark for a year or so after spotting it while driving by, so I decided it was now or never. I hadn't ridden in at least 3 years, maybe 4, but after a summer of biking to work I felt like I was in good enough shape to give it a shot.

The temperature was 90+, and the park was mostly deserted, as the police were ticketing people without pads as I arrived. I rode for about an hour, until the heat was just too much. The verdict: no slams, and I just stuck to the small kidney bowl, as the larger combi-bowl just looked a little too deep today. Overall, not bad for my first session, and one of the locals even asked me for some tips on doing frontside grinds.

Tricks: Axle-stall, b-side 50-50, f-side grind, rock-2-fakie, fakie d.

Update: knees feel good next day!