Afternoon ride to Fernal

Last Friday I was in a bit of a funk and had that "want to do something but don't know what" feeling, so I decided to take ride my road bike to Fernal Shores, which I'd been talking about doing all summer.

yes, I took this picture while riding

It's only 14 miles, but there turned out to be a lot of hills that I never noticed before while driving there. I knew one would kill me, and I didn't even get a chance to find out, because of how tired I was before it- it started on mile 12 or so, right after an endless sort-of uphill- one of those hills that isn't even necessarily noticeable until you realize you can't get any speed going and every time you want to take a break, you don't really go anywhere. So even though I vowed to not get off the bike until I got there (even going so far as to pull my phone and food out of the pack under my seat while riding, which was incredibly hard and stupid), I had to walk up the hill. It also has some of the worst tar ever on it, so it was probably good that I walked it. I did get some nice instagram photos though.

It was a nice night, even though the ride was tough and a bit boring. Road riding just isn't that exciting. It's more about the completing journey and arriving to a planned destination than mountain biking I guess. Towards the end, I realized I either needed a ride back, or I'd be half dead and riding in the dark. Josh came and saved me, which turned out to be really good, since I got a flat tire a mile or so into riding back, and even though I had the stuff I needed to replace it, I couldn't get my pump to work right, so it would have probably been pitch black dark by the time I got back on the bike. So, THANK YOU JOSH.

This ride was also about trying something new with my Gopro too, so it came along and I put it to the test.

Always feels good to cross something else off the summer list. 

"Afternoon Ride to Fernal Shores" from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

BINGO!

Last Tuesday Josh came into my room with a weird smile on his face.

"So, Jesse and Sarah are going to bingo tonight. You want in?" 

"Bingo?!"

 "yea.."
"Seriously?"
"haha yea"
........

 "OK."

I've never played bingo before. I mean, of course I've played, but I haven't played REAL bingo- you know, the ghetto kind in a giant american legion or similar building with a hundred old ladies. In fact, most people under the age of 60 haven't. Which is exactly why I went. 

We showed up with not much time before it started, and other than a family (i.e. younger kids spending time with their grandparents), we were clearly the only people there who could be considered young. We got a lot of looks too, as a group of tatooed, pierced young whippersnappers (holy crap, that's a word AND I spelled it right?!) showing up at Tuesday night Bingo (behind a Dollar Tree) is definitely worth a look.

yup, it looks exactly like it's portrayed on tv (plus sports!)

Jesse and Sarah had played before, but Josh and I did nothing to pretend that we weren't giant n00bs. Some younger woman in front of us helped out though, telling us how much we needed to pay, what got us what, etc. We decided to pay 5 bucks extra (it was $15 for 10 games of 12 bingo squares) to get sheets that had 6 more boxes. The woman said "If this is your first time playing, I wouldn't recommend that." We said, "but it's just more chances to win!" Boy, were we stupid.

PROS

Chex mix and the heart of a champion

Jesse said that everyone there had good luck charms. I meant to bring my old work toy dinosaur DeeTees, but forgot, and grabbed a cut out Owen Wilson face that's been under the driver's seat of my car for 5 years (for some reason) instead. Josh had a John McClane toy, and Jesse and Sarah both had legos. I opened up my freshly bought DABBIN' FEVER (the winner's ink) marker, and got ready to WIN.

Owen Wilson says "that's too many boxes dude!" (imagine his voice and then look at his face, it's funny)

As soon as we started, we learned something about Bingo we never would have guessed: It's INTENSE. And it's not easy. And in no way was it anything but stupid to get those extra sheets. How on earth do old ladies play this?!

First of all, the guy reading the numbers leaves nowhere near enough time to search through all of the boxes. Second, even if you are up to speed with him, you actually have to be AHEAD of him in order to be ready to yell bingo. He will call out "B6" while the number he just drew- "G60" shows on a video on all of the walls. If you are stamping all of your G60s while he's still technically on B6, and yell out bingo, it doesn't count. So, you have to stamp out the G60, SEE that you have a bingo, and then wait for the NEXT number to come up on the screen and for him to actually call G60 before you can yell. Crazy isn't it? So if you get behind at all (which we often were), you may end up being 2 numbers behind and frantically searching through 18 boxes when someone yells BINGO and the inevitable huffing and puffing of 200 bitter people follows, immediately distracting you from possibly sharing in bingo glory (binglory?).

TV with the next number, wall with numbers called, pissed off ladies

The other thing that we learned is that at real bingo, the idea of bingo being a straight line only happens like twice in the entire night (and it's called "Hardway bingo", and its usually just part of a game. 

LOYAL ORDER OF MOOSE!

Some games had multiple possibilities, like, for game #11: You can get 2 straight lines for "double bingo," "small around robin" (which was a box around the inner square), "large round robin" (a square around the entire box) or "coverall" where every number is punched. This makes things interesting, exciting ("oooooo which game is this?!") and absurdly confusing, like when we played "Quinella," where a 24 also means you stamp out all 42s. And a 35 is also a 53. During the game after that, I instantly fell behind because I was still trying to play this way. 

The best game, which I wish I played, was SHOTGUN BINGO, where the guy called out a new number every half second, and the first person to cover every number on 1 game won like 700 bucks. It was intense, but as it was only 1 game, it looked like an intensity that would be worth it.

The last thing I learned is that some Bingo players cheat by paying 5 dollars to rent, or by OWNING their own computer, where they literally do nothing- at the most, they type in the number, and it automatically punches all of the spots and tells them when they have bingo. This is a super easy way to play, but its also complete bullshit. While we're sweating and freaking out whispering "WAIT- WHAT NUMBER WAS IT!?" and having poor people around us trying to explain everything- while we're accidentally marking numbers or falling 2 turns behind, they're just sitting on their asses, waiting for the screen to tell them that they just won hundreds of dollars. BULLSHIT CHEATERS. And there's no chance for error either, because it's a CHEATING COMPUTER.

So yea, Bingo? Not as fun as you think. I made this face most of the time:

and often did this after games:

It is HARD. It's so fast and so confusing that I honestly could have won several times and never would have known. Can you see anything on that sheet? I sure as hell can't. I can see why older people play this (good brain exercise and hand-eye coordination), but we said it all night and I'll still say it: I have no idea how old people play this. Maybe they miss the stress of a job? They're crazy if you ask me.

Jesse left as a champion though. He unfortunately had to split with 2 other people (and it was a huge mess when he won because someone called out bingo early) but he made money, and we were all jealous of him.

way to go champ (although you've paid for bingo 3 times now so you probably just broke even, but we'll ignore that for now and let you feel special).

currently listening to: Daft Punk- Tron Legacy soundtrack

I have not abandoned art

I rarely ever draw or do any kind of art. When I do, I usually like it and often produce some decent stuff. I try again and again to get back into it, and even created a blog to document progress to try and make me do more, but I think I've finally come to terms with the reality that I will probably always be someone who draws every now and then and regularly goes months without doing anything. I may be on another brief kick though.
Last week, Josh yelled at me like he always does to go to the sketch group at Jetpack Comics. I have never liked drawing with other people, but I finally decided to at least draw (from the comfort of my own home). I drew from 6-8, when he did. And I'm happy I did.

The picture I drew from is very dark, and I got stuck in a commitment I wasn't necessarily ready for. But I stuck with it, and after going through 2 and a half sticks of lead on the bic I was using, finished. The crosshatched lines are less obvious from far away.

This is blurry and I had to photoshop a little- I don't have a scanner, and because of the amount of pencil, any picture I take reflects way too much.

Here's one that shows some more detail, but only because I took it at an angle do it wouldn't reflect as much:

Because I have a Gopro camera and am looking for any excuse to use it, I decided to videotape me drawing, from the basic sketch to when it actually looks like an attractive person. 

no, I don't wear glasses but figured it fit the look

This didn't entirely work, as you'll see in the video. I move my head around A LOT when drawing, which I should have predicted. Sped up to 1300%, it basically just looks like I'm headbanging or having a seizure while drawing. Either way, I think it's neat. On to more art!! (maybe)

"Speed Art" from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

The Cape Ann 500

In an interview with Absolutepunk.net (interview here), Philip Jamieson of one of my favorite bands, Caspian, said the following when asked about what inspires him:

"In terms of personal inspiration, there's a road here in the North Shore that winds along the Atlantic ocean. Folks around here call it the "Cape Ann 500." Takes an hour and a half or so to drive from bottom to top (Beverly to Rockport). Back in the day, when music was developing itself as the most powerful thing in my life, I'd drive along that road at 3am blasting records all the time. All kinds of stuff from Radiohead to Boards of Canada to Sigur Ros to Sun Kil Moon to you name it. You're out there when everyone else is asleep and you feel like you own these beautiful surroundings. It's a very personal feeling of ownership and awareness that I haven't really experienced with anything else since."


As someone who waits for the perfect night, the perfect mood, or even a specific season to kick in before listening to albums (I owned Caspian's last album for a solid month before I listened to it, because I wanted to hear it on a night-settling-in-on-the-way-back-from-a-long-bikeride-at-Willowdale night), I immediately wanted to go on this drive. From being a fanboy for years, I've come to know Caspian, and sent Phil a message asking about the Cape Ann 500. He told me some notable stops and the basic route, which is basically Route 127 north, with a few turns to stay along the ocean as best you can. So, I awoke on my friend's futon the day after Shawn's Uno's fest, and went for it.

It was an ugly day, but I'd been putting this drive off all summer, and since I live over an hour from it, I just decided that sure, my pictures won't be as pretty as they could be, but screw it, I'm going for the drive.

I had driven through the downtown, coastline part of Beverly the week before and had been to Singing Beach, so I drove straight to Manchester (which is a beautiful area), and then Magnolia, to go to Sea Lawn, which is part of Coolidge Reservation. (It's right off 127 and has a small parking lot for those interested). Technically, it's called Ocean Lawn, but since there's a Caspian song named after it called Sea Lawn (and it sounds better), I'm sticking with that name.
I walked probably a half mile along a path and followed signs through very private and VERY rich property to get there, and it was pretty beautiful. It was much more lawn-y than I pictured it. I had figured it would be more gross and marshy, but nope- a big, nice lawn right by the ocean. It would be a sweet place to throw the B or take a special lady.

ocean + lawn= ocean lawn

I'd take that special lady here

come on

bird friends

This is one of those rich people's houses. Look at that thing!

Next to Sea Lawn is Magnolia Beach, which, as far as I'm concerned, is the worst beach ever.

Why would you ever want to go to a beach and not swim?!

On the way out, I kept hearing some awful sound- like music being blared out of someone's house. As I got closer, it sounded like someone practicing some sort of horn. But I was in the middle of the woods, what the hell could it be?

Turns out, it was this guy, practicing some sort of horn in short shorts. He completely ignored me when I walked by and was talking to himself, going over the arrangement. Good stuff. 

I got back on 127, and drove north through Magnolia and into Gloucester. There's a nice park there called Stage Fort Rock, where there is... well, a stage and a giant rock.

Gloucester was a mess. I had only been here a few times before and didn't realize just how crowded and tight it is. There were a billion people out, and I even got to hear 2 old ladies yelling at each other and threatening to fight. However, there are parts of Gloucester that are real nice if you like boats and docks and ports and all that jazz. I've never been around this stuff much, but my Grandfather had a boat and took us out on the ocean a few times to fish when I was like 8, so naturally I thought of him. 

The best photo I took here looked as good as it did because I cheated with Instagram. But I love this photo. 

I drove all around on unbelievably tight and winding streets. Every street was a one way, and every section where there weren't supposed to be cars, there were. I drove up the coast a ways to Bass Rocks, where Phil said to go. I was disappointed here though, as the actual section called Bass Rocks on the map was private land, and had mansions on it. I would have driven up anyway, but there were a ton of people out who were already staring at me just for driving around their road. But the house right on the edge was pretty awesome. Imagine living here.

I then drove around to the other end of the beach next to this, called Good Harbor Beach. It was like pretty much every other beach, but because of the inclusion of this rocky area next to it, a little nicer.

 And, because humanity rules, this was in the bushes behind where I took that previous shot. Lovely.

Yes, you're seeing correctly: Fluorescent leopard print bikini bottoms, with STUDS. wow. CLASS.

I quickly was running out of sunlight. This was the first night of the summer where I realized summer was on its way out, and that daylight past 8pm was a thing of the past. I drove around many more crooked bumpy roads to stay alongside the ocean, and it was generally nice. Certain rich areas made me feel like I was in some distant foreign land on the ocean- the cluttered housing, the interesting architecture, the cobblestones and ocean alongside the entire road. Certain other areas just made me feel claustrophobic. But it was generally a pretty nice ride. I grew up in the woods on a lake, so the feelings Phil talked about and the drives through dream scenery with music as the soundtrack- I have that when I'm on back roads in the middle of forests or driving around a lake. The ocean has never really done that for me. To me, the oceanside generally all looks the same, and where a lake has a small town familiarity to me, an ocean is dark, ominous and kind of terrifying in it's grandiosity. To put it less wordy, oceans are huge and can pull you out in them to your death. They're cold, salty, and full of monsters. People get lost in them. Are they beautiful? Absolutely. But I guess because I had no link to oceans other than my Grandfather, I'll probably never experience an ocean like someone who grew up near one would. But if you like oceans or beautiful sea-side towns, I'd definitely recommend this drive. And yes, I listened to Caspian the whole way. 

This was one of the prettier spots. This was either Atlantic Road or Eden Road. Both looked like this. 

Nice stuff.

I blew it though, and ran out of time by driving around random streets trying to get better shots, when really, everything kind of looked the same after awhile. I floored it up to the last landmark, Halibut Point State Park, at the north tip of Rockport. I will be returning here. There is a huge rock quarry right when you walk in which was pretty impressive. Next, the road splits- one way to the beach, and one to "lookout point." I went to lookout point, and was pretty floored. It was dark and I only had about 10 minutes to be there, but it was worth it. You sit on rocks at the top of a hill, overlooking nothing but rocks below and ocean all around you. It's amazing. I sat there, completely alone with the ocean breeze hitting my face and listening to This Will Destroy You on my iphone. It was glorious. What a nice spot. 

yea, it was dark by the time I left. 

According to google images, there is a point somewhere here where you can see the quarry and the ocean in the same view. Rather than have me steal images, just go look for yourself. I will definitely be returning to get that shot.

I then completed the night with a trip back to Nick's Roast Beef. My friend James had texted me earlier when he saw my tweet about being in Beverly. He was house/dogsitting for a friend in Beverly, so I picked him up and we pigged out. Apparently, when you order the chicken finger meal and say "just fries" (instead of onion rings, fries and something else), they just give you a pound of french fries. Good stuff. 

ahhhh beef.

Thanks for the advice on the drive Phil, it was an afternoon well spent.

currently listening to: Radiohead (mix I made that combines the best of their last 4 albums)

Shawn Casey opts for a life more awesome

When I started at Apple 5 years ago, the inventory team was just me and another guy named Alex. After about 3 months of suffering as a twosome, we were told we could have a part time helper. We had started talking here and there with the guys who worked at Crate and Barrel. We ran into them unloading trucks or throwing out trash all the time. One was Joey, who talked a lot and looked scary but was a really nice guy. The other was Shawn, who didn't talk much, but wore Isis and Don Caballero shirts, so I approved of him. He seemed nice, but usually was just the guy laughing while Joey and I talked or Alex told some story. Alex told me one day that Shawn was interested in working with us- that he had been at Crate and Barrel for like 10 years and wanted more money and something that appealed to his nerd interests. I was on board immediately, and we talked him up enough to management that they gave him an interview, and eventually the job.

I was put in charge of training him on his first day, on runner- the rarely used program we had set up to bring computers to salespeople and keep the floor stocked. We sat in the breakroom with a billion people, and I attempted to show him the ropes on an absurdly busy Saturday morning. As soon as he laughed, I knew I would love him. He had a ridiculous laugh- the kind that made people instantly like him. And he laughed at everything, which made me feel like the funniest guy on earth.

Shawn would soon be my closest friend there. We bonded (as all inventory people do) over the thankless and generally unnoticed work we suffered through, working with someone who annoyed us (Alex), music, and similar lives and values. We ate lunch in the remote stockroom, and watched all of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Flight of the Conchords while eating paninis or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Every day was another sandwich, a bitch session, 22 minutes of laughing, and more bonding. I eventually left the world of inventory but still worked closely with him on inventory matters and stayed close to him on matters of, well, everything else. We had fantastic times at work through the braindead humor that can only come from 15 hour shifts or 15 day stretches, and the laughs and goof-offery that occasionally set us free in the confines of the safe-haven remote. We had amazing lunches, great talks and lots of stupidity. We also, through the hardship and frustration of work and the crap and suckery of life, became really close friends over 4 years of working together.

Towards the end of my time there, I barely saw him. My schedule changed a ton and he stopped eating lunch. I felt like we were losing each other as friends. As evidenced by the last time we hung out together though, I think I realized that I may not always know everything about his life, but Shawn will always be a close friend, and will always have a special place in my heart as my closest confidant through all the highs and lows of working at a retail store for nearly 5 years together.

This is written like Shawn died, and in a way, he did. The Shawn we all knew died last Friday, because the Shawn we all knew (angry, frustrated, quiet, sarcastically miserable, stuck in a job he hated) followed in my footsteps and opted for a life more awesome. For the amount of time Shawn and I stood in the parking lot after work, bitching for hours about work and swearing we were going to quit any day, you'd have thought we would have both quit 40 times already. But for how insane of an idea it was that I would quit my job, it was a thousand times more insane that Shawn would. But he did. I'd love to take more credit, but I know me leaving was just a small part of his decision. He told me that me leaving was an enormous catalyst, and I gave him a confidence he was having trouble finding- if I could leave, anyone could. At the end of the day, it was his decision, and his balls that he grew to finally stand up and walk out, but if my life change and this silly little blog had even the smallest part of it- the smallest inspiration to make someone I care about change their life for the better and do something they want with their life, then I feel like I've succeeded even more than I thought I would with this blog. Here's to you Shawn, go live a life more awesome.

With all the serious stuff out of the way, here is the fun stuff.

I tried my darnedest to get to the store for when Shawn would be clapped out by the store, but stupid shitty asshole 95 south ruined my life. I got stuck in the tolls (because nobody in any state works 40 hours a week anymore) for a good 20-30 extra minutes, and missed his clap-out by about 10 minutes. But I didn't miss the rest of his plan- to go to Uno's directly after leaving, and stay until he got kicked out. We had a fantastic time.

Probably the greatest picture of Shawn ever.

I got my hair did all nice,

Pat ruined pictures,

Shawn ruined his own pictures,

Shawn shoved straws down my throat and Allocca stripped,

and Zack even showed up!

Shawn likes beer.

Marie's hair makes good food.

I'm not entirely sure what happened here.

We had a rave in the parking lot.

Shawn gets easily distracted by glow sticks.

We were there for literally 8 hours. Shawn, Allocca, Pat and I even stayed in the parking lot for another hour after. It was the longest I've ever spent at a bar, and it was the most fun. Through different people coming and going, trips to the parking lot for raves, and just being obnoxiously loud, we had an amazing time. A bunch of people I really liked left Apple before I left or shortly after (Zack, Gene, Ravi, Brian, Rosie, Dan, Shawn, Aleena to name a few), and a night like this made something I never thought would be true seem for once to actually be true- that we may just beat the odds and remain friends after Apple- that the friendships we made there wouldn't die after we left. It's a nice feeling- the longest I'd ever spent at a job before this was 3 years, and I've only stayed in touch with 1 person from there. Sure, none of us will be as close as we were when we worked together, but to think that just putting an invite out and hanging out at the local bar might be all it takes to keep some of these friendships alive? That kind of rules. 

This is obviously photoshopped, because the picture reflected horribly in the dark. This print was of the original ICS team at Burlington- Shawn, Alex and I. When Alex left, Shawn printed out this picture from a late night at work. We were going to send it to him. Over time, we just didn't. Because Shawn is a hoarder, the picture has been in his car for nearly 4 years. It only seemed fitting to take this picture. Shawn looks exactly the same, but with a better beard. I clearly just grew hair and got uglier since this picture was taken, but am still pretty close. 

Good luck with your new life, Shawn. When I left, you wrote "HIS NAME WAS MIKE ALEXANDER" on my facebook wall (a reference to Robert Paulson finally having a name in death (from Fight Club of course)). I one-upped the hell out of you and have made you a little tribute video. Warning, it gets very weird at the end. Enjoy. 

"Shawn laughs a lot" from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

currently listening to: lots of ween, clearly

I have not abandoned music

I'm in the middle of editing some stuff for a post that is now a week late. In trying to keep the blog alive, here are some clips of music to prove that I haven't completely failed at making music this summer. In the last few weeks, I've started playing piano more, and have the basis of possibly 2 songs written, plus the one I'm going to post here. Guitar has been a little more lacking, but I'm trying. I had a day where I really had no intention of leaving my room at all, and decided to just sit in the dark and try to get some of these recorded to A. prove that I haven't abandoned music, and B. have audio AND visual representations of these songs, so I won't forget them.

I have a week scheduled at the end of August to do some recording, so we'll see if anything takes shape, but I'm going in with a few ideas.

I wrote this at the beginning of the summer when I was playing around with a new tuning. It's the kind of tuning where just open strumming sounds wonderful, but it's hard to do anything with other than that. I'm clearly still figuring out parts, and this required some editing. I won't really know where this is going to go until I start recording stuff, but I like it so far, and it definitely falls into the category of "songs I wrote, loved, then nearly forgot and somehow saved." Unfortunately, there are far too many songs that are gone forever.

"Geetar song in the works" from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

This one was nearly gone forever. I wrote it in North Reading when I had my piano in my closet. I played more then, so I wrote harder stuff, and even tried to play a polyrhythm at the end. Over years of not touching my piano, it nearly disappeared. Last year I started messing around again and was determined to remember it. I couldn't even remember the first line. Somehow, through determination and endless playing around and trying every single possible note, I remembered it last week. It was a glorious moment, second only to when I remembered that an entire other part I couldn't get was gone because I had forgotten 3 bass notes entirely. 3 notes? Big deal right? Well, when they change the entire timing of the line, it quickly makes sense why I could never remember this song. I'm unbelievably happy that I remembered it. This required some editing, as I still can't play it perfectly, and would sound better if my stupid reverb pedal worked. And I still play it sloppy, but whatever, I WILL NOT FORGET IT AGAIN.

"Pianer song in the works" from Mike Alexander on Vimeo

Mass trip day 2/Willowdale

After I left Dan's, I headed up to Willowdale to attempt to ride at least the first half of my enormous 17+ mile total loop. I brought along my Gopro camera too, to see how it could handle the twisty turning jerky bumpiness of mountain biking. The clouds were threatening rain, my stomach was threatening worse (great idea mike, eat Burger King for lunch and then try to mountain bike), and my back decided to do its thing where it shoots piercing pain through my body for no reason. It somehow tweaked it when I was putting my bike shorts on in my car, and I (now that my back is still weird a week later) stupidly rode anyway. And it was awesome. I was exhausted immediately, but it was extremely humid, so, through all of my sweat and panting, I actually could breathe better than normal. I managed to ride all but the last mile or so of the loop (I was pretty dead) and I had more to do, so I headed out after about 10 miles. It was awesome. I love this place to death and finally hit up one of my favorite sections of the trail this year. This section was the first place that looked like fall last year, and I remember having a fall freakout while riding there with Joe (OH MY GOD IT'S BEAUTIFUL AHHHHH). I love Willowdale.

So tired, I got a lazy eye

Someone got a bit excited

Yes, you have to weigh nothing and have an 8,000 dollar bike to ride stuff like this. This has NO place at Willowdale- it's hilarious that this exists.

I call this Gnarnia. You ride down an endless hill (literally, you don't have to pedal for like 20 seconds) and then come into a huge section that is just green everywhere. It's great. 

This was one of my first triumphs in mountain biking- getting the balls to try and ride up and over this. It's bigger and thinner than it looks, and it's kind of straight up and straight down- an upside down V. I was TERRIFIED the first time I did it, and now I do it every time. Baby steps.

This beat up car is in the middle of thick woods and has to have been here for several decades. I love this car.

Swamps. Pretty, buggy. Pretty buggy.

My legs after 10 miles. Dirt sticks to sweat very well.

Here is the video. I shot nearly 2 hours of footage. After viewing it, I realized a few things. First, I should probably turn the camera off when I'm collapsed on the side of the trail. What a great way to fill up an SD card. Second, nobody wants to watch me ride slowly uphill (including me). Third, apparently I twist my handlebars A LOT, both when pulling on them on a climb, and to avoid roots and rocks. This makes for interesting riding, but very ugly footage (I'm going to try the helmet mount next time). And fourth, nobody wants to watch 10 miles of riding (including me). I decided to edit it in pieces, as I usually divide Willowdale into sections anyway. And I decided to include only the good parts- the downhills and more interesting and technical sections. So here is the good stuff from the first section, somewhere around 10 miles.

I apologize for the blurriness of this video- I spent hours trying to make this work, and no matter what settings I save at, and no matter how good the final video (this is 1.7 gigs) looks on my computer, youtube just seems to smear vaseline all over the video to assure it looks as bad as possible. If anyone knows any tricks on how to make videos you post on youtube actually look the same as the videos look on your computer, let me know. 

After riding, I changed in the woods and collapsed in my car. I headed up to Beverly to try and do 2 of my goals for the summer- one, driving around the ocean up there (more on this in a future blog), and hit up Nick's roast beef, a place that is regarded by Yelp.com and many beefheads in Mass as the best roast beef place on earth.

On the way to Beverly, driving through the beautiful backroads of Ipswich, I saw quite a beautiful tree in the middle of a corn field. All I could think of was The Shawshank Redemption. There was no rock wall, but this tree still felt like it belonged in the movie. Absolutely gorgeous- so much in fact, that I became super tourist and pulled over and took a bunch of pictures. 

come on

Then I drove through Beverly, which is quite the town. It started out with everything you could imagine on gross and busy streets, and turned into a small town, full of winding roads and one ways, traffic and tourists, and the ocean. I made my way to Singing Beach, which was pretty much like any beach, but, as I'm from the land of lakes, was a least different. 

I then ran out of time to venture any further, as I had a date with beef. I met my beef buddy Sean back at Nick's, and we feasted.

the joy that can only come from beef

I decided to try zucchini sticks on the side, which was a mistake. They were ok, but the beef was, as promised, the best roast beef I've had. It was a perfect mixture of super rare red beef, cooked brown beef, some chunks, etc. The roll was somehow way more delicious than other places and a little buttery and crispy, there was tons of murder (sauce mess), and I tasted cheese all the way through (which is surprisingly rare in beef sandwiches). Thank you Sean, it wasn't even a year ago when you introduced me to the world of beef. "WHAT!?" you said. "You've lived in Massachusetts this long and have never eaten a roast beef 3 way?" "um.. yea dude, what's the big deal? it's just meat, cheese, mayo and bbq sauce..." Boy was I wrong. Thank you for teaching me, Sean. This was so good that I stopped bothering with the zucchini sticks, and manned up and got another sandwich. I am a MAN. 

Oh my god so good. I literally get instantly hungry every time I look at this.