Back in the mountains

Yesterday, I had a really good ride in the mountains of Western PA. I started out from Latrobe, which was the former home of the Rolling Rock brewery (a nasty tasting beer, but I do know why the 33 is on the bottle). I'd gone over the 1st ridge and was starting up the 2nd when I was joined by a riding companion, Laura. It was a good ride and we altered the course a bit and even went over a few roads that I hadn't been on in years and then some new ones which I hadn't been on before. It's nice to have someone to chat with when on rides. She was able to climb the hills fairly well and showed some decent strength on the bike. We road past the Rolling Rock farms which was very scenic. It was also nice since we barely saw a car on the roads. I was also amazed that none buzzed us or had any nasty comments to shout out. Laura, I found out is a relative newcomer to racing and has tried the Oval in Pittsburgh, but as most new riders find out, you can't plow at the front lap after lap. A couple lessons in how to maneuver around the pack and a couple lessons on the hows and whens to do things in a race and she could probably do fairly well there. Hopefully she'll add to the growing number of women in the racing scene in the 'burgh which has grown fairly well this year. After she split off for home, I finished a the ride heading back through the Ligonier area and just caught the early traffic for the Sunday evening concert at the Gazebo downtown. If they have a strings concert there sometime, I might have to stop and catch the show sometime. I wound up with just off a good 70 miles for the day. I haven't had too many long rides like that this year and it felt pretty good, especially after a good day of racing the day before. Another weekend of road racing, 2 of mountain biking and then Cross starts up. I'm getting the bikes ready now. Maybe I can have the body ready for it this year.