Hills, hills, and mountains
I think today's climbing was the hardest so far. We had two mountains to climb over, and my legs are starting to feel it. It's somewhat unfortunate that I was only able to train in the flatland that was Chicago...
Having said that, it was a good day and now that I'm finally realizing how to climb hills and mountains, I'm *starting* to enjoy it. It's still very tough and I'm usually drenched in sweat and out of breath by the time I get to the top. But the descent is usually amazing and makes it worth the climb. After the second mountain there was a descent of about four miles... bombing down that hill at 40+ mph was quite the experience. I can't wait until we get to some of the even bigger descents in the Rocky Mountains. It will be somewhat difficult going back to biking on flat surfaces after...
So today was not as long of a day as yesterday, but we found out that about six years ago, there was a bike race between Bedford and Ligonier (our route today), plus some few miles, that was completed by the winning team in less than two and a half hours... trying to visualize how massive your quads must be in order to climb up the mountains that fast...
Thanks to our hosts tonight, the YMCA in Ligonier. As always, having a place to stay and shower and dinner provided is incredible, especially after a long day of biking. It doesn't hurt that we continue to get tons of snacks either (which we devour during the water breaks of course...)!
I protest the fact that apparently Laurel Hill isn't even called a mountain... because it most definitely felt like one
Today was our second day without alumni, and despite our fears that everything would fall apart without them, that hasn't been the case. They obviously did a great job preparing us for the roads ahead :)
Group ice cream time in Ligonier, PA after a really hard day
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