Ahh yes, another fine weekend! This was the Chain Gang "40th Birthday Bash" trip out to the Laurel Highlands (southeast of Pittsburgh) for Memorial Day Weekend.

We stayed at the Lingonier Country Inn, in Laughlintown PA, not far from Speedgoat, which I'd always assumed was mostly a mail-order retailer, but they also have an awesome store... Our home base (the Inn) was a sort of B&B with a bar -- need I say more? Both of these places get five stars for biker vacations.

In terms of riding: We rode in the Forbes State Forest, just outside of town. I'm not sure how much total mileage is available there, but with some backtracking we did 17 miles on Saturday and 25 on Sunday -- that's the day we got lost. The trails are a good mix of jeep road and sweet singletrack, and when they are labeled "expert" they aren't kidding. The riding was so technical, so "total body workout," that we were wasted by these rides.

...of course, the alcohol might have had something to do with it: when Brian, Matt and I got there about 11:30 Friday, we were worried no one would be up, but we found them all in the bar and going strong. We closed the place at 2:00, so we were nice and fresh for our first ride. Saturday night ended earlier and was much more subdued, but the pain/exhaustion never really went away. Sunday night was the birthday celebration, which sort of split the difference between Friday and Saturday, though there was a fairly long "discussion period" in the bar.

Check out was this morning, and we were on the road by about 11:00, with a side trip to the Flight 93 crash site and temporary memorial.

(Never did make it to Fallingwater.)