Next Saturday, March 3rd there will be a farm to table style event, the Farm Brunch & Family Strawberry Festival at Rype & Readi in Elkton, FL (between Hastings and St. Augustine). Tickets are available online (see link).  If you order tickets ASAP, you will meet the deadline for a discounted price.  After that, the tickets are full price.

This presents a great opportunity for ride groups to do a really nice ride on the Palatka-St. Augustine Trail, with or without adding some additional miles on quiet rural roads in the Armstrong-Elkton area, combining a bike ride with a fabulous full brunch. This is definitely a family-friendly event.  While you can certainly drive to Rype & Readi, there are lots of options for getting a ride in, too.

Ride groups can do their own thing (start and end at the farm, join the Velofest ride (see the link above), or join me on my ride).  What I plan to do:  drive out to Armstrong, arriving no later than 0800, park at the Armstrong trailhead, and ride on the trail and on the area’s rural roads, ending up at Rype & Readi in time for brunch, then ride back (less than 2 miles, nearly all on the trail) to Armstrong after brunch, and load up our bikes for the drive back to Gainesville.

If you have never ridden on the Palatka-St. Augustine Trail, this could be a delightful and tasty introduction to the trail, and to some beautiful, flat, scenic riding on mostly low-traffic roads not too far from our part of North Florida. Plus, PANCAKES!

Your brunch ticket includes pancakes with fresh blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, and pumpkin spice, farm fresh scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits with local honey and jam, local kale salad, Elkton home fried potatoes, strawberry shortcake, hibiscus tea, coffee, and tea.  There will also be a cash bar (offering mimosas and wine).

Let’s get a GCC group out for what should be a wonderful Brunch & Ride!

Email or call me for more information, and if you plan to come.  

-Ally

(352) 745-2011