The PAC Journal

October, 17th 2022

What a beautiful weekend! Seems like we're at the brink where leafs are about to poop and peepin rides are here. I was fortunate enough to get out on the Friday metric with Chris and Brian. Saturday morning, my wife and I got out to the Three Notch trail for a spectacular ride. Don't underestimate that rail trail, especially this time of the year. Both recaps will be below.

Fantastic Friday Metric

I don't care where bike event's/races have taken me all over the country. Fall riding in the Mid-Atlantic is the prettiest setting of them all. I have an addiction to longer distance fall rides in our area. Now, that can be a relative "term" for some folks. For me, that 50-70 distance is my sweet spot. I finally get in a groove after a few hours and I get in a lot of sight seeing.

The goal of that shouldn't deter anyone. I don't care if 15 miles is the furthest you've gone. I'm extremely proud of you for getting out. Find yourself a good route and maybe try 20 this weekend! Heck, tell me where you want to ride and I'll plan something out out for you.

When I knew our ride in NC got canceled, I thought of the perfect thing to do. A fun jaunt around the best roads in Calvert County. I got Chris and Brian on board and knew this would be Chris's longest cruise yet.

The plan was to do a metric and hit a couple stopping places for food. Keep the pace respectable for all 3 of us. I'm into long rides but I'm not a faster paced person. I want the adventure, the weird stops and the stories that follow. I knew I had the perfect group for such mission.

We left the shop around 10am and headed north. Temperature was about the best you could want it for a long day in the saddle. Had quite the bit of a headwind but it wasn't horrible as we weren't pushing it as hard as we can.

Made our way into Prince Frederick for the first leg. We'd take a stop at the Dares Beach Community Center to fill bottles and hop off the saddle. I'm still trying out a new Fizik saddle and forgot chamois butter, so this was a much needed stop.

Brian took us down a quick little 1 mile out and back off Dares Beach. BEAUTIFUL little road! Multiple old barns, the roads quiet and the leafs were starting to show. Perfect break from the main roads we have been on all day so far.

If you haven't been all the way down to the water off DB road, its worth giving it a shot. It's a bit of a climb out, but the views are amazing and the neighborhood roads are a lot of fun to ride.

My favorite part about getting out on a ride is the stops! It's tough to beat DD for a refresh on food/sugar. It's still warm enough out right now for a nice iced coffee but I know we're not far away from much cooler temps.

This would be our half way point on our way back down south to Solomons.

BEST road in Calvert, hands down, Parkers Wharf right off of Brooms Island Rd by the Mom and Pops store. It's an out and back that gives you all of the best views you could want. The road has been refreshed over the last few years so it's nice and smooth. It flows all the way down to the end with views of farms, the Patuxent River and barns. It's a must over the next month with the foliage.

If you haven't stopped and checked out the longhorns on Laveille, we highly recommend it. Can't go too far down as folks have houses at the end, but it's a fun place to check out some beautiful cattle.

Let's wrap up with our favorite stop of this ride and many of our other rides. The Mom and Pop store in Brooms Island. A hole in the wall gas station that has some tables outside, all kinds of treats inside and POTATOES! Brian discovered the potatoes not so long ago and I'm jealous every time he sends a pic of these. What a pick me up for the last bit of miles to get home!

We'd finish the ride at 63 miles, making it Chris's longest to date. I always like to tell customers that they don't need to wait for an organized ride to go out and do a metric or something out of there comfort zone. With just a little planning, you can make your own route and plan for some stops for food/water. There is nothing more fun than making your own adventure. That's what we're all about. Take a backroad that you haven't been down before, go a few extra miles, hit that gas station and get some fried potatoes and onions.

The Three Notch Rail Trail

On Saturday, we decided to change things up and do the Three Notch Rail Trail. This would be great on my legs and a change of pace with dealing with traffic. Plus, my wife Jessica loves this!

Click on the picture for a trail brochure provided by St Marys County

If you haven't heard of this yet, its right off of RT 235 in the southern part of Mechanicsville. It starts at John V. Baggett Park, which has an ample amount of parking and restrooms. It's a somewhat flat, paved rail trail that takes you 13 miles one way.It has zero cars on it and a few road crossings. A great peace of mind and a beautiful place to go pedal around.

Link for more info - Three Notch Rail Trail

What a fantastic ride on the trail. We'd knock this out a bit quicker than I thought because most of the time, I was watching the scenery. My legs were actually feeling pretty good after the metric the day before. Jessica is much stronger than me and could have done this back and fourth multiple times before she wanted to wrap up. I was ready to hit The Beanery for a nice post ride cold brew.

Some gravel updates! Mid Atlantic GTD has a new decal drop that was a HUGE hit at UnPAved. Great for all the beer enthusiast. We got a run of stickers coming in and taking T-Shirt pre orders.

https://graveltraveldirt.myshopify.com/products/mid-atlantic-gravel-life-t-shirt

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GEAR!

I really can't say enough good things about Skratch Labs. It's been my go to for drink mixtures for a long time now. Doesn't have JUNK mixed in with it, the flavors are good and it doesn't make me feel horrible like a lot of other drinks while riding.

The big thing is that I actually hydrate when I ride with this. Just water is bland and I won't drink as much. A good flavor helps with that and refreshes me with electrolyte's.

FRESH SHOP DROP

We got a restock of Ridge Supply socks. All kinds of colors so you can be stylish and SEEN! These are also great small gifts for your cycling AND non cycling friends