Palatka Memorial Ride

The PANTHERS are again planning a Memorial Ride in honor of those members who are not with us today, including Ray Cannarella, Bob Duncan, Ed Schenck, Ed Brandt, Ellen Mickelson and Susan Hansen.

Your response has been great.  We have confirmation from 27 teams who will attend the PANTHERS Memorial Ride in Palatka, FL.  This ride will be held during the weekend of 16-18 April and will be headquartered at the Quality Inn, located at 201 N 1^ST Street, Palatka, FL.  Make your reservations now by calling Quality Inn at (386) 328-3481 and ask for the PANTHERS Ride rate of $90 per night.  Rooms at the Quality Inn open to the exterior rather than an interior hallway.  Please call now and confirm your reservations for the weekend.

If you would like to add extra mileage to this weekend, Hank and Kathy Williams ask that you contact them at   1biglot@gmail.com  for more information.  They will be riding the 69 mile trip from their home in The Villages to Palatka, FL, on Thursday 15 April.  After the Memorial Ride they will ride back to The Villages on Monday 19 April.  The route traverses 35 miles through the Ocala National Forest and there are convenient rest stops along the way.

The two rides that we are promoting for this weekend are riding on the Palatka-Lake Butler Rails to Trail.  Riding east you can intersect the trail a 1.3 miles and ride 20 miles out and back for a total of 40 miles.  Riding to the west you will travel through Palatka for 2.8 miles, get on the trail at 7.2 miles and ride for 26 miles out and back for a total of 52 miles.  Convenient rest areas are at both turn around points.  You will be furnished route sheets for additional rides of 26, 33, 36, 38, 48, and 61 miles.

We are happy to announce that the SAG for this event will be furnished by Putman Bicycles.  This is a local father and son shop located only nine blocks from the Quality Inn and you may contact them at [386] 328-9033.  This contact number will be included on all route sheets.

There are a number of restaurants that you may want to visit during the weekend.  Adjacent to the Quality Inn is Beef-O-Brady’s, and two blocks to the west is the historical Angel’s Dining Car which is the oldest of its kind in Florida.  The menu has a lot of familiar diner items like breakfast food and burgers but most intriguing are the unusual items like the pusalow (think chocolate & vanilla syrup iced milk drink) and black bottom sandwich.  Choose the latter, a combination of bacon, hamburger, and scrambled egg, and you will find it is good.  Musselwhites Seafood is located 1.3 miles to the east and Corkey Bell’s Seafood is 1.8 miles to the east of the Quality Inn.  And for those who like things a little spicy you must check out Mariachiles, a Mexican restaurant 2 blocks away on St. Johns Ave, or La Hacienda III Mexican Restaurant just 1.9 miles on Crill Ave.  There is also an Uncork & Unwind Craft Beer and Wine establishment just 2 blocks away.  So there will be plenty of routes available for riding and excellent food and drink to replenish the calories.

As in the past, all PANTHERS Rides are free to members and under COVID-19 conditions we will not plan large social gatherings this year.

Make plans now to attend and get your reservations in early.

If you have questions or need additional information please email Bob Thompson at   rjt3jc@embarqmail.com