In August we participated in the Pennsylvania Dutch Farm To Fork Fondo for the fourth year in a row. While folks usually say the third time’s the charm, this time was pretty charming too.
2019 Pennsylvania Dutch Farm To Fork Fondo:
Registration and Meet The Farmers Dinner
Most of the Farm To Fork Fondo rides take place on Sundays, but the Pennsylvania Dutch ride takes place on a Saturday because many of the farmers observe their Sabbath on Sundays. As we’ve done before, we took Friday off and had lunch in Lancaster, Pennsylvania before checking into our hotel and heading to registration and the Meet The Farmers Dinner.
The new host farm was Cherry Crest Farm. The official address is Ronks, Pennsylvania, but my Garmin tagged it as “Paradise” which is another town nearby. 🙂 While the property is still used for farming (cows, chickens, and crops), it also is a big “agri-tainment” venue with a corn maize, old fashioned locomotive, and lots of play areas.
posing in front of a giant playscape
As usual, registration was a snap–it took only a minute to check in and get our wrist bands. Also as usual, we stocked up on Farm To Fork Fondo gear. I love this year’s bright design–great for high visibility on the road.
(source: Farm To Fork Fondo)
The dinner was held under a big tent overlooking the fields.
Proof of what a small world it is and the power of social media, I ended up sitting next to a woman in Deborah’s MRTT chapter who had seen my recaps about previous Farm to Fork Fondo rides.
The train tracks ran right behind us,
and I was surprised when a train came through!
Although my back was to the train track,
I was able to enjoy the gorgeous sunset as dinner progressed.
2019 Pennsylvania Dutch Farm To Fork Fondo:
Medio Ride
Our hotel was only a few miles away–and an easier drive than last year. We got there in plenty of time to check our tire pressure, use the real bathrooms, and line up for the start. After a few safety instructions and a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, we were off. As usual, we were doing the Medio course, which was about 47 miles this year.
The ride description said there would be four farm rest stops, but as this map shows, there were five! I had downloaded the course from Ride With GPS into my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, and that worked wonderfully. The course was well-marked, but it was nice to have the route mapped out in front of me so I could be confident that we were going the right way.
The first aid stop was at Linden Dale Farm, where we were serve crostini with a date spread and goat cheese from the farm’s goats.
The second aid stop was at Riehl’s Family Farm where we always enjoy the whoopie pies.
The third aid stop was at Lapp Valley Farm. My husband was still full from the whoopie pies (he had two!), but I wasn’t going to miss out on freshly made ice cream.
The next-to-last aid stop was at Wanner’s Pride N Joy Farm. I wasn’t really hungry, but I tried the mini corn bread muffins they had for us.
The last stop was at Eby Farm. With only 5 miles to go and knowing their was a post-ride BBQ waiting for us, you’d think I would have passed up more snacks, but I couldn’t resist the locally-made chocolate milk and Girl Scout cookies they had to offer.
A bottle-opening chicken medal!
About those hills …
Although the course description said the Medio route would have some challenging hills, the only really hard climb was at the very end–and not because it was at the very end. My husband was glad not to have to climb the long hill that was new to last year’s course, and I was glad not to have to climb the really steep hill that scared me into doing the Conte’s Hill rides. Between the great weather, the amazing food, and more moderate course, it really was paradise cycling!
Hopefully I’ve given you a taste of why I love the Farm To Fork Fondo events so much. If you want to find out for yourself, you can join us for the Shenandoah ride on September 15 or head to the Berkshires September 29. You can still use COCO15 to save 15% off your registration.
I’m joining the Tuesday Topics link up hosted by Kim and Zenaida.
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
Seriously, all that yummy food makes me almost wish I biked. Almost! Lancaster is so beautiful — I’ve been a couple of times.
It is such a lovely part of the country!
This sounds like such a wonderful event! I love that the farmers have treats for the riders.
So funny that you ran into someone you ‘knew’! That happens all the time,doesn’t it?
It really is a small world!
This always seems like such a fun event and I love that you do it every year. The food alone would power me through all those miles – looks delicious!
I’m sure the calorie balance was at an excess, but it was worth it!
4 years already?! I always think this looks like such a fun event. The yummy food alone would propel me through. Congrats to both of you!
I’d love to do one with you sometime!
The Fondo events look so fun! My hubby would be all over those if we lived near there (and I might, too)..
You never know — they might organize one near you!
I can’t believe you’ve been riding this for 4 years already. Time flies. It looks like such a fun event. Spacing out the miles with treat stops is a genius idea. Glad to hear the course was more moderate this year.
It really breaks up the miles!
Love the medal and OMG so much GREAT food!!!!
It really is amazing!
I love everything about this from the whoopie pie to the ice cream to the chicken. This looks like the absolute best event – I know I say that all the time but I wish we had something cool like this here.
Congratulations!
They really put a lot of thought into the details — and the designs.
This looks like so much fun! That’s a super awesome jersey, too. Plus those views!!!
The views were breathtaking! Especially in the nice weather.
I’m so glad you didn’t miss out on your whoopie pie and ice cream! Both are enough to make me want to register next year! Have fun this weekend at the Shenandoah ride. We looked at it , but I’ll be in NC running the Marine Corps Half.