Gourmet Run

Lago CT Polar Bears, from left: Fonz, newbie Ed, Mac, Token2, Captain, Grumpy, Princess, Bob and down front Pogy.

Motorcycle Polar Bear Blog, ride to Lago, North Brunswick Township, NJ, January 17, 2016.

Editor's Note: Well my horrible head cold cleared enough to ride this Sunday, but a whale of a work duty seized first priority. At The Maritime Aquarium we have a life-size, inflatable, walk-in whale exhibit on loan from NOAA.

By: John Howard, a.k.a. Token2

Eight Bears inclusive of a first time cub (Ed, welcome) made the ride south to North Brunswick on a seasonably cold but gray day. The group opined that the return journey seemed colder, though the temperature gauge reported 38°F northbound making a lie of our impressions. That bested the low 30’s on the way south. Pogy who is known (but widely disrespected) for his worldly knowledge put it down to increasing moisture in the air. I believe he checked that by removing his woolly bobble hat for a brief moment in order to gain the benefit of more skin exposure. Fortunately the forecasted snow flurries/showers did not appear until we were all safely back in CT.

Capt. K took the lead with Mac in the rear. It was a joy to ride in staggered but well held formation, at least until the Meadowlands were reached. At that point I made a quick exit into the Lombardi services to attend to an emerging problem from a partially detached windshield spoiler. Being 7^th in line I waved to Mac to keep going, which he and they did. After attending to the issue the only way south is to join the eastern spur; I did a check swing into the Edison services to make sure the group were not waiting and continued on to Lago.

Capt reported the good start in the formation was lost as the NJ Turnpike straightened out, demanding less of the riders' attention to detail.

Arriving at Lago I was astonished to find that I was the first CT Bear on the lot. Huh? Perhaps they had waited on I95 on the section I had not traveled? Nah…Capt. was leading; pirate rules in effect (turns out he did not know I had dropped out). Just as I was checking my phone for messages  Capt. and gang appear from the opposite direction to the normal route. Still we were all on premises by 11 am, so Captain’s detour through North Brunswick, East Brunswick, Milltown (but fortunately not New Brunswick, eh) was but a trifle inconvenience. As is often the case it is an ‘ill wind that blows nobody any good’ and Pogy announced he arrived with 100.7 miles on the clock, 4 points! Woooo hooooo.

Lago sounds so much spiffier than the previous name of Sir John’s that the restaurant dropped a few years back. This year the evolution continued with a posh buffet replacing the a la carte menu that included a number customarily priced hot sandwiches. But, uh hummm..as we are from Connecticut we are deserving of a high society lunch once in a while. More so now we have omnipresent royalty in our ranks. We were treated to an omelet station, carving station with rib of beef, chilled shrimp and many other gourmet delights that reminded me of the feast we enjoy at Long Valley. Of course the price was set to match, high enough to stimulate a sharp intake of breath from some. Even as we yelped, Fonz sprang into action and dropped a money off coupon into the mix so our final tally was more palatable. Way to go Polar Rican!

After lunch we assembled in the parking lot where Grumpy began the process of setting up for the group shot. Clearly a little rust has accumulated during his absence over the first half of the season, it took several Mulligan’s before we saw evidence of the flash. Bob H., who joined the group shot  got into the spirit of things by heckling that he wondered if the group shot would be completed before we were at next week’s destination. It was all too much for Grumpy who blew a fuse. No, don’t get me wrong, it was the 15A one that fed his head and tail lights which he fixed at Montvale services. It is great to have you back Grumpy!

Fonz ponied up for the refreshments at the top, though as a result of a miscalculation we ended up one hot chocolate short;  Pogy voluntarily missed out. So Fonzie, if your MSF schedule this coming season has you working every rainy weekend you will know why. Anyway, the rest of us enjoyed the break.

Princess, we are all looking forward to a critics report on Jim’s performance in ‘…on the way to the Forum’  illustrated with many pictures including a worldwide exclusive a ‘up the toga’ shot. Don’t be bashful, those Romans were naughty fellows!

On that I had better end……

An addendum from Joanna Wojtowicz, a.k.a. HRH Princess:

We had a great ride today. Token2 didn't take any pictures but asked me to forward them to you. I posted all pictures in my Polar Bear rides album on FB. You can take any pictures you want for the blog.

Token2 joined me at the bus stop, at the Hutch and I-278. We had a short but meaningful conversation about current behavior of the stock market before Grumpy arrived ahead of the pack, seemed to have some odd scarf issues...we all just watched and tapped our fingers on the throttles as he was wrapping himself with it. Finally Fonz yelled "TODAY!" to which  Grumpy, as usually, showed a gloved finger.

Captain lead the way with couple of scenic town detours. We forgive him, everyone still remembers Montgomery. There hasn't been one ride, when someone didn't mention that.

Polar Bears present today: Captain, Fonz, new rider Ed (who rode actually pretty well, but of course, Pogy had to find something to point out and rightfully so!), Grumpy (as always grumpy), H.R.H. Princess, Pogy, Token2 and Mac.

Today's was the 13th ride of the Polar Bears Grand Tour season, and that takes us over to the number of remaining rides going down. Only 12 to go!!! Points are racking up!

After our hot chocolate stop at The Top, I went to see James in a toga!!! He was just great, as always. We have a very talented Bear in our group. It was the most hilarious play I've ever seen. "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum" is the longest play's title I've ever seen too! I cried laughing! Literally!!!

I showed up without a ticket and got front row seat!!!! Lol... People there respect Royalty!  One kid, looking at my helmet,  said to me: "You're so rad!" I still have to Google that or check with Urban dictionary!!! LOL...

By the time the play was over, my bike was covered with an inch of snow... I knew I could handle it. Roads were wet, snow wasn't sticking. It was a good experience riding in that kind of weather, however, I wish not to do that again unless absolutely necessary! Lol

Made it home safe and took all possible precautions. I remembered, when you told me about patches of ice forming under the overpasses. I thank you for that, it stuck in my mind.  Did couple of U-turns myself, but all good and safe at the end of the day.

Today, I totally feel like a Polar Bear! 

Aquacise

Lake Hoptacong riders, from left: Princess, Captain, Pogy, Token2.

Motorcycle Polar Bear Blog, ride to Upstream Grill, Lake Hoptacong, NJ, January 17, 2016.

Editor's Note:  Battling a heavy-duty cold, and thinking riding in the rain would make it worse, I skipped the ride to Lago in North Brunswick. Token2 offered the summary below. Chris Loynd.

By: John Howard, a.k.a. Token2

The ride out to Lake Hopatcong is only around 100 miles but with EDP in full effect departure was set for 9am. Of course the ying to the yang of early departure is early arrival and as I left home to meet the group the GPS predicted an arrival of 10.48 am. EDP certainly relieves the pressure to roll on the throttle which was truly beneficial today. Conditions were appalling, heavy rain, water ponding on road surfaces  with blankets of mist and fog descending at times. The silver lining, temperatures started at 50°F and topped out at 60°F.

We were few in number; Capt rode solo to Norwalk picking up Pogy and then T2 in Westchester, where Token 2 took up the lead. CT Blogger unexpectedly bailed out on this ride. At lunch vicious rumors began to circulate that the founding CT Bear had  contracted hydrophobia. They were quickly squashed by The Captain, who confirmed a different medical affliction was the cause of Mr. Loynd’s absence.

Princess decided  to go solo to shorten her ride, which was sensible given the dismal conditions, aiming to meet up at the Upstream Grill. Without the protection of her customary honor guard of outriders it seems she decided to ride in cognito, donning everyday rain gear and yet another new helmet, this one unadorned with bling. It would of course be wrong for Royalty to knowingly mix with commoners, so on reflection her actions were prudent.

Given the conditions the riders originating from CT held a modest pace of around 55mph travelling I287, I80 to Rt 15N. Traffic was mercifully light. The only slow down occurred about 2 miles north of the I80 exit due to a pickup truck that had rolled over. NJ Troopers were in attendance leaving only the inside lane open. Fortunately, it looked like the driver was unharmed from the accident as he was standing next to the vehicle. Truth be told he didn’t look like the sharpest knife in the drawer and was probably approaching brain death before he got behind the wheel.

It was remarkable how many cars were driving at speed with no {expletive deleted} lights on. Good grief what are these people thinking? Silly me, they aren’t thinking. They probably say the same about guys and gals on motorcycles.

We arrived at the destination around 11 am and were the #4,5 &6 bikes on the lot. Let it be known that Joanne was bike #3 and was on the only Harley present at the time. There we not many bikes in the lot at Noon, though attendance by car was decent.

Evidently Captain’s Wing really liked the riding conditions, on arrival it decided take an unauthorized stroll  by starting to roll off the side stand. Capt’s cries for assistance were matched by quick action from T2 (self-preservation so as not to be pinned between Capt’s and Pogy’s Wings) and Pogy (preservation of his Wing,  so the only scratch on it remains the one delivered by Mac a year or two ago).  It is a relief to report that the grubby white Wing stayed upright.  Pogy gave Capt a stiff MSF lecture about ‘always, always, ALWAYS put your bike in gear when parking’; only when the rained started to pour again did Pogy’s harangue subside.

We were so early the staff at the Grill wiped the sleep from their eyes  before advising us that this year there was a $10 buffet for the Bears that would open at 11.30 am. It was a good spread. Princess liked it. Don’t be fooled by the salad camouflage artfully placed over the mound of penne vodka; chili; sausage, pepper and onions. I think there was a chicken wing or two hiding under there as well. Joanne picked up the lunch tab (thank you!) but I advised her that buying lunch would have no bearing on documenting her plated lunch in the ride report.

While lunching Pogy had a wardrobe question (as one often does at lunch) relating to the purpose of the rear zipper on his riding pants. It was clear quick resolution was warranted before he went to the bathroom in order to avoid a potentially life changing misunderstanding. Demonstration of the ability to zip it to the corresponding zip in a riding jacket brought relief to all. Suggestions that my jacket be zipped to his pants, with us in them,  to create a kind of grotesque CTPB Siamese Twin were deftly side stepped. It was the second wardrobe revelation of the day for Pogy; prior to riding he was delighted to find a riding hood sewn into his FirstGear Jacket. A good find on this wettest of days.

Not to be left out of the wardrobe discussion Princess declared she was not wearing pants. Overcoming the effects of nearly choking on a bite of burger it seemed to all assembled that she did in fact have pants on. This is a family blog so the details Joanne added in explanation cannot be reproduced here. We also learned she is a massage therapist. Hmm, Joanne, the weekend Princess….definitely a CTPB keeper…anyone care to second that?

With lighter rain forecast for the return ride the CTPB’s once again had the pleasure of royal company. The sun even came out for a fleeting ‘hello’ before being quickly pushed aside by dark clouds and more rain. The ride north was uneventful, though we witnessed another couple of cars spun out.

We pulled in for an early stop at the top of the GSP. Over coffee and chocolate it was astonishing to listen to Princess and Captain converse. What became apparent is that Princess really is from Venus and clearly a Martian cannot understand a word of Venetian. A single, seemingly simple question and equally straight forward answer evolved into a 5 minute back and forth. I must remember to bring a Babel Fish on next week’s ride, it should be helpful to those in the group who are not multilingual.

Still no sign of ‘Old Glory’ on the cranes at the Tappan Zee II bridge construction. Can it be that Pogy is losing his pull? At least we could see the top of the cranes on the way home.

Blueberry Capital of the World

Vineland Bears, from left: Fonz, Pogy, Captain, Princess, CT Blogger.

Motorcycle Polar Bear Blog, ride to DeThomasi's East Five Points Inn, Vineland, NJ, January 3, 2016.

By: Chris Loynd

Our first ride of 2016 took us deep into the New Jersey Pinelands. I grew up calling them the Pine Barrens, but like many things from my past, there is a new, politically correct, moniker. To be fair, they are lovely. Today they glowed under a cloudless sky colored a pale blue by winter's weaker sun. Not exactly barren, a million-plus acres of scrub pine growing in sandy soil transform here and there via modern agriculture to give fruit, lots of fruit. In fact, we rode through the Blueberry Capital of the World, Hammonton, NJ, the world, mind you, not just of New Jersey or the U.S. or North America.

Take tabletop-flat land of deep sandy soils, add irrigation and fertilizer, and you essentially have hydroponic gardening on a gigantic scale. We headed south on Route 206 from the Fort Dix, excuse me, the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, exit off of the New Jersey Turnpike.

Some of the first farms we rode through were sod farms, still bright green due to our so far mild winter. These flat sandy soils are perfect for growing covers for golf courses and wealthy estates. Then I saw the reddish stalks pruned into uniform bushes arranged in neat rows, fields of them over miles. I was pretty sure of the crop. It's hard to be sure looking at mid-winter twigs, at speed. Months from now summer sun's kiss brings forth leaf and berry to confirm my diagnosis. Then I saw the sign: Blueberry Capital of the World.

New Jersey is actually fifth in blueberry production, behind, in order: Michigan, Georgia, Oregon and Washington. Of New Jersey blueberries, 80 percent come from fields surrounding Hammonton. They hold a Blueberry Festival in June. Our route took us straight through quaint downtown Hammonton, come to life from a Frank Capra film.

My GPS advised running the turnpike to exit 4 and then cutting across. I'm so glad our leader this week, Pogy, chose exit 7 instead. It was more interesting and far more scenic. Plus I got a chance to stretch my legs at a stoplight or two.

For reasons I never learned, Pogy offered to take the lead this trip. He did a great job. And I tried to pay him a compliment at lunch. I was going to make a joke about having nothing to write in this blog because Pogy's lead was so smooth. But it's tough to get a joke out when you don't control timing of the delivery. That's why every comedian has a straight man. Pogy would not oblige.

Before I could get to the punch line he started making lascivious comments, Joanna defended herself, Pogy made a feeble attempt at recovery, Captain complained in disbelief when the criticism suddenly shifted to him . . . and the moment was gone.

We couldn't pick on Pogy too much. He generously treated us all.

At our destination Pogy led us into the wrong restaurant door. Clomping up to the maitre d' in our multi-layered clothing, wires sticking out of the sleeves, compression marks from helmets still on our foreheads and cheeks, the restaurateur asked, "Polar bears?" "Why yes," we answered, "we are Polar Bears." The maitre d'hotel suggested we exit the way we came and take the other door. Upstairs from the restaurant proper, our friends at the Five Points offered up a generous and tasty buffet.

We feasted on a wonderful buffet and Pogy's largess then headed home.

Photos below courtesy of Dave Thompson from the Polar Bear Grand Tour web site.

We arrive.

Princess still paddling in the parking lot.