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| Lago CT Polar Bears, from left: Fonz, newbie Ed, Mac, Token2, Captain, Grumpy, Princess, Bob and down front Pogy. |
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 7th 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!
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