Polar Bear Motorcycles: Coronation

Bangor Bears, back row from left: Token2, Fonz, Paul. Front row, from left: Grumpy, Captain, Pogy, CT Blogger, Princess

Motorcycle Polar Bear Blog, ride to Riverton Hotel, Bangor, Penn., February 7, 2016.

By Chris Loynd:

When my daughter Annie was in the Girl Scouts she asked me a pointed question, "Dad, what's the difference between Girl Scouts and HOGs?" My reply was that I could think of a lot of things. Annie's reply was, "Girl Scouts have green vests and HOGs' are black."

And the biggest news for the Connecticut Polar Bears this past Sunday is the Grand Tour patches are in!

We Polar Bear ride for fun, companionship, laughs and points. For the Polar Bear Grand Tour, points equal patches and pins. We sew the patches and affix the pins on black vests. Like the Girl Scouts, the patches are badges of accomplishment, except for Polar Bears just showing up is considered achievement enough.

You earn two points for riding your motorcycle to each Sunday's destination. Plus you earn one point for each 100 miles round trip from your home to the destination. Earn 30 points and you get a patch the first season and a rocker patch indicating the year. At 30 points you get a red rocker. Earn 45 points and you are upgraded to a gold rocker. Earn 60 points and you get a polar bear pin. There is also a perfect attendance pin. Each subsequent year you can earn a rocker stitched with the season.

Captain has been the Connecticut Bears' undisputed points king. You can earn extra points for donating blood, attending the summer AMA Corn Boil in New Jersey and completing a few other special runs. I think John's done it all for points except the Crotona Midnight Run. Captain's generally earned his first rocker by the second or third ride. (Coming from Connecticut, we enjoy a built-in mileage points advantage.) I don't judge him too harshly; I too must cop to donating blood and making the Corn Boil a time or two.

There is a complementary patch, unofficial to the Grand Tour, for Connecticut Bears only. It is conferred upon those of us from the nutmeg state. You must first earn the Grand Tour badge and then ride with our band of misfits, which includes taking a fair share of abuse and jokes at your expense.

Princess was so very excited to receive her Grand Tour patches and rockers on this ride. Then Grumpy, unofficial Sargent at Arms, surprised her with the coveted CT Bear patch. It is a great honor, rarely conferred upon one who is not a Connecticut resident. And Princess is welcome to wear it with pride, just as soon as she pays $6 for the patch. Hey, we're a zero-based accounting group.

Joanna's ecstasy for patches helped overcome her agony over her meal. Some of the servers, perhaps they were even proprietors, of Riverton Hotel looked European. Princess was thrilled to find pierogies on the menu. She tried to inquire with the servers as to authenticity. But the dining room was rapidly filling and they were distracted with other customers.

She was grievously disappointed with what arrived from the kitchen. They did not look like any pierogies I'd ever seen. Fortunately Princess was sitting next to the Polarican. Fonz correctly identified her dish as empanadas. We postulated that like most restaurants in America, while the proprietors may have been Polish, the cook was most likely Mexican.

My soup was tasty but lukewarm. My crab cake sandwich was just okay. Grumpy said the pickles needed another week in the brine. I thought they were okay. Grumpy is very particular about pickles. The service was friendly and almost fast enough for Captain. All in all, we told the Grand Pooh Bah that we would vote to keep Riverton Hotel on the schedule for next year. Just don't order the pierogies.

If you're a faithful reader of this blog you'll recall Grumpy's ride leadership was a topic of last week's post. He led again this week and I am pleased to report his pace was smooth and controlled. All I had to do was ask, nicely.