Polar Bear Motorcycles: Restaurants Never Believe Us

Connecticut Bears in Hamilton, NJ, from left: Grumpy, Captain, Mac, Anonymous Ed, CT Blogger with Pogy down front as always.

Polar Bear Motorcycle Blog, Polar Bear Grand Tour, ride to Hamilton Tap and Grill, Hamilton, NJ, December 23, 2018

By: Chris Loynd
Photos By: Grumpy and Grand Tour Photographer Bernie Walsh

Sunday's weather was perfect for polar bearing on motorcycles. The sun was bright. The temperature was cool enough to accommodate our layers of riding gear but not so cold as to over challenge them.

Maybe because of Christmas pending, traffic was delightfully light, especially on the morning ride. Just a day before, Cynthia and I traveled to visit my daughter and her husband in Norwalk. Midday I-95 was solid with cars both ways. The 17 mile trek took nearly an hour. Sunday the same ride was done in 20 minutes.

Feeling frisky, I took the lead. On the ST 1100 now, the Harley garaged until snow melt chemicals are completely washed away, I was more confident in my speed. The four-cylinder Honda can exceed the Turnpike 65 mph speed limit without breaking a sweat, or 4,000 rpm. So we enjoyed an active pace; my compatriots made their approval known at lunch.

Over the years, the character of our polar bear rides have changed as our riders have. This is my 16th season of winter rides. At the beginning I rode alone. I generally started out later in the morning, letting the sun warm things up a bit first. Polar Bear Grand Tour sign in was then, and is now, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. In those early days I even miscalculated one Sunday and arrived too late to sign in. I enjoyed the ride all the same.

But as our winter Sunday motorcycle rides attracted others from Connecticut, the character of the group changed. It's pretty much a democracy, and the will of the group was to arrive right at 11:30 a.m. sign in. Some of our guys are not as comfortable riding back in the dark.

Several years ago, especially for the longer distance rides, I created the EDP, Early Departure Protocol. Bending even more to the wishes of the group, we started our rides early enough to get to our destination and eat lunch/brunch and be ready to ride home before sign-in even opened. There is growing enthusiasm among our riders for EDP.

I did not take a formal poll, but I think most of our riders would prefer EDP on every ride.

Fonz and his crew have taken to finding nearby diners where they breakfast and then ride on to the destination for sign in and an early start home.

One distinct advantage for EDP is that many of the destination restaurants are not equipped or overwhelmed by the Polar Bear influx of customers. Some destinations we've just written off as being too slow. Others, there can be a wait for a table if you get there too late. And no matter the destination location, we always have a long ride home.

Admittedly, the plan worked well on this ride. It was a first time destination. Somehow the restaurant managers never believe our Grand Tour Ride Coordinators when they tell them to expect 150 or more riders on a winter Sunday morning. Hamilton Tap & Grill was no different.

While the Connecticut Bears were not the very first to arrive (we were maybe the third group), we were the first to sit at a table and order our food. The manager came over to get us started on drinks. The one and only waitress strolled in 10 minutes after the 11:00 brunch was advertised to start.

As the restaurant quickly filled with bears, we were happy to have ordered already. Surely service slowed dramatically. The waitress, now up to speed, was hustling between tables non-stop. She never got back to us to refill our coffees. Grumpy's waffles arrived without their promised fruit and by the time she got back to us, the only remedy was to offer to take them off our bill. We declined. We also tipped our usual 20%. It wasn't really her fault and we could see she was overwhelmed.

In my Facebook review the management responded saying they were told to expect only 21 people. I'm not sure what miscommunication occurred. But the Grand Tour has two volunteer ride coordinators who find the restaurants, coordinate with them, even remind them the week before that we're coming.

Except for the service, and missing fruit, the food was quite good. Many of the brunch offerings were embellished with pork roll. Some of our Connecticut bears were unfamiliar with this New Jersey delicacy. We hope they stay on the Polar Bear schedule and look forward to seeing them next year.

One other popular blog topic is to rip on the ride leader and other riders. Our leader this ride kept running out of road. On the local road to Hamilton Grill, stopped at a stoplight, Captain suggested we gas up the bikes before lunch. So I moved our group to the far right lane. Only at the very next light the sign ahead said my lane was about to disappear. When the light changed, I awkwardly moved the group a lane left and we were on our way.

My next mistake was a bit more complex to fix. It turns out The Hamilton Tap & Grill is like the Isle de Morte, a place that can only be found by those who already know where it is. New Jersey and its convoluted ideas about making left turns didn't make it any easier. My GPS got us turned around but only by way of a series of turns and jaunt through downtown.

On the way back I made the same disappearing right turn lane mistake. Signs ahead promised the NJ Turnpike, but the right lane I chose evaporated before we could get there. After a messy merge into too many cars, we made it to I-195 and then the NJ Turnpike.

There was a bit more traffic on the way home. The Oranges always clog up the Garden State Parkway. We made a stop at the top but had some miscommunication still. Anonymous Ed skipped the stop all together. Most of the rest of the guys wanted a quick pee and resume, following the EDP precepts.

I noticed Grumpy was setting up a table next to the Dunkin'. I miss our breaks; we've been skipping them on a regular basis. So I got a cup of coffee and Grumpy and I enjoyed a bit of conversation. Meanwhile the rest of the guys were waiting for us out in the parking lot. They eventually left without us. Sorry guys.