Up Front View and Dead Animals

CT Bears in Mt. Arlington, NJ, from left: Grumpy, CT Blogger, Mac, Sharon, Captain, down front Pogy, not shown, Anonymous Ed.

Polar Bear Motorcycle Blog, Polar Bear Grand Tour, ride to Pub 199, Mt. Arlington, NJ., February 17, 2019.

By: Chris Loynd
Photos by: Grumpy

I offered to lead the ride this Sunday.  Captain said Pogy wanted to lead. I said that was fine with me. When he joins us in Darien, he can just ride up and take over. Instead, Pog dropped in the back and served as sweep.

We had six bikes in line. That's a reasonable number to manage, especially with experienced riders. Still, taking the lead changes the character of your experience. Everyone should try it. I think most all of our regular riders have been up front. If you haven't, you're welcome to the lead.

Mostly I thought the ride pretty smooth. It did take us a very long time to get all the way over to the right lane in Greenwich to prepare for the I-287 exit. I thought maybe my sweep was asleep. At lunch he explained that despite his blinker three cars slipped in before he could get over. As it turns out, I got the I-287 exit wrong in any case. Anonymous Ed explained the week before we should stay in the middle lane of I-95 so we can control the left lane of the two lane exit. Ideally, we should cover both to keep cars from cutting in and out of our line.

Anonymous Ed had a passenger again this week. This week it was his wife Sharon. We were happy to have her along. It has been I think two years, maybe three, since I met her at our end-of-season CT Bears dinner. Sorry, Sharon, I forgot.

Our destination was pretty close by Connecticut standards. But unlike last week's destination, for me it ticked just over 100 miles each way. So I earned that extra Polar Bear mileage point this Sunday.

Pub 199 is a huge place. Service was a little slow, but understandable. The Polar Bears were quickly filling the place. I'd called during the week to ask about their hours. The person answering the phone at the Pub told me they'd open at 11:30 and the kitchen at noon. So we skipped our EDP (early departure protocol) and arrived at 11:35. We weren't the first, but one of the first tables. By the time we left, both of Pub 199's two huge rooms were two-thirds filled with bears.

The food was very good and generous in size. Mac ordered a side of fries so big he barley dented it. Piles of steamed clams were found at a lot of the tables, including out Polar Bear Flight Leaders. I love steamed clams, but was embarrassed to order them in front of Pogy who digs and transports and sells clams and oysters by the bushel.

We were seated in the seafood room of Pub 199. The walls were covered in fish mounts of all sizes and species. The land animal room was on the other side of the restaurant. Its walls were covered with North American and African animal heads of all sorts, including an elephant and rhino.

Our ride home was pretty smooth in my prejudiced opinion. Traffic was unusually light, even to the Tappan Zee Bridge. We never hit any stop-and-go.

We split in two at on I-287. CT Blogger, Grumpy and Mac took to the Merritt Parkway. Captain, Anonymous Ed and Pogy took I-95 home.

Chandeliers in the fish room were styled as sailboats.

Hop to Hooters

Connecticut Polar Bears upon arrival in Wayne, N.J., from left: Amber, CT Blogger, Grumpy, Thumper and Captain. Not shown, Anonymous Ed. Photo by Bernie Walsh.

Polar Bear Motorcycle Blog, Polar Bear Grand Tour, ride to Hooters, Wayne, NJ, February 10, 2019.

By: Chris Loynd
Photos by: Grumpy and Bernie Walsh

Wayne, N.J., is one of our closest destinations. For me it's 80-some miles. So we were able to set a reasonable, for me comfortable, departure time. In deference to my fellow Connecticut Bears, I even evoked our EDP (Early Departure Protocol). In so doing we arrived five minutes after the place opened.

Despite being one of the first tables to be seated, it still took an hour to get our food. I'm not sure why. The place was not packed full, even in an hour when our food arrived.

Grumpy led a smooth, speed-controlled ride. We stayed up and out of traffic, taking the Tappan Zee to the Garden State Parkway and then Route 80 west.

I was the sweep rider only by default of my late arrival. Usually I try to arrive just a little bit before the departure time. I just can't see taking off all those layers to hang out at the departure Dunkin' for half and hour and then put them all back on again.

Captain, he shows up an hour early, has coffee, sometimes breakfast, holds court with the Connecticut Bears as they arrive.

Sometimes I cut the timing a bit too close. Somehow, even after 16 years of riding Polar Bears, I forget just how long it takes to suit up. In these cases I have a fall-back trick. Instead of riding the back roads to our departure point, I jump onto the expressway, ride one exit, and get off again. From this vantage point I can generally see if our guys have left or not. They greatly value punctuality.

If they're not in sight, I approach the Dunkin' departure headed toward our riders on the route they have to travel. This Sunday, they were just pulling out. I made a U-turn and dropped in at the back, i.e., defacto sweep.

At Hooters they made fun of me. I said something about being surprised about the riders and route. They made some quip about me missing the pre-ride meeting.

I was delighted to see Thumper lined up with our riders. His moniker comes from the single-cylinder motorcycle he rides. He was one of my motorcycle students in the Connecticut Rider Education Program. I always tell the students about Polar Bears. Most look at me like I'm nuts. An occasional brave soul shows up.

Token2 also came from the CT motorcycle program, although I was not one of his Rider Coaches. He's currently in Ecuador on a motorcycle adventure trip by himself. You can follow his adventures on his blog: Going South on El Burro.

Thumper was especially dedicated. He now lives in New Jersey, about 10 minutes from this Sunday's destination. He got up early and rode to Connecticut so he could group ride with us back to his home. It was great catching up with him.

We had a second visitor on her first Polar Bear ride. Anonymous Ed was waiting for us at the Darien Rest Stop with his friend Amber on back. She said she had a good time, and the CT boys were on their best behavior. (Amazing how a female does that.) We hope to see her again. Amber is interested in learning to ride her own bike. So we may see her next season riding her own bike along with us.

Our ride back was without incident. Captain lobbied for a trip over the GW Bridge. I was in no hurry and more than happy to retrace our steps over the Tappan Zee. The overall vote was for the Zee and we went back that way.

Grumpy and I split off to take the Merritt home. Captain, Ed and Amber took I-95.

This week's destination is just some 25 miles beyond Wayne, also just off of Route 80 west. For me it tips the odometer just over 100 miles each way, so I'll pick up that extra Polar Bear point. I earned my red rocker on this run. I hope for gold.

One of Polar Bear Chairman Bob's favorite destinations. That's our waitress Lala on the far right.

Bob and Amber.

Heading home. In the foreground Amber and Anonymous Ed. I the background left, Chris, and right, Paul.

Thirsty Motorcycles

Connecticut Bears in Schaefferstown, from left, Mac, Pogy, Grumpy.

Polar Bear Motorcycle Blog, Polar Bear Grand Tour, ride to Franklin House Tavern, Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, February 3, 2019.

Report by: Pogy
Photos by: Grumpy and Grand Tour Photographers Gary Rosen and Bernie Walsh (as indicated).

Today was a long one – 200 plus miles one way. Between being sick, pinched nerves and motorcycle accidents, there were only three of us today, Grumpy, Mac and myself. Grumpy and Mac left Stratford at 0715 picking me up at about 0740. Grumpy in the lead, Mac was tail gunner. The temp was 27 degrees with ground fog which created a sheen to the road surface. I was a little concerned but once on 95, we had no handling  issue. The fog stayed with us until we got over the TZ bridge.

The ride down to the Franklin was without and traffic to speak of except for one fender bender which slowed us down for about 10 minutes. Interesting that there was no visible snow on the ground on 287 – once we got on 78 it was like a winter wonderland. We arrived at 1040. They let us in and we were the first ones seated and the first to order. That being said, we still didn’t get our burgers until 1125.

After eating and signing in, we were back on the road a tad after high noon. The ride back was without traffic.

The highlight of the ride was by the time we stopped for gas at the top, we all had our low fuel lights burning. That is the first time for me in the many years that I have owned this bike that I saw the light. We rode approximately 230 miles without a fill-up!!!!!!!!!!! After whining to Grumpy he assured me that he had everything under control.

We left the top, no traffic over the TZ and into Connecticut.

Tks for leading Grumpy.

See you next week and ride safe

Pog

Polar Bear Grand Tour Photographer Bernie Walsh caught a great photo of the Pennsylvania winter countryside approaching this week's destination.

Four hundred miles round trip earned all of the Connecticut Bears riding this Sunday into Gold Rockers.

These three photos by Polar Bear Grand Tour Quartermaster and Photographer Gary Rosen.

Perhaps anticipating Pogy's report, Grumpy also sent these photos of his GPS.