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| Connecticut Polar Bears in Mount Arlington, NJ, from left: Grumpy, Marco, John J., CT Blogger, Anonymous Ed, Captain and, um, Fonz. |
By: Chris Loynd
Photos by: Grumpy and the Grand Tour photographers
Generally the Polar Bear destinations are very accommodating. It makes sense to me they would be. We show up, literally in the hundreds, on a winter Sunday. I would guess we make a decent contribution to their bottom line.
But Pub 199 doesn't seem enamored by our presence. They don't have coffee or any hot drinks. Last year Pogy even brought with him some instant coffee, but the restaurant could not even offer us hot water to make it in. They wanted to charge Grumpy $2.25 for a bottle of water Sunday so he went without. We arrived at 11:10 and did not get our lunch until noon because the kitchen starts late. Usually it is noon, but the manager said the chef came in early for us. Hmmm. Next year if they're still on the schedule we'll eat elsewhere and come for sign in.
They did have a roaring big fire going for us. But that's a bit tone deaf too. Most of us are wearing multiple layers of thermal undergarments and heavy riding pants and gear to be comfortable on the bikes in winter. So much heat was not welcome.
The Grand Tour folks had patches and due to the long distances we ride, most of the Connecticut Bears earned their red rocker, a bunch of us gold and Grumpy got his 60 point pin too.
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