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Below are our links to the Club Corner Motorcycle Clubs featured in RoadBike Magazine:
| Back to Page One, Page Two, Page Three Polar Bear Grand Tour Moto Guzzi National Owner’s Club |
<From March 2009>
It takes a lot of guts to ride in the dead of winter. A little insanity helps, too. Each year, throughout the winter, a special group of riders takes to the highways to prove just how much grit, stamina, and lunacy they possess.
Unlike a traditional club, the Polar Bear Grand Tour consists of a loose group of approximately 550 motorcycle enthusiasts — most of whom are either independents or members of other riding clubs — who make weekly runs in the Northeast during the winter months. These guys (and gals) gear up and head out on their bikes every Sunday, from November through April, travelling to predetermined destinations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Riders register in advance, and when they arrive, points are awarded for the miles traveled, one for every 100 miles ridden from a home address. Because everyone is supposed to begin from home, the rides are to be done individually, with no preset routes, although small groups will naturally form. And when these guys finally congregate at the destination point, watch out! Hilarity ensues.
But the rides are taken seriously. Bonus points can also be accrued: four are given upon presentation of proof of participation in the Crotona Midnight Run. Sponsored by the Ramapo Motorcycle Club of New Jersey, this open event was first run on New Year’s Eve 1911, and the 91st edition will take place in February. During the Midnight Run, riders must maintain a 30-mph average speed on a predetermined route while contending with bitter cold, darkness, icy roads, and occasionally snow (the specifics of this year’s Midnight Run were unavailable at press time; go to www.RamapoMC.org/OpenEventSched.htm for details). Furthermore, six bonus points are awarded for riding to Daytona and back for Bike Week. Other activities, such as perfect attendance throughout the season, donating blood, and riding to/from other charity events can earn bonus points as well.
Garner 30 points over the course of a season, and you earn a Polar Bear Grand Tour patch, free dinner at the annual season-ending reception, and you officially become one of the insane. RB
Info: Polar Bear Grand Tour - www.PolarBearGrandTour.com
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<From April 2009>
Moto Guzzi National Owner’s Club
This month’s Club Corner spotlights the Moto Guzzi National Owners Club. With a membership of around 3,000, this is a crew that defines the phrase “small but devoted.” The group sponsors or supports about 30 rallies a year, and boasts members from each of the 50 states, as well as Mexico, Canada, and nearly 20 other countries around the world.
In 1970, Kansan Frank Wedge read a letter in the now-defunct magazine Motorcycle World, written by a guy in upstate New York who was about to take delivery of a new Guzzi and was looking for some information. Frank contacted the guy, and an old-fashioned correspondence between his Kansas town and Lackawanna, New York, sprung up. Curious how many other MG enthusiasts existed in the US, the two began a letter-writing campaign, contacting all the major motorcycle magazines in business at the time. Letters began coming in from points all over the map, and the response, while admittedly modest, was overwhelming to the two small-town gents. Soon, a web of mail between American Guzzisti enveloped the country. A guy from New Orleans volunteered to publish an official newsletter, and after a few issues were sent out, Wedge took over its operations. In May of ’73, an eight-page issue was mailed out to from 200 to 300 Moto Guzzi enthusiasts, and the MGNOC was born.
To this day, that monthly newsletter is at the heart of the club, serving as the main source of communication between members. Generally about 40 pages, the most popular regular department in each issue is Classified Ads, where the sale of used bikes, accessories, parts, and other Guzzi-related items takes place. The newsletter also has articles dealing with technical information, touring, racing, and road tests on current and past models. News covering various subjects of interest to Moto Guzzi owners is always found within its pages.
The annual national rally is the highlight of any North American Guzzisti’s social calendar. This year’s annual event takes place in Salida, Colorado, at Chaffee County Fairgrounds from June 26 to 28. For updated information, check the MGNOC web site. RB
Info: MGNOC
PO Box 3
Larned, KS
67550-0003
620/285-5798
www.MGNOC.com
