Pappy's Charity Poker Run

Isn't it great when a plan comes together? This event, a collaboration between Mike's Famous Harley Davidson and the New London Motor Cycle Club, was created to fill the void when the Pappy's Day Run ended. 

At the same time it was devised to be more than a memorial run in honor of the man who fought for our freedom to choose whether or not to wear a helmet; it's a multi-faceted event, providing riders the opportunity to connect with each other and support two worthy charities: The American Cancer Society and Operation Home Front. 

The poker run started and ended at Mike's Famous Harley Davidson; in between were stops at New England Cycle Works in Groton, the Dunkin Donuts at Rts. 2 & 49 in Pawcatuck, Wiedeles Pizza & Pub in Oneco and Hank's Dairy Bar in Plainfield.

I was stationed at Hank's Dairy Bar and most of the photos were taken at that location. The photos at Wiedeles and some at Mike's Famous were provided by Rich Jones. Photos inside Mike's Famous Harley Davidson and some outside shots courtesy of Joe Fogarty. 

What's so interesting?

After everybody's drawn their card and the rush is over.

MEANWHILE OVER AT HANK'S DAIRY BAR....

Hot Rods and Drive-In's just go together.

We've been ready for quite a while and are starting to think that perhaps we didn't need to set up by 9:30 AM when we're the last stop on a Poker Run where registration started at 9:00 AM. 

Clam Cakes! Hank's Dairy Bar generously provided us with, not one, but two plates of these delicious specialties of the house. They were light, tasty and not too greasy. Hank's generosity paid off as at least one rider sampled the wares and went over to get a plate for herself. 

The Riders Are Coming In......well a few of them who decided to do the route backwards and avoid the rush. 

The only problem with that plan is that at the end of registration the Road Captain was going to ride the route (in the correct order) and start closing down each of the stops. 

So if you didn't get to registration shortly after it opened, you may not get to all of the stops before they're closed down.

I'll have details on this Ultra Glide for Sale in a separate post.

Joe spoke to the owner of this Honda Goldwing with 2-seater sidecar. They were from Oregon and had flown into Florida to pick this bike up and were riding it back home to Oregon. They didn't know about the Poker Run and just happened to be passing by. 

According to Doug there were FOUR of them riding this rig. Two on the bike and two in the sidecar. 

The only other Triumph I saw during the event. This Scrambler's a beauty.

How do you get to Wiedeles? We got this question quite a few times.

Sorry about chopping the top of your head off in this shot, but I like the vintage Yamaha.

Hank's received a fair amount of business from the riders, even though a feast awaited them at their next stop.

The riders weren't packing in for the live entertainment at Hank's. A man and his guitars playing everything from Bob Dylan to Aerosmith with a few amusing stories in between. His guitar playing was good, but his vocal range was a bit limited. 

Time for the NLMC to pull out. Line 'em up. 

I love the simplicity of this design

Future Bikers

Oooh, it's shiny. What is it about chrome that is so attractive?

These photos don't do this bike justice.

Here comes the Road Captain, time to wrap it up.

On to Mike's Famous HD for the festivities.

I understand that there had been a nice variety of food, but by the time we arrived it was down to hamburgers and hot dogs which were delicious. I jumped on line and patiently waited my turn to get some food. There were two or three tables lined up and another one making an "L" at the end. The first few tables were empty and the food was at the end. There were hamburgers and hot dogs in buns in aluminum trays at the table that made the "L". As I got to the corner they moved the tray of hamburgers to one of the other tables. Just a few people ahead of me and I can get a hot dog. Then they moved the hot dogs back to another table. Am I being "punked"? I looked around and none of my friends were laughing, but the guys in line behind me thought it was pretty funny. I reached back and grabbed a burger and got the girl putting dogs in buns to give me one.

Time to check out the Bike Show

I hadn't heard of this band before, but I'll remember them now, they were great.

Look at that lovely blue sky with puffy white clouds.

Well kiss them goodbye!

 Time to pack it in.

We helped Mike's clear out the tables and chairs under the tent and they allowed us to park our bikes underneath. Not that we were so worried about them getting wet, but there were reports of heavy hail coming our way. 

 May as well go into Mike's and look at the bikes.

 Like kids in a candy shop.

The rain and hail were quite substantial, but it was all over in about an hour. We waited a while longer to let the roads dry up and bit and then we were on our way under partly sunny skies as if it had never happened. 

Mike's Famous Harley Davidson didn't have exact figures, but estimates that more than 350 bikes participated and that they fed about 800 people. Not bad for the first run of this event.