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Toy Run '07
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Whangarei '92
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Toy Run 2007
There are a number of reasons why the 2007 Annual Child Cancer Toy Run deserves a separate page rather than just an amendment to the "Toy Run" page or a short blurb in "Riding Tales 2".For starters, not only was it the first Toy Run that my wife and I were able to go on together since before Tangwyn was born, it was also the first Toy Run on the XT225.
I organised for my uncle and aunt in Cambridge to look after the cubs at extremely short notice and we raced around frantically getting everything together to get out to Cambridge in time - to the point that we forgot to grab the toys we had set aside to donate.
Juliet drove the car with the cubs on board while I rode the bike. We dropped the cubs off at my uncle's place and headed to "The Warehouse" department store in Cambridge to get a toy.
The only toy that Juliet could find that looked suitable had no price tag on it so she took it up to the Information Desk to find out the price. While we were there a woman overheard her mention that it was for the Toy Run and asked what it was in aid of. When she learned it was for Child Cancer, she asked if she could please pay for the toy as she had lost her mother to cancer and she wanted to do something to contribute. We were touched by her offer and accepted graciously: it was a beautiful gesture on the woman's part and we were glad to be carrying something from someone who had suffered a personal loss to that dreadful disease.
As we had lived near Cambridge for a while, I knew that I could go though the parking lot behind the Prince Albert Tavern and through an alley that would let us onto the road near the head of the procession, rather than joining the crowd near the back.
We barely had time to have a cigarette, buy our badges and take a couple of photos before we had to suit up and get ready to depart.
Juliet with toy at the toy run, displaying her badges and the "stray" decal on her helmet.
Wolf posing shamelessly at the toy run.
We rolled slowly out of town amid the mass of bikes and picked up a modicum of speed just before we hit the open road.
There was a great turn out of spectators lining the road as we went by, all of them waving frantically. As usual, the air rang with the sounds of motorcycles and horns as we rode past, tooting and waving.
These days, public awareness of the toy runs is such that we were getting lots of waves and toots from on-coming cars, rather than just puzzled looks, and it was great to see the level of public support.
The weather was excellent and the road conditions were superb. I was glad I was wearing the O'Neal armour and not my DriRider jacket, otherwise I would have been uncomfortably hot.
The ride to Hamilton was uneventful and enjoyable and once again we rolled along Victoria Street, past the cafés and crowds of people, and finished up at Garden Place.
Even more exciting than the raffle draw to see who would win the helmet, jacket and boots donated for the occasion, was the announcement that we had officially broken the "1000 bikes" barrier. Over a thousand bikes had participated, more than any other year. As the announcer said: "that equates to around ten million dollars worth of motorcycles all parked in the same place."
There were so many people that they actually ran out of badges to sell and a call went out for someone willing to sell their badge to someone who had collected all the badges so far.
I waited in a queue for ages to get a snow-freeze each from the "Mr Whippy" van and, while I was waiting, I saw an old friend I hadn't seen in ages.
After I'd got the snow-freezes, Juliet and I caught up with my friend, Sonnes, and exchanged current contact details. By chance, she was parked near to where we were so we checked out each other's bikes and chatted a while before heading off.
Juliet and I rode back to Cambridge and had a lovely afternoon with my uncle and aunt and a distant cousin who was visiting (he had ridden his share of bikes in the past so we talked mainly about motorcycles.)
Later Juliet drove the cubs home and I followed on the bike.
So it was truly a memorable Toy Run: the first one Juliet and I went on together in ages, first one for the XT, first one to get to (and past) the 1000-bike mark and touched by the kindness of that unknown woman who wanted to donate the price of a toy in memory of her mother.
Many thanks to that woman. Also many thanks to the members of the Ulysses Club who organised it and lined the roads as marshals, to the Police who directed us through the intersections, to the councils of Cambridge and Hamilton for their support in hosting the event and all those who donated time and goods to make it happen. Finally, thanks to all the bikers who turned up and made the event what it was; donating their time, petrol and money to the cause.