adelaide toy run

Today I took my daughter in law on her first toy run & think I may have started a trend /she loved it .
We met Big Al & some others ( mostly bandits ) at Maccas at 9 o'clock & headed off to Darlington to meet up with another lot of riders on assorted machinery ( all of whom were a very friendly bunch )
We then went on to the starting point which this year was moved to the clipsal track where we caught up with Xpalan & his better half as well as some old friends from a past life . ( venue could be a little more fine tuned next year /more kiosks etc. )
At 11 oclock we all started off to Callington ( also a first time venue ), which was well organized & run ,to hand over toys for the needy ,as well as to watch the live music / trial riding display / lots of stalls / amusements/ lunch & a couple of amber ales
We also met up with Silver while we were there ( not quite as cute as his avatar ) to put a face to the name & also managed to bump into some more old friends .
They announced that the turnout was bigger again this year ( there were around 14 - 15 thousand last year ) so it will be interesting to get the final number . ( not sure who actually counts them though )
Hopefully next year as people get to know the new route we will have the amount of spectators on the side of the road we are used to again which were down a bit in numbers this year & who make the run so much more fun to do .
After lunch etc we headed off to Strathalbyn for a coffee & then home again via Meadows ( about a 170 km run for the day )
& I`m looking forward to catching up with some of the SA members for some future rides together .

I read in the paper today that they say there were twenty thousand riders on the run this year . I know it was huge but as I said before who actually counts them all Oh well either way a lot of kids will have a happier xmas

Good job paul - glad to hear you SA bandits are catching up with each other.

Taking your kids on the Toy Run is a joy. Unfortunately my youngest is at an age where it is extremely uncool to be seen with your parents and even more uncool to dress up.

sorry, I just realised she's not a kid. She's your Daughter-in-law. oops

b12mick wrote:Taking your kids on the Toy Run is a joy. Unfortunately my youngest is at an age where it is extremely uncool to be seen with your parents and even more uncool to dress up.

sorry, I just realised she's not a kid. She's your Daughter-in-law. oops

The wife & kids ( now adults ) still like to go with me so that`s kinda cool & my son rides himself (another bandit ) . This was Amy`s first toy run & the farthest she has been on a bike .I think the others are going to have to wrestle her for the pillion seat next year / she loved it

paul wrote:

b12mick wrote:Taking your kids on the Toy Run is a joy. Unfortunately my youngest is at an age where it is extremely uncool to be seen with your parents and even more uncool to dress up.

sorry, I just realised she's not a kid. She's your Daughter-in-law. oops

The wife & kids ( now adults ) still like to go with me so that`s kinda cool & my son rides himself (another bandit ) . This was Amy`s first toy run & the farthest she has been on a bike .I think the others are going to have to wrestle her for the pillion seat next year / she loved it

My eldest rides now, he's got a FZ6N, but lives in Brisbane. The youngest is 16 and being seen with mum or dad in public just isn't cool. My wife has her own bike, but doesn't do the toy run. She hasn't got enough patients to deal with the once a year riding circle jerkers.

The bike was my only transport for years so if the wife was out in the car ( hers as she puts it ) & the kids needed a lift anywhere it was pillion or nothing / guess they just accepted if you go anywhere with dad it`s on the bike, & it just became the norm. for them . One of my other lads has his license but no bike at the moment & the girls always said they were going to ride themselves but babies & stuff has put a hold on that for the time being .My wife doesn`t ride herself but enjoys the occasional trip somewhere or a short run for a coffee now the kids are all grown up .Mostly though I think she`s glad to see me go off with some mates or my lad so she can have some peace & quiet & do what women do when men aren`t around .

I'm like you Paul, since 1996 there has only been a brief time when I owned a car. The only reason for that was my wife got a job in Temora (about 100km) from our place which involved Saturday work. Both our boys played soccer, and no matter how I tried I couldn't fit both boys and their gear on the bike with me.

We owned the 2nd car for less than 2 years. My wife got another job back in Wagga, and while we had the idea of keeping the second car for the eldest to learn in, it soon became apparent that a 6'2" teenager wasn't going to fit behind the wheel of an '85 Colt. Plus he decided to get a bike licence and not a car licence.

What was interesting was in 2007 when the only work my wife could get was in Melbourne, so for 5 months all me and the boys had was my Bandit and my sons KLR650. Doing the grocery shopping on the bike was, well interesting and economical.

Don't get me wrong the 16 year old loves pillioning with me, provding it doesn't conflict with his music and social life.

As for Toy Runs, I don't mind doing them, it is for a good cause after all. But, geez, I don't know about other Toy Runs, but ours seems to attract a lot of people who don't seem to have much of an idea what riding in a group of more than 1 entails.