Ncastle toy run 04

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27th Newcastle Toy Run 04

The largest and oldest continuous running Toy Run in NSW was mustering once again at Sandgate Markets as Kaz and I rode in to join them. Circling the market we passed thousands of parked bikes and then, having joined onto the back of the pack were immediately swallowed up in the throng by another thousand or so bikes arriving behind us. Under a grey and overcast sky, the bikes, decked out in tinsel and loaded with toys, combined with the riders clothes and helmets to form a huge splash of vibrant colour amongst the squat drab structures of the market.

Judging from how far back around the parking areas the bikes extended I would guess that this year was the biggest so far, and I would doubt if there were no more than a couple of more obscure makes and models of bikes that were not represented on the day. As ten o’clock arrived a ripple of movement started at the front of the crowd and quickly flowed to the back as riders lifted their helmets above their heads to put them on, I guess you could describe it as a biker version of the Mexican wave, then with bikes fired up it was off towards Newcastle.

This run is a green light event and a well organised police involvement combined with other volunteer groups means that the run flows smoothly and all you have to do is enjoy the ride, wave at the thousands of people lining the streets and generally have a ball. Stopping a couple of times to take photos meant that I eventually ended up behind the tail-end police cars, but in a very decent gesture they all moved over to the right a bit and allowed me to pass them on the inside and rejoin the run. Arriving almost last at the foreshore saw me walking a fair old distance through the now parked bikes to put my donation amongst the huge pile of toys and food in front of the stage just in time for the speech by Big John, as the run organiser he thanked us for turning up and handed over the stage to the other people involved and of course the Salvos.

Speeches done a very talented duo by the name of MT Pockets took to the stage to provide the music and as the crowd drifted off to look at the stalls, donate blood and relax in groups around the park I went off in search of Kaz who had disappeared somewhere in the mob, pausing only a few times to chat to people and take pictures of some of the lovely ladies in order to balance out the pictures of the ugly blokes, I eventually found her about an hour later and we sat down for a bit of a rest in front of the parks pond. With me off taking photos I had left Kaz at the markets so she had joined up with her fellow members from the ‘Just Girls’ club, this had allowed me to relax a bit as I knew that she would be well looked after amongst friends on her first ride in such a large group and this was borne out when she said that she’d had a good and enjoyable ride in.

All up another very successful Toy Run and heaps of toys for the kids, all this due to the huge effort put in by Big John, the Salvos and all the other volunteers, and of course last but not least to the thousands of bikers, who on the day, rode into the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves and left a gift and a part of themselves before riding on, take a bow folks, you deserve it..

Crusty & Kaz