Mountains of toys at 'perfect' Toy Runs
The gods smiled on yesterday's Silver Jubilee motorcycle charity Toy Run as more than 50 000 motorcyclists took part in mass rides from a few hundred to more than 20 000 in towns and cities across South Africa - all bringing gifts for children in need.
For that is what the Toy Run is all about: children in homes and hospices, children without parents and children of parents who have to scrimp to even remember Christmas, children for whom Christmas would not exist without the Toy Run.
There are a lot of "Sunday bikers" on the Toy Run - and they are all the more welcome because the Toy Run is not a designer event with cappuccinos waiting at an air-conditioned destination - but the core of it is mainstream bikers, mostly on older machinery, who spend a lot more than they can afford on gifts for kids they'll never meet.
Somebody brought a hand-made wooden rocking horse to the Cape Town Toy Run; more than just a gift, that rocking horse has a little piece of that biker's heart in it and will ride the more sweetly for it.
All the ingredients came together for a blockbuster jubilee Toy Run in Gauteng
- or rather four of them as the beautiful weather encouraged riders to come out, all the timings worked perfectly as the Metro Police played their part to perfection and the mass rides from the four start points converged on the new end venue at Nupay Park, home of Alberton Rugby club.
18 000 bikes arrived (1000 more than in 2006); the traffic jam at the gate lasted more than an hour. They brought a mountain of 40 000 toys, compared to 22 000 in 2006.
The new end venue was significantly larger than the previous arena at Gosforth Park, yet was noticeably more crowded in 2007.
The riders swarmed round the stalls and bought up every piece of Toy Run regalia on offer by 1.15pm and drank the bar out of everything cold by 2.30pm - but nobody seemed to mind.
One of Cape Town
's two Toy Runs was led from Ottery by Mayor Helen Zille, in a Moto Guzzi-powered Morgan three-wheeler replica, ahead of more than 3000 riders while another 3000 rode from Ratanga Junction to converge on Maynardville.
There the riders filled a huge truck and two smaller trailers with toys; the convenors estimated that in excess of 20 000 toys were donated, a significant increase on the 17 000 of 2006, although an even greater percentage than before were fluffy toys, leaving organisers with a potential shortage of toys for older children.
Zille said she was in awe of the support shown by Cape Town's motorcyclists for the city's most vulnerable minority - its children - and promised to lead the 2008 Toy Run on a motorcycle!
Roaring trade
It was very hot and the beer tent did a roaring trade; they sent out twice for more beer (it helps to a have a brewery just down the road!) while the customary long queues for food were shortened by the sheer number of stalls.
Comedy stars Kurt Schoenraad and Stuart Taylor kept the crowd in stitches between sets by Joe Public, while the riders took in a wider variety of stalls than any previous Toy Run and stared in awe at the entries for the concours - in particular the eventual winner, a locally-built Martin clone with a Suzuki GSX-R750 engine.
The prize for the top classic machine went to Jerry Day's entirely original 1957 Ariel Square Four and that for Best European to Nigel Cutting's improbably shiny BSA Rocket 3.
It rained heavily in Durban
on Friday night so the numbers at the Toy Run were a little down on the previous year but their riders brought even more toys.
The organisers said 17 000 toys were donated, enough to meet all their commitments. They noted that many riders brought bags of toys rather than just one or two gifts, and that the quality of the toys was also unusually high.
They complimented the Durban Metro Police for their assistance - particularly the large number of motorcycle-mounted patrolmen who escorted the mass ride.
The Port Elizabeth
Toy Run was held in perfect weather and 2000 riders took part in the on-road mass ride while an unprecedented 500 signed up for the two off-road Toy Runs of varying distance and difficulty.
All the runs converged on the Rover off-road circuit where five current and former SA champions and three overseas riders took part in some superb motocross racing.
Aside from several bakkie-loads of toys the riders donated a record R100 000.
Prizes worth more than R80 000 were given away; the main prize of a quad, a giant teddy bear and an all-weather riding jacket (together worth more than R22 000) went to a rider named Koortz in a live draw on Algoa FM radio.
The East London
Toy Run hosted 400 children from local homes and hospices (nearly twice as many as in 2006) to a Christmas party at the Gonubie Farmers Hall for miniature steam train rides, jumping castles and face painting.
The Cambridge Lions provided snacks for the children, local motorcycle clubs sponsored cold drinks and sweets and each child received a toy from the huge pile donated by the riders.
The remainder will be distributed by the Lions during this week.
1500 people on 1000 motorcycles turned out for the Bloemfontein
Toy Run, bringing 2945 toys to the end venue at Old Grey's to be distributed to children at Sunflower House, the Lebone home, Die Ram Kamp shelter for street children and Ons Kinderhuis orphanage.
A rider named Tanya (Free State bikers do not, apparently, have surnames) took the prize for the most toys by collecting an impressive 435 while Harold managed to festoon his Honda Gold Wing with 217 to win the prize for most toys on a bike.
Low cloud and threatening rain at Nelspruit
couldn't damp the Toy Run spirit; 230 motorcycles took part in the mass ride to Oewersig municipal resort. There they raised an astonishing R24 000 by auctioning a giant teddy bear, paintings on leather by a local artist and by donations from the bike clubs and individual riders.
Two little girls, aged seven and nine, even sold rides on their quads at R2 time - and at the end of the day they presented the organisers with R56!
The money will be used to purchase respirators and other vital medical equipment for a children's hospital in Gauteng while the toys will be distributed to local children in need.
The Knysna
Toy Run was washed out by the recent flooding in the southern Cape and postponed to December 1; riders will meet at the Angling Club in Knysna at 9.00am to ride to George, where they will join the George Toy Run in the Game car park at 10.00am for a ride to the Carpe Diem school, where the toys and gifts will be distributed.
Contact James Hildebrand (044) 382-1073 or 082 925-9869 for more details; we'll bring you the story on Monday, December 3.