Toy Run - Fun but sorta Ho-Ho-Ho-Hum

October 4, 2009
Fort Collins, CO

Life isn't about how to survive the storm
but how to ride in the rain...

Mother Nature was not on her best behavior again... We knew the weather was due to turn cold and wet today, but when we rode out this morning it was dry. Cloudy and cold, but not unbearably so. The temperature was in the low 40s.

We didn't have that far to go. Thunder Mountain is about ten miles from the house or perhaps a bit further if you take the scenic route. Registration for the Toy Run began at 9 am. We arrived about 9:45 am along with a good many other riders. I think most of us waited to see how the weather would play out this morning. We had about 75 to 100 bikes for the 22nd Annual Toy Run for Santa Cops. We registered and warmed ourselves with a cup of coffee and roamed in and out of the 2010 bikes, admiring in particular a 2010 Electra Glide. I was hoping to see the new Street Glide Trike but they didn't have one on the floor.

When Santa called for us to gather and announced the route, we learned we would be riding back to Fort Collins passing through only a few blocks from our neighborhood. This seemed rather odd since Loveland has many good rides and roads. I made a face when Santa said we would ride through downtown Fort Collins instead of downtown Loveland. Neither downtown is good for riding... cramped streets with back-out parking... too much traffic... too many lights. No scheduled stops were planned. We would ride a circuitous route back to Thunder Mountain to deliver the toys (which had us scratching our heads - uh - that didn't make a whole lot of sense - did it?).

We had a fire truck escort to Loveland's city limits, but no police escort which meant we had to stop at all red lights and stop signs and deal with regular traffic cutting in and blocking the procession. Weird. At one point, starting out, the fire truck led us into a Safeway/Strip Mall parking lot where we waited (most of us puzzled at the unexpected detour) for about a half dozen bikers to catch up. I guess. I'm guessing again that the leaders were trying to get us all lined out in a pack before heading to Fort Collins or maybe they didn't know about the road construction on this part of the route until they ran up on the signs. The traffic did not cooperate. We rode with campers and horse trailers and impatient people on their way to church or breakfast and other Sunday morning destinations.

The ride was painfully slow with lots of stops and starts. It was getting colder. We rode through Fort Collins, to the town of LaPorte (both of us thinking wistfully of hot coffee and warm cinnamon rolls at Vern's which was not far away) and on to the northern edge of downtown Fort Collins where we cut off to go to the house, take bathroom breaks, and warm up. We weren't the only ones peeling off here and there throughout the run. One of the HOG guys riding sweep said they lost about 50 bikes along the way. I couldn't help but notice at the onset that many of the bikers were not dressed warmly enough. We actually caught up with the remaining riders on the southern edge of Fort Collins and rode back to Loveland with them.

Like I said, it was getting colder and we rode several miles in a fine, mist-like rain. We had our toys protected. Many riders did not. Arriving at Thunder Mountain, we handed over our toys to the girls at the front desk. There were lots of toys and that's a good thing. I estimate the donations would fit in the back of a regular-size pickup with only a little room to spare. I finally got the grumpy Santa to smile for a photo. Then, we stood in line with the rest of the cold, damp group (most of whom seemed to be local HOG members) for what turned out to be a cold hot dog for me, cold chili dog for Tim, chips, cookies and a warm Pepsi. Naw - we're not complaining - we didn't ride for the food - although I did wonder about what was apparent lack of timely preparation.

The rain looked like it was setting in and it was coming down a little harder. It didn't take long for most of us on bikes (some had ditched bikes and returned in cars) to clear out. We rode home in cold rain that turned to tiny sleet that turned to snow flurries in the few miles back to Fort Collins where the weather improved somewhat. At least, the streets were dry. It took a good while and another pot of coffee for us to thaw out properly.

We're glad to help the kids and would do it again in a minute. In retrospect, I can't help thinking that after 22 years - this Toy Run could have been better organized and also it had a rather poor turnout for such a huge bike population as there is in this area. Perhaps the weather was a factor, I don't know. And, other than a soggy slip of paper with the map of the route (which, in the end, was not adhered to) we have nothing to show we attended the event. We haven't ridden in many organized rides so we don't have a large frame of reference. We have heard Dad and his buddies talk about some of the runs they participate in so, we had a few expectations.

The Toy Run in Texas we attended the last couple of years at Thanksgiving was much more fun, better organized, a pin came with the registration and t-shirts were for sale. Better yet, the Texas Santa was approachable... jolly and friendly, posing for photos with everyone. The ride was escorted by hard-working motorcycle cops and the food (BBQ not hot dogs) at the end of the route was actually cooked and hot when it hit our plates. More people than just bikers turned out at the destination. And the donations filled large delivery trucks. Yes, plural. There was even a 50/50 pot. Needless to say, I have made a few mental notes about how to screen future benefit runs.

Being mostly gray and damp, the day didn't lend itself well to photography but I did shoot a few stills and video clips. Enjoy!

Slide Show movies and videos take a few seconds to load so -- patience please.
FYI: Sometimes after blogger maintenance, the code for the movies embedded in the posts gets scrambled... but a duplicate is always posted in the Movie section at the bottom of the page... enjoy.

Toy Run – October 4, 2009