Featured Rideout A Tale Of Two Motorcycle Toy Rides

It's nearly Christmas and that means it's "that" time of the year--motorcycle toy ride time! On each of the past two Sundays, Mr. Sandi and I have participated in charity toy drives along with several of our riding buddies. One of the things I love about our motorcycle subculture is how generous and philanthropic most motorcyclists are. My first charity toy ride was riding pillion on the back of Mr. Sandi's bike when we first started dating. Since then we've participated in these wonderful events each year for the past 10 years.

Many riders collect pins and some of the most amazing pin collections I've seen have been on the jackets of Triumph riders sporting the "Rocker" look. Here are the two pins from our toy rides this year.


The Renegade Toy Run was sponsored by a local riding gear store and was really a "run". Riders registered then rode out at their leisure to the Desert Diamond Casino, one to the several casinos owned and operated by the local tribes here, where there was music and a very nice buffet lunch. The Sun Riders Toy Parade was sponsored by a local motorcycle club was truly a "parade". Amazingly, as indicated on the ride pin, this was the 38th Annual! Riders met up at a local (to remain unnamed) dealership then were escorted by the Southwest Rangers, a fabulous law enforcement group, for about 30 miles through Tucson to the final destination which was the MC's clubhouse--complete with band and cookout. At the final destinations for both toy rides we carefully deposited our toys under the Christmas tree.


The Southwest Rangers were our Sun Riders Toy Parade escorts. This law enforcement organization escorts numerous rides and funerals in Tucson. There were probably about 400 bikes in the parade and the ride was approximately 25 miles right through the heart of town....and we never a foot down one time until we arrived at the Sun Riders Clubhouse. The 13 SW Rangers riders plus lead and sweep vehicles monitored every single major intersection by leapfrogging back and ahead. The group is totally amazing and you could tell they'd done this a time or two before. In fact, this same group escorted the last two Distinguished Gentleman's Rides in Tucson also.


This is "Roadhouse", the local band that played for the riders at the Sun Riders Toy Parade destination. Mostly country and country rock. We listened and people watched while the cookout meal prepared by the Sun Riders club members.


There was music at the casino, too, but a bit different "vibe".


Each year I head to Target to purchase our toys for donation. And each year I look for large, fun stuffed animals. This year I found two stuffed animals for the Renegade ride that would fit in our saddlebags for the longish and relatively fast-paced ride to the casino. I didn't want the toys to get beat up before even making it into the hands of a little boy or girl. For the Sun Riders toy parade I like to get toys that we can attach to our bikes or in my case to my back because there are always families with kids lining the route and they love to see the toys on the motorcycles. Some pillion riders even bring bags of candy and toss handfuls to kids along the way. Here are Mr. Sandi and me at the Renegade run with our toys and me with a large green dinosaur strapped to my back for the Sun Riders toy parade.


Yes, I did wear a helmet while actually riding. I bought this jacket some years ago on eBay and love to wear it around Christmastime.


Our Sunday ride group turnout was low (three of us) for the Sun Riders event because, ironically, there was no Sun to be had that day. We were happy the event went on as planned, though, as it had been predicted all week to rain on Sunday. And it absolutely poured Sunday night and then all day Monday.

The Renegade ride group had a better turnout and the weather was picture perfect! Sunny and chilly to start. Well, chilly for southern Arizona at about 45ºF. On the ride home the temps were in the high 60's. We ran into a few folks we know who had also done this run but, as I said, it's a sort of "every rider for him/herself" to get to the run destination rather than a large escorted group ride. Three of the riders at our table own and ride Triumphs and one if a BMW guy. And one has a Harley and a KTM. Can you guess which are which??

One of the many things I always enjoy about the toy parade each year is that riders gather and park well ahead of the start time--which every year is high noon on the dot--and we get to meander around looking at toys and bikes, many of which are decorated for Christmas. This year with the potential for rain, fewer folks decorated their bikes than usual but there were still a few fun ones like this Indian Scout.

 

Here are more toys and motorcycles decorated in the Christmas spirit from the two charity toy rides. Most of these bikes were at the Sun Riders Toy Parade since the ride is done at low speeds so the decorations have less change of flying off or into one's wheels or engine (or the wheels or engine of the rider behind).














This was Mr. Sandi's toy donation this year. It was funny to ride behind and watch his toy in the moving about a bit in the wind because one of the large ears on this dog would inevitably end up covering his little doggie face as though he was afraid of riding on the back of the bike.

 

Perhaps even more than bike and toy watching, I enjoy the people watching every year at the charity toy rides we do. There were some fun ones this year!

A little horsing around prior to the ride's start. Oh, those SW Rangers have a good sense of humor. At least I think that's what was going on??


This family was happy to pose for a photo for me. They were there to watch the event staging and to eat the donuts provided by the local HOG chapter. Mom couldn't quite herd the little guy into the photo. Turns out he was just waiting to "photo bomb" me!


Like Mom, like pup. I took multiple photos of this pair and each time the dog's stance mimicked his owner's to a T. Is it true that dogs and their owners start to look alike?


This couple really had it going on. After they dismounted and I waited while they gave each other a big smooch I asked if I could snap their photo. They gladly obliged. I saw them ride in and her "leggings" or whatever you'd call those red shin thingies were streaming in the breeze. Thankfully she was riding pillion and was able to keep them from igniting on the exhaust system.


Loved this kid's reindeer outfit! I thought it was nicely complimented by his checkerboard Van's sneakers and told him so.


Here's a rider checking out the Roadhouse Band at the Sun Riders Clubhouse in standard riding gear. Yep, I actually saw her riding her own bike in the parade.


I LOVE the Christmas toy drives and am already looking forward to next year's events. Maybe I can start another version of a charity toy ride so I don't have to wait a whole year.

 

Thanks, DD! There's another photo of the hotrod with some hanky-panky going on in a third toy ride post I just posted.

Yep, you nailed it on the BMW rider! That's our resident nerd, Ron. He's a great guy, very much a renaissance man, but he is definitely a gear and tech geek and loves his Beemer!

 

You're welcome, Ken. The charity toy rides are among the annual holiday events here that most get me in the holiday spirit. It's truly heart warming to see the motorcycle community pull together to raise money and gather toys for disadvantaged children. And, yes, people watching is a very likable hobby. I find it particularly fascinating to people watch in the motorcycle world--and the different subcultures within the motorcycle world. Glad you enjoyed the write up and photos, Ken. Merry Christmas!

 

Thanks, Ken! Would love to see your friend's Tombstone photos if he has some. Did you check out the ones I posted? Sometime in November, I think. Tombstone is such a fun, kitchy place and so "stereotypic Western". It's cool that it's right in our back yard!

 

Thanks for the positive feedback, Bikerman. I'm really glad you enjoy my write ups. They are fun to do. Love to share the motorcycle adventure love! Merry Christmas!

 

Yep, Sprinter, always busy. So many fun motorcycle roads and adventures, so little time. I only started riding about nine years ago so am keen to make up for "lost" time. Glad you enjoy the write ups.

 

Tucson is a gem of a place, Don the Don. I'm so glad to live here! Over my holiday break I'm planning to take my Speed Triple out one day and just ride around town and the nearby desert and take some fun photos to share with you guys.

 

Thank you, Joe! I truly appreciate your kind comments. There are definitely a bunch of great people on this forum you among them. I don't know about being a novelist but I definitely enjoy snapping photos that depict our motorcycle escapades and posting them along with a bit of our story. I'm glad you are enjoying the toy ride thread! Mr. Sandi and I both send our thanks.