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The 2011 Newcastle Toy run was run today, the 34th annual run actually which is an amazing effort for all concerned with the running logistics etc
Anyway, I rolled up to the meet point early and sat for a while, it was amazing to watch so many machines roll past on their way to the event.
Then Ross turned up and we were thinking this is it !!! But the phone rang and it was Jeffro, who had been sitting round the corner some 40m away for 5 minutes longer than me :laugh:
:unsure: Sorry if we missed you PTW or anybody else, but we waited till 8.55 and wanted to be over there not long after 9amWe grouped up and rode off on the back of another group travelling past and made our way over to Stockton. It was a job just getting there with the crowd and it was slow going for the most of it. I momentarily pulled off the road to meet a new member 44 on his Honda Z50 Monkey Bike, yes a Monkey bike fully rego`d & all !!! š
I thought we would slip in with the crowd real quiet like, but not with 44 in tow on the Z50 (he is a big guy too and was wearing a bright red shirt to boot so everyone in town noticed the red Monkey bike putting around)
On arrival at the ferry park, there was no room for us except for way, way back in the park. It was warming up in the sun and I was glad I had opted to leave the jacket at home (most guys I saw in jackets were madly fanning their collars to cool down :whistle:
The Z50 in all it`s glory
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A vid of Stockton meeting area
All we could do was stand around chatting, laughing at some of the costumes & bike that were decorated for the occasion. Ross couldn`t resist a blat on the Z50 and I have a short vid of that here
Then we heard the roar of the bikes starting the run to Newy, so we loaded up & waited for our turn to roll out, and waited and waited and waited (you get the drift, there were thousands there)
The bike were running hot in short time and it was crawling pace right out of Stockton, kids everywhere waving madly and families lining the streets to watch the spectacle.
I soon lost sight of Ross & Jeffro (44 had already gone home to check on his mum who is not well) and I even pulled over twice to wait till they caught up. Jeffro`s Tenere had clutch problems in the heat & he could not stop or select neutral, so he had gone for a burn up along a long grass stretch to the sideand wasn`t sure if he had passed me or not ,,,,The crowds were amazing along the entire route, all waving, horns honking and having a great time. It is quite difficult to wave back at times when you are crawling along, but the kids love it, they love the low fives even more (so there were plenty of those handed out as I rode along) :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:
On arrival at the Foreshore park , the true size of the crowd really hit, man there was hardly room to stand, let alone park a bike and then find your mates, but just as I parked up in the shade of a tree Jeffro came along so I called him in no sign of Ross ,,
I was relieved to find a shady park spot on the grass (even if it was next to a road train)
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It was hot out in the open
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a short vid of the Newy Foreshore area here (couldn`t get any decent pics to show the whole setup, it was massive)
We wandered around for a bit, found the donations tent and then got separated again, so I gave up on lining up for lunch and went back to the kato to ride away for lunch. Jeffro turned up at the bikes at the same time pretty much with a similar idea, so we said our goodbyes and headed for home.
All in all a great experience
On a sad note, there was an accident halfway along the route, which looked a lot like a young child had been hit by a bike rider on the side of the road. There were couple of bikes with P Plates pulled over and a pair of young looking legs & feet hanging out form where they were sheltering him or her from the heat. The ambos were just arriving there along with the Police as I rode by. There was a guy throwing lollies & lollipops from his bike heading out of Stocko and I thought to myself āA nice gesture, but mighty unsafe if kids run onto the street to grab the lolliesā (which I did see happen once or twice)
I really hope this wasn`t the cause of the accident and I really hope the youngster is ok
Will I be back next year ?????
Damn right I will be , It was great fun :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
Good report Eagle, I was a bit shattered after riding the Honda monkey bike, they tell me the ride and handling are a mirror of the XR’s
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Great day, sorry I missed you and Jeffro in the crowd.
I will try and met up with you on the drz when something local is happening.
Cheers Ross.No worries Rossco,
It had been a while since we last rode together (not that we rode together much today) :whistle:
Looked for you and Jeffro a few times when I pulled over, just a fluke that he came along as I took my helmet off :laugh:
It sure was warm heading out of Stockton, and a relief to hit the road over the bridge & get the cool breeze,,,Will catch ya for a decent dirt ride in the New Year
Cheers mateBig, Yep
Local news report just said there were 6000 bikes present (1000 up on last years event)Would hate to be the dude sitting at the gate clicking the counter button (how else would they have an idea on numbers????)
white rocket wrote:bugger forgot to go to the local dubbsvill one reckon the feed and talk at ballimore pub would hve been good.that honda 50 looks like fun hay :woohoo:The Z50 was an attention getter for sure :laugh:
He didn`t want to do the full ride as it is only good for about 40kph flat out (Typical Honda) :woohoo:You can hear him telling Ross in the video to run alongside the thing till you hit 3rd gear to get some speed up :S :whistle: š
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