Toy Run 2006

Yesterday was a busy day for Cape Town. The Proteas (our national cricket team) played (and won) the third one-day international against India at the Newlands Cricket Stadium in the southern suburbs, a concert was held in the city centre and was followed by the mayor switching on the Christmas lights in Adderley Street, and the annual Toy Run charity motorcyle ride was held in the suburbs.

Since the first two events required me to drive around for hours to find parking, I decided to watch the Toy Run. The event is organised by the Italian Motorcycle Owners Club and is held in Cape Town and, apparently, in other cities around the country, traditionally on the last Sunday of November. In Cape Town, the bikers congregate at the Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket in Ottery before riding north along the M5, on the N2 along Settlers Way, and then back down the peninsula along the M3 to Maynardville. This year an extra starting point was organised in Cape Town at Ratanga Junction - for bikers from the northern suburbs - who joined the route at Settlers Way. The bikers have to take a toy with them, which is collected at the end of the run and is donated to needy children in orphanages, group homes, and hospitals so that they will have at least one gift for Christmas.

The public tends to congregate along the route, often pulling over if they happen to be driving, to watch the spectacle, which lasts for about 20 minutes. It used to be more exciting as cars tended to avoid the route (or were possibly barred from using it) for the short period during which the Toy Run takes place, and the bikers used to ride more en masse and less staggered than they do nowadays, which I presume is due to a set of robots [*] that exists on the M5, but it's still fun to watch and I make a point of doing so each year.

So, to set the scene, imagine the following (only with motion and loud engine noises) for about 20 minutes and you pretty much get the gist of it:

Above: 11:26am: Bikes...

Above: 11:30am: ...bikes...

Above: 11:30am: ...bikes.

I filmed a short clip of the Toy Run and was intending to upload it to YouTube but there appears to be something wrong with my software because I can't export the sound (not that the sound is particularly thrilling...or, for that matter, the video...) so that little effort is still a project in progess. I'll post the link here if the video ever exports properly and I can upload it.