Going full throttle to get toys to tots
Three years ago, the teddy bear strapped onto the sissy bars of Rick Riordan's Harley-Davidson fell off during the annual Toys for Tots rally.
To safely secure his donation to the Salvation Army this year, Riordan stowed a paint set and a Hasbro Lite-Brite pegboard inside the saddlebags of his 2010 Street Glide hog Sunday morning.
"The toys will not get away from me,” said Riordan, a construction manager who looked every bit the elf on his red motorcycle with a white goatee and a snugly buttoned denim vest.
An estimated 5,000 bikers mustered before noon in Pleasure Ridge Park near the Jefferson Riverport industrial park to make an 11-mile cruise to the Salvation Army toy bins set up at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Fred Myers, membership coordinator of the nonprofit Kentucky Motorcycle Association, said warm weather contributed to the good turnout for the event, which began in 1983 and was organized by the Marine Corps League.
With chains dangling from leather chaps and silver-studded black jackets, members of the Wicked Cruzers, the Grim Reapers and the Outlaws represented motorcycle clubs in the region.
Gordon and Ruby Carnes, of the Christian Motorcycle Association, were among volunteers who safely guided cyclists six abreast into a mile-long queue to await the ride's 2 p.m. start.
“These are people who need to hear about Jesus,” said Gordon Carnes, whose CMA jacket bore the message “Riding For The Son.”
For this ride, real-estate broker Jerry Hensel, 70, pulled a Tonka fire engine toy from the beer cooler on the back of his “Hog Slayer” VMAX Yamaha.
“This beer cooler is multipurpose today for a good cause,” said Hensel, who was out for his first Toys for Tots ride.
“I am a rabble-rouser. I just don't fit the mold,” he added. “Most bikers don't.”
J.D. Sparks, 41, a private equity banker who volunteers with the Marine Corps League, said his organization collects toys year-round to donate to needy children this time of year.
While bikers waited to ride, they tinkered with their engines or compared choppers equipped with long, ape-hanger handlebars to more sturdy trikes, foreign-manufactured crotch rockets and touring bikes.
“We don't care what type of bike you have as long as you have a bike to ride,” Sparks said
Source: Going full throttle to get toys to tots
To safely secure his donation to the Salvation Army this year, Riordan stowed a paint set and a Hasbro Lite-Brite pegboard inside the saddlebags of his 2010 Street Glide hog Sunday morning.
"The toys will not get away from me,” said Riordan, a construction manager who looked every bit the elf on his red motorcycle with a white goatee and a snugly buttoned denim vest.
An estimated 5,000 bikers mustered before noon in Pleasure Ridge Park near the Jefferson Riverport industrial park to make an 11-mile cruise to the Salvation Army toy bins set up at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.
Fred Myers, membership coordinator of the nonprofit Kentucky Motorcycle Association, said warm weather contributed to the good turnout for the event, which began in 1983 and was organized by the Marine Corps League.
With chains dangling from leather chaps and silver-studded black jackets, members of the Wicked Cruzers, the Grim Reapers and the Outlaws represented motorcycle clubs in the region.
Gordon and Ruby Carnes, of the Christian Motorcycle Association, were among volunteers who safely guided cyclists six abreast into a mile-long queue to await the ride's 2 p.m. start.
“These are people who need to hear about Jesus,” said Gordon Carnes, whose CMA jacket bore the message “Riding For The Son.”
For this ride, real-estate broker Jerry Hensel, 70, pulled a Tonka fire engine toy from the beer cooler on the back of his “Hog Slayer” VMAX Yamaha.
“This beer cooler is multipurpose today for a good cause,” said Hensel, who was out for his first Toys for Tots ride.
“I am a rabble-rouser. I just don't fit the mold,” he added. “Most bikers don't.”
J.D. Sparks, 41, a private equity banker who volunteers with the Marine Corps League, said his organization collects toys year-round to donate to needy children this time of year.
While bikers waited to ride, they tinkered with their engines or compared choppers equipped with long, ape-hanger handlebars to more sturdy trikes, foreign-manufactured crotch rockets and touring bikes.
“We don't care what type of bike you have as long as you have a bike to ride,” Sparks said
Source: Going full throttle to get toys to tots
