2012 Chicago Toys For Tots Parade

[ZackDaniels]

65,000 other bikes and I did not see a single other V-Max there. Not another Gen-1, and not even a Gen-2. You guys need to get your butts to Chicago and represent! This is the single biggest 1-day rally in the country.

My Max all holiday'd up.





In downtown Chicago a fair few of the people lining the streets for this parade are poor families that are expected recipients of the toys. When you have this many bikes and people are lining the streets for the majority of a 20 mile stretch, many holding signs saying 'God Bless Bikers', many with tears in their eyes... It's overwhelming at times.

The following awesome things happened today:
* I high-fived a bunch of kids as we rode by them when they stuck their hands out for high fives.
* A women on the sidewalk ran over to my wife while we were stalled and asked if she could take her picture with her. My wife agreed and the women quickly wrapped an arm around my wifes neck and did the whole lean back and big pose thing. After she got the picture she ran back to the sidewalk and I watched her looking at her camera to check that the photo came out good, and visibly jump up and down and giggle with joy when she saw that it did.
* I rode without a helmet for the first time since before I bought my first one almost a decade ago. I opted instead for a Santa hat in this <20 mph traffic controlled parade. It was really weird even at low speeds... I put that thing on even when I'm taking a lap around my neighborhood to dry off a bike after a wash.

Unfortunately our dedicated pillion rider and photographer got sick this morning so there's only a handful of shots mid-parade. I whipped out the camera while it was stopped and they're less than the ideal shots mid-ride, but hey at least they're something. Maybe I'll get a GoPro for Christmas.

(30+ pic album)
http://imgur.com/a/nVj7q/

Choice shots for those that don't want to browse:
A 9-photo spliced panoramic of the line-up before we took off. This is only a fraction of the bikes that were there.


1 of 2 heavily modified Ruckus I saw.


Santa biker on a cell phone and a pretty awesome adventurer with luggage.


Load of bikes




(note the woman waving from their window on the upper right. The whole ride was filled with this and people on the streets)






Dat Ass


And a bagger towing an honest to god sleigh


Back home:

 

[mckzx9]

Great cause Zach. Bike looks nice I love those fatmax hard bags. I'm hoping to get a set this spring

A bunch of kids will have a great Christmas because of it

 

[Traumahawk]

Great job Zack. :thumbs up:

 

[dannymax]

That's a great cause, good on ya Zack for making the effort.

65,000 bikes.....man, what a turnout! :worthy:

 

[ZackDaniels]

Yeah it's for sure a record. This is always a huge ride but it's typically more like 5-20k bikes. This is the first year it was this size I think.

It was also the first year ever we had shirtless riders in the toys for tots parade:


It was 60 yesterday. We think on doing this every year and bail out of it's <32 and the roads are wet or snowy. This marks our 2nd time attending in almost 10 years of attempting. Insanely nice day yesterday and the turnout reflected that.

I was thinking of leaving the bags at home and keeping the bike pretty for the day, but I'm glad I had them as they were completely full by the time the parade started. Packed full of all the extra layers of clothing I took off when I was sweating waiting for the ride to start.

 

[dmax1]

I used to live in Chicago until I moved out west here. I have ridden this toys for tots run for many years. It was always a great time with friends old and new. Brings back the memories of western avenue which I used to ride to work all the time. By the pics it looks like you had a great day to ride. 60 degrees it does not happen that often in December in Chicago. Zack where are you located in Chicago? I was around the Mount Greenwood area.

 

[ZackDaniels]

I'm actually a suburban man. I find a lot of work in downtown though and I'm pushing the wife to consider relocating much closer and cut my commute out. I've convinced her to consider as close as Oak Park, but the real estate there is a bit out of our budget even with today's housing prices. I love the city and she loves farmland... I'm lucky to get her to agree to live within 25 miles of the loop.


Here's some news coverage for more shots of bikes and some background on the program.

Annual Toys for Tots parades motors through Chicago - WGN

Chicagoland Toys For Tots Parade ? CBS Chicago

I was riding around in my santa hat and cheesing it up and posing for the various photographers I saw but it's looking like I didn't make any news channels. It's looking from the footage like they only stuck around for the first tier for their coverage. I was in the 4th or 5th so I guess I'll need to show earlier next year if I want my 15 minutes of fame lol!

More choice photos:







VMOA guys - I've decided to do a detailed write up on the experiences of the day. Look for it in the next issue of VBoost.

 

[charlieRobinson]

I was there for a Japanese test and holy crap, never seen anything like it!

 

[ZackDaniels]

75,000 ended up being the final count. Whole lotta bikes :O

Also

Dat Ass

I had no idea what this was at the time, but a series of events has led to learning it's a Yamaha Roadliner/Stratoliner with Corbin bags, and a weird trip to a Harley dealership put one just like it in my friend's garage last week. He got it at wholesale pricing because Harley doesn't care about no stinkin metrics.

Had I known I could get wholesale metric bikes I'd have been hanging around Harley shops a long time ago!