"2007 Kootenay Toy Run" or "When Taryn Got Voted Off The Island"

Taryn-the-16-year-old girl started to ride a motorcycle this year.  I had the most amazing visions of spontaneous road trips; me and the boy on my Bandit and Taryn on her Exciter, laughing, bonding and taking whichever mountain road called to us.  With Iggy Pop's Wild Child screaming in my head, I would be the envy of mothers of teenagers everywhere.

And then, I would rub the back of my neck to ease the pain as my head snapped back to reality.

She does like her bike and she does enjoy riding it and she does allow me to escort her (as required by Law) to her friends' homes and then come back and get her later.

On Sunday, Taryn and I had the pleasure of participating in the 2007 West Kootenay Toy Run, 20th Anniversary, along with over 650 other riders, and enjoyed the beautiful weather, gorgeous scenery and the opportunity to give a little back to the community.

Those were my thoughts anyway.... Taryn wanted to win the trophy for the Youngest Rider thereby effectively beating out Char-the-bitch-who-slept-with-her-(now-Ex)-boyfriend.  Char, being younger, would have won had she attended.  But, of course, she didn't show because Taryn is 110 pounds of pure intimidation.  I almost blew coffee out of my nose.

Kootenay Toy Run Route Map

So, we rode as close to the end as possible considering that there were easily a hundred riders who also wanted to relax in the back.  In front of her, I watched her in my review mirror and helped her pace a little.  Approaching Nelson, the first stop, she took a corner a little faster than she's comfortable with; apparent  by the wobbling and very close proximity to the curb.  On reviewing the game plan in consultation with the chase car and a couple of the marshals, we decided that she would ride right at the back with Mrs. Santa Claus, directly in front of the chase car, marshals and me in front of her.

Well, then she was a little too relaxed.  A substantial gap formed between our small group of five and the 650 others.  Mrs. Claus was not impressed.  She was to be closing the parade (Santa was in the front) and, because of the ginormous gap that Taryn created, the spectators along the route were folding up there lawn chairs rather than pouring their gratitude upon her in the form of enthusiastic waves.

Taryn screwed up Mrs. Claus' whole day.

Though Taryn had the huge red glowing "L" on her back, to warn others that she is learning and that everyone should really give her a little space, Mrs. Claus (who traditionally represents children's joy, charity, glitter and snowflakes) was pulling up beside her and yelling at her to speed up and to catch up with the others.  She was traveling at the posted speed limit; it's not like she was going 5 km/hr.

When we reached the second stop, Taryn and I decided that we would drop back behind the group all together and ride at her own pace.  We approached the chase car / marshal group and thanked them for their support and informed them that we would leave a few minutes behind and see them at the next stop.

The chase car driver replied, "That's good, because we actually had already taken a vote and decided the same thing."

Wow.  OK.  Concerned that at any second my Tourette's-like behaviour was going to surface and I would Kung-Fu all over their asses, I smiled and walked away.

We walked in silence for a moment.

Taryn then mused, "So, the socially correct thing for them to say would have been; ' What?  You want to drop back?  Are you sure?  You're doing so well but we support your decision.' Right?"

You mean, rather than kick you in the stomach?  Sure.

We enjoyed the rest of our day:  Taryn won a trophy for Youngest Rider and over $7000 was raised to provide Christmas gifts to under-privileged children.

And, the best part (okay, besides the whole charity thing),Taryn's motorcycle instructor, who loves Taryn like a puppy, knows the executive of this event.  Mrs. Claus will not be with us next year; at least not this year's version.

So, am I allowed to be a little gleeful that I got Mrs. Claus fired?

Comments

[Ruth Meyers]

I am the Chase truck driver for the Toy Run last year, 2007. there are many things in this story that are not true.
First, Berle does not sit on the Toy Run committe, and never has.
Next, the reason we do not like huge gaps between bikers is thst the cage drivers, [cars and truck] create an extremely unsafe situation, they fill up the gaps between bikes, and can in many cases cause accidents.
thirdly the "Big L" on her bike was not visable, as it was on top of the rear fender.
yes we did take a vote, as this learner almost caused 2 accidents when cars were trying to pass the chase truck. they alsmost hit thwe chase truck and my husband who was riding directly in front of the chase truck, the mother never saw this as she was riding in front iof her daughter not behind where she should have been.
oh and you did not get tnrs Santa fired. she moved down est.
Good day all

[Kim]

Any chance you have an English keyboard available to you?