There were plenty of events coming up, and several very soon. Having decided the Christmas Toy Run would be a good group bike event. Bonus points to the meeting place; ‘The Ace Café’ made it slightly more appealing due to having never visited the famous venue for bikers. “Are you going on the Toy Run?” I replied to John. Well that was the beginning…after several very funny conversations later it would seem that I was attending the Toy Run but not quite the way I had thought. We had decided to dress up for the occasion. Well… I will not take credit for the idea, as it was John who came up with the theme. Turkey’s” he suggested. I just decided how they should look, by being totally in control of manufacturing.

Night after night I would pin fur to my b/f Col’s Manikin attire, as he stood fully clothed in his leathers, helmet and boots. The sweat would be running down his face, as the central heating was still set at a very comfortable 21°. I showed no mercy, as I pinned and screamed: the outfits had seemed easier in my head.
Eventually my sewing machine decided the job was just too big for it’s small amount of power… and promptly went ‘BANG’ Col sighed a relief and tried desperately to fix the machine, only to put the timing out. But the Club!

My head was screaming! They are expecting us to be dressed up now. I must learn to sew quickly by hand. Well the women who use to do that in the old days… BIG Round of applause to you! I was only two hours into my task and had completed the Sam amount of sewing that could be achieved on a machine in less than 2 minutes! I had deadlines here, so I packed up all my fur and feathers and trundled of to my best mates house for help and uses of her machine. This would have been easier if she didn’t live over an hours drive away. Actually it would have been easier if I was on the bike, but due to the fact that the outfits at this point filled a bin bag with ease I decided the car was needed. And would you believe it! It was a bright clear evening and the roads were dry… I do cringe when I miss a good evening ride. Rachel my best friend and I worked all afternoon and late into the night. Her newer machine sewed with a freshness that I admired, and Rachel hand stitched fur onto the arms of whichever outfit I wasn’t sewing other bits too.

Finally we finished and the outfits fitted neatly into the bin bag, I even had space to carry. The night was cold, and close to midnight Ice had formed on the windscreen of the car and smiled and was thankful for the warm car heater. The Turkey outfits were finally finished!! All I had to do now was decide how to travel to the start point. I am absolutely the world worse at directions. I live in a world of my own most of the time, so directions are usually the last things on my mind. I follow well, but lead… ummm no thanks. I had two choices: Ride my own bike, and risk a copy of National Lampoon Europe Vacation by getting stuck on a roundabout with no idea which exit to take; or take the Train. No competition… I took the train.

But I deserve an award for the shape of the rucksack. It contained: outfits, legs, beaks, hoods (remember of course that there are two outfits) and two large boxed presents, that had been strapped to the back with bungee straps. I wore my leathers and carried my lid. This may be a natural thing for you guys to do all the time, but I have MS. I am not as fit as I use to be! And No spring Chicken jokes here please… We were Turkeys! . John was early and gave the BEST directions as to where he was parked by texting my mobile, even down to the correct exit door to come through. I was very impressed with his geographical abilities up to that point. (me too-ed). Little did I know that my impression would be rocked with hysterical laughter later in the day? My Train arrived at Paddington Station at 9.20am, we probably took about 15minutes to rearrange the parcels, so that I had the fridge size box on my back, and a bin bag braced against my left leg. Whilst John had the tank bag filled to the brink in front of him, with a map place on the front… yet he had the map in his jacket? We arrived at the Ace Café at about 10.45am, and I didn’t even notice the forth time we went around Holland park roundabout! I’m afraid that all my radar skill genes where given to my brother, and I have skills in other areas, but I’m sure it must have been easier than that?

I must say that John was easy to pillion, and I didn’t fly off the back once, or crush him on the tank with harsh braking, although I wouldn’t mind seeing what that Blade was really capable of putting out. The real fear started when we arrived at ‘The Ace Café’. The car park was filled with what looked like lots of people wearing leathers. There was a Father Christmas at the front door and a several very festive looking bikes. One bike/sidecar had a passenger of the large stuffed furry kind with matching goggles and a big bear grin, but generally just normal bikes and people in bike gear. So now we had to become ‘Turkey’s’. Well I give 10points to John, because I could’ve been talked out of it at that point, but he was buzzing on adrenalin and ready to get this thing on the road. Celeste spotted us come in and came over to introduce herself. It’s a shame that I didn’t get to meet any other Go Star members, but 2 is better than none…

The parking area was filling up now, and we had outfits to wear. … So we marched into the center of the café, and transformed ourselves into Turkey’s in front of everyone. Celeste kindly took my empty rucksack and we were ready to go. Suddenly we were approached by one of the organisers and told that we had earned the position of up-front and just behind Santa! Woo Hoo! And a couple of crowd controllers on bikes, whom I must say did a FANTASTIC job! And to my knowledge, no one got lost on route: Well Done YOU GUYS!

I smiled or laughed from start to finish. I won’t deny exhaustion and dehydration at certain parts of the day, but there always seemed to be a helpful person to aid with the bag carrying and door opening if we needed it. The Hospitals were fortunately not over crowded with ill Children but the smiles from the ones we did see made it all worth the effort. My personal favorite part was Parliament Square. The atmosphere with all the bikes beeping horns, and shoppers waving and admiring as I flapped me wings with a Cheshire cat grin all over my face will be saved in my memory banks for a while. So if you want to be part of something that gives admiration, joy, meeting new people and just being part of big crowd of bike loving human beings? Then how about joining in on the Easter run? .

By Michelle Pye

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