This was  my first time to go on this toy run and it was a pretty good one.  I rode with a few buddies some which had gone on this one before....we had great weather compared to last year (or so I was told)  We all met up in Glen Rose at The Big Cup (a local restaurant) and had some breakfast (the biscuits are the size of a small childs head) and coffee to get us going.  On this ride I took my six year old son...this was his first long ride and he enjoyed it a lot.  Well off we went after getting some gas we headed down US 67 to the start point in Midelothian.  We got to the start point and registered it went smooth with no long lines and walked around and looked at the bikes (my sons favorite part of the day) There were alot of cool bikes and trikes.  I saw a homemade reverse trike (2 weels in front 1 in the rear) that was kind of cool. It was built from an old gold wing. There were also a lot of decorated bikes from a simple wreath (mine) to holy crap that's a lot of stuff on that bike! But anyway you can check out the pictures to see some of these. OK on to the rest of the ride.....

We left Midelothian at 11 and headed out 287 south to Ennis.  When we left we were near the front when we got there we were closer to the back.......What happened you ask?......Well I rode my 1970 shovelhead (for some of you that is all the explination you need) and just outside of Waxahachie I went to downshift and the shifter was not where it was supposed to be.  I looked down and luckly it was sitting on my floorboard, so we pulled over and put it back on and by the time we pulled out we were about the middle of the run. So we are back on the road and I am thankful that it was an easy fix and was hoping that was the only problem I would have.....that turned out to be wishfull thinking but read on to find out what else happened.......

Well we got to the end of the ride at Ennis parked and made our way through the line to drop off our toy and pay the 5 bucks and get in the tshirt line (got to get the kid a tshirt!!!) then we got in the food line (it was free....bonus) good thing they had food too cause at this point I am tired of hearing "Dad, I want somthin' to eat"!  Well we ate our free hotdog, chips, drink and (according to the boy the best part) cookie. Hung out with friends for awhile and then decided to take some back roads home. (I posted a ride with some of these roads click here to see it)

So we headed out of Eniss up 287 back to Waxahachie and got on TX 66 headed west to Maypearl. A few miles outside of Maypearl my buddy pulled up beside me and said my bike was smoking real bad.  Since there was no place to pull over and Maypearl was only a few miles away I decided I could make it to Maypearl..................I did but when I stopped and got off the bike there was easy a half quart of oil on the ground under my bike.......that is never a good sign.  Well out came the trusty tool kit (If you ride a bike that is older than you are ALWAYS carry tools) it turned out to be something easy to fix - except that the engine was hot and I kept burning myself. So I fixed it wiped off most of the oil ran into the store and bought some overpriced oil and hit the road. We continued on through Grandview, Rio Vista, and Brazos Point and made it to within 100 yards of my house when the damn shifter fell off AGAIN!!!! I swear I am going to weld it on.  Since it was only a few hundred feet to go and I knew there was cold beer in the fridge I just grabbed the shifter and limped into my driveway in second gear with the shifter in my teeth.  Overall is was a good day with great weather, a good run for a good cause, and some breakdowns to make the story interesting.  Till next time keep the rubber down and the shiney side up!!!!

PS Ever noticed the ride you go on where something goes wrong are the ones you remember the best?

Picture Gallery for Ellis County Toy Run