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Over the period of a few days, a few people from PSB (Perth Street Bikes) organised a charity ride to Toodyay for Sun 3rd Jan ‘10. The purpose of the ride was to raise some funds for immediate expenses by those effected by the bushfires on 29th Dec ‘09 which destroyed 37 homes in the Toodyay  area. As Toodyay is a bit of a ‘Mecca’ for motorcylists, the ride was also to show support  by the motorcycle community for the residents of one of WA’s most popular ride venues.

Well, as it turned out being summer, the official Perth (Mt Lawley) temperature hit 39.9 C, which meant pretty everywhere else was tapping 43 – 44 C, and was a damned hot day for a ride. About 50 motorcyclists met up at the Caltex in Stratton for the ride, although several went on ahead in separate smaller groups (as did we).

Some of the bikes gathered at the Caltex Service Station (Stratton, WA) prior to the ride to Toodyay - photo courtesy 'Hammerhead' @ PSB

On arrival in Toodyay, several small fires could be seen still smouldering, and you could smell/taste the smoke & ash in the air. Once everyone had arrived, we made our way to the Town Hall where community Disaster Relief meetings were being held each day to keep residents up to date on the fire situation and relief efforts.

‘Graelin’ (a Ulyssean & PSB’er) introduced himself as a motorcyclist and also a resident of Toodyay (whose home had been spared), then he introduced ‘Hammerhead’ (PSB’er) who initially thought of the ride and asked him to present our collection to the gathered community, and then ‘Kristy’ presented another collection to the ‘firey’s’ (FESA & SES) without whom many more homes could have been lost.

All up $1,200 was raised for the communities immediate relief needs, and a further $625 was raised for the ‘firey’s’ (they sure deserve a few cold beers). The gathered Toodyay residents were much appreciative of our efforts and clapped loudly when presented with the collection, as were the FESA & SES representatives – all up a hot as hell day for a ride, but with a great result for a good cause.

The PSB community is planning another ride in about a month’s time for when the residents will require some further support as the damage is assessed. The Ulysses Club (combined WA branches) is also planning our own ride in 2 to 3 weeks time, again to show support for the residents of one of WA’s most popular motorcyclist’s ride destinations *.

* Virtually any day of the week you’ll find masses of bikes in and around Toodyay, with many of the shops and eateries having motorcycle visor cleaning stations (little more than a squirty bottle, or a bucket of soapy water, and some paper towels or chux wipes; but something that is much appreciated by motorcyclists).