And nothing did.

With the starting point of the run at the intersection of 56th and Riverside, shortly before it started I took a drive along Riverside just to see how long the bike line was. For the first time ever, the line reached all the way to 71st Street, which posed a problem in that the line couldn't cross 71st because of the traffic snarls that would arise as a result. So at 71st the police u-turned the line back up Riverside in the southbound lanes.

The route itself was the same as it was last year, ending in the Clear Channel parking lot at 27th & Memorial. The mosiac above (click on it for a larger version) shows that parking lot only fifteen minutes after the first bikes arrived: it took two hours for the last bike to make it in. A good time was had by all. Clear Channel even provided a live band this year.

After last year's problems the Salvation Army tried to cause us, I have since decided that if our Toy Run generated even one more rider than theirs, then ours is a success. They tried their best this year, even had their own TV station co-sponsoring it. But fate, the weather, and the prayers of every biker in the area was against them. According to the Tulsa World, their Toy Run this year generated about a thousand bikes (although officers handling that event have told us their official count was only 133).

Counts from the Tulsa Police and the Tulsa World for our Run run anywhere from 27,000 to 30,000 bikes, far and away a record for Tulsa ABATE. Our Toy Runs were already the largest motorcycle runs in the Central U.S. (between the Rockies and the Mississippi). If even the conservative number holds up, this year's Run will wind up the largest in the entire country! Ever!!

• Fox-23, was the fairest. Although they natually devoted more coverage to our Run this week, they also did video-only coverage (i.e., the anchor reading the story live, no reporter on tape) of not only the SA run last week but also a competing 40-bike run by the Bandidos motorcycle club earlier that same rainy day. The only station that mentioned all three Runs.
• KOTV-6 is also on my "nice" list: our Run was today's second story on the 5:30 newscast, a video-only right after a self-promoting preview of tonight's Survivor finale. And last week: the Bandido Run was covered, the only other station to do so, complete with an on-screen interview with the club president. And no mention at all that the SA run ever happened!
• KJRH-2 did video-only coverage of both of the main runs, airing at roughly the same time during each newscast. Truly fair-and-balanced, except for the fact that they called the SA run "the largest in the state". A blatant lie, but I'm blaming it on propaganda by the Salvation Army, and not faulting the station at all.
• Last and certainly least, KTUL-8 goes on the "naughty" list. Co-sponsor of the Salvation Army's run, they provided thorough coverage and on-screen interviews of that one, but made no mention, not even in passing, of ours. Wouldn't be surprised at all if they were ordered by SA not to cover ours, which means they care more about their image and not burning bridges than they do about serving the public interest, which if it could ever be proven conclusively could cause the FCC to pull KTUL's broadcasting license. Ah, if I only had the clout...

Nothing works, nothing counts, nothing fits, no one cares, no one listens, standards have fallen, everyone's fatter, lines are longer, traffic's worse, kids are dumber and the air is dirty.

--George Carlin