I'd heard about the Memorial Toy run thru one of the e-mail lists I'm on, and planned to hit it with Jeff S, a re-entrant rider on his newly purchased 1996 ST1100 ABS. He lives in Derby, KS and we planned to meet up with the local cruiser riders at Quick Trip. Rode down from KC the night before (Labor Day Friday, in the dark!) to stay at Mikes apartment. 186 miles, smooth sailing, even with the heavy traffic. A personal best - longest I've ridden without stopping. Also made a heck of an average speed -- 76 MPH. I trailed a Land Rover at better than a ton until common sense set in. Got up the next day, met up at QT with the cruiser folks and set off for Hardtner, It's about 90 miles South West of Wichita. 90 miles, 90 minutes, right? Well, not when you are riding with a new rider on a Suzuki 250! 3 hours later, we pull into Hardtner. First time I've ridden in formation - kind of neat, but not something I'd like to do for a whole day. About 200 bikers showed up at Hardtner for the toy run. Some of us early folks stopped in to a local cafe for a breakfast buffet. Very good eggs - jalapeno pepper omlet! Out of all the bikes, there was one ST100 (Jeff), one BMW (a R1100) and one Concours (Me). The rest were cruisers and 'wings. Got organized about 10:00 and the whole parade rolled out of town towards Medicine Lodge, KS. 200 bikes in loose formation. Rather interesting. Something I wanted to do, and now I've done it. Nice slow ride thru the hills and back to Hardtner. After cooling off for a bit in the bar / rally point, Jeff and I decided to pass on the turkey leg lunch and head out. We rolled North again, back to Medicine lodge and headed back East on US 160. Bad choice - dozens of miles of construction. Stopped off for lunch at a cafe / gas station. We parted ways at the turnpike, and I rocked back to Cassoday to meet up with the friends and family for the rest of the weekend. Jeff is certainly a more conservative rider than I am. It was nice to be able to open the Connie up after a whole day below the speed limit. Total miles: 420 - another personal best Interesting thing was, I got better gas milage at warp 7 than I did while idling around behind a pack of cruisers.