voxpopgirl
This Girl's Voice


Thursday, October 02, 2003  

Voxpopgirl on Vacation



voxpopgirl readers may have noticed that it's been a little quiet over here for a month; my bad: definitely should have mentioned that i was taking the month of September off chilling out for much needed R&R;

i'll be back posting on a regular basis after returning from Hamilton, Ontario at the end of next week, where i'm looking forward to hanging with my wonderful Italian dad at the World Cycling Championships. Road Cycling is my dad's passion and has been since he was a young teenager back in Italy before he emigrated to Canada in the 50's, met my fab Brit/Italian mum, hooked up, and brought my bro and i into this world.

He's always been a rider, and was involved in pro cycling circles here in Canada practically from the moment he arrived, and to this day, barring any bad weather, my 74 year old dad hops onto the sleek aerodynamic saddles of one of his killer lightweight road bikes, decked out from head to toe in the latest cycling threads, and heads out on the road to do no less than 100K a day -- and we're not talking about a casual jaunt with the ocassional pedaling either; nope. We're talking about full-on pedalling, all of the time, and at steady pace with some serious slopes and grades thrown in there to boot. Wherever my parents travel, be it in North America or abroad, one of those glistening titanium bikes always go with them, and he invariably ends up meeting other cyclists, enthusiasts and riders from pro teams as he pedals that countries' roads, subsequently managing to get invited to catch and take in a race or two.

Over the last 10 years i've come to learn about the sport and understand it's nuances because it's me my father calls up when he wants to get the results before any of his other buddies do, about whichever Giro, Tour, Vuelta or Ronde that's gone down that morning over in Europe, and as a result of my having gone through the routine of reading him the final results and the minute by minute reports of all the races, i've come to not only recognize almost every name of most pro road cyclists, but have also developed a wonderful and personal bond with my dad -- above and beyond the one we already have as father and daughter -- about a sport he's passionate about, has participated in professionally and one in which he continues to partake on a near day to day basis each and every time he gets on one of his bikes.

When he mentioned last year that the World Cycling Championships were coming to Canada to a city in Ontario that wasn't more than an hour away, i leapt at the chance to give him a birthday present that would bring him back together with so many cyclists and friends from the cycling world of whom he's known for more than half his life, and many who he's not hung with for over a decade; selfishly speaking, it also seemed like a wonderful way to extend the experience already shared between my lovely papa and myself by seeing him in his element among his friends who respect him for his talent and experience in a sport and an activity that is a vital part of his life and his cultural experience but also love and value him as a cherished friend and one hell of a decent guy. Should be a fun-filled week.


In the meantime, if you're raring for some of the best up to the minute analysis and posts about the latest Bush/Rove/White House lies, smears and felonies -- not to mention Ann Coulters' favourite word which she yields to impugn any liberal on the face of this earth -- Treason, head on over to Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo, and for regular fare in the political stratusphere, be sure to check out the razor sharp observations about these stinking White House thugs by one of my favourite American conservatives, Eric Margolis, who has a new blog; Margolis happens to reside here in Toronto and is a seasoned Foreign Correspondent, Middle Eastern Expert, Defence Analyst & Columnist who's just about had it up to here with these treasonous felons posing as patriots.

Aside from that, really looking forward to seeing everyone in about a week when we can get back to the regular pace and banter of rants, roars, ad hominems, and other voxpopgirlisms.

Until Tuesday Oct. 14, keep it real and ciao!

posted by voxpopgirl | 10/02/2003


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