ROAD RACER FILES By Vicki Schouten
Call me the Grinch if you like but I really don’t care for the cold weather, and lately we barely even have snow at Christmas.
can’t believe there’s only six weeks to go until Christmas. Where did the year go? It seems like just last week the Mopar Canadian Superbike series wrapped up and I was out riding around on the street testing new helmets.
I
Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of Christ- mas. Call me the Grinch if you like but I re- ally don’t care for the cold weather, and lately we barely even have snow at Christ- mas. I mean, if it’s going to be cold it might as well snow! Christmas is generally a sign that you’ve tucked your motorcycle away for the winter and now you’re stuck watching NHL hockey (oh wait, there’s none of that either) and waiting patiently for spring to arrive. Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who manage to squeeze in a track day or two down south in January, but for the rest of us it’s generally a cold, miserable season with way too much retail hype in the shopping malls starting as early as mid-October; no I don’t want to hear Christmas music that
soon. Just because I winterized my motorcycle does not mean the malls can unleash the holiday carols.
Christmas also means the coming of the Toronto Motorcycle Show, which might not actually be a bad thing if you’re looking for something to put on your wish list to Santa. This is the first year in a long time that I won’t be attending the Toronto Motorcycle Show. It’s going to be a strange feeling not making the trek from Ottawa to Toronto to reconnect with industry and racing friends and remi- nisce about riding and racing this past season. Personal commit- ments just aren’t going to allow it to happen this year. I’ve always really enjoyed the Toronto Motorcycle Show, but at the same time it will be the first Christmas in a long time that I don’t miss the Christmas party at The Cyclery, a local bicycle shop I deal with, which always seems to hold its Christmas parties on the same weekend as the Toronto Motorcycle Show. Could they be try- ing to tell me something?
As a former racer, I know that Christmas can be about the antici- pation that perhaps this will be the year that dad finally realizes that I really could use that torque wrench from SnapOn. Some girls like diamonds, I get excited over tools from SnapOn, what can I say? And no, for those wondering, my dad never did buy me that SnapOn wrench. Though I finally have one, a lot of good it’s doing in my toolbox now that I’m no longer racing.
Speaking of dads, mine is not getting any younger and I’m pretty 12 HOLIDAY BUYERS’ GUIDE 2012
sure my years of racing added more than just a few grey hairs to his head. “Are you done racing now?” he would ask, as I would be lying at home in bed jacked up on morphine from one race-related injury or another. “No dad, actually I just ordered new parts for the bike and the boys are fixing it up for me to race again in no time!” The things a girl can do to her father. As we grow older and start to really appreciate our parents and our family for whom they are, Christmas becomes more about spending time with loved ones and close friends than it does about, “What did Santa bring me?” Certainly this is not what the malls and online retail outlets would have you thinking. But at the end of the day it’s all just “stuff” really. More “stuff” that over time col- lects dust in your basement or your garage. Who needs any of it re- ally, save of course for the economy in which we all hope to continue to be gainfully employed? So this year over the holidays, I don’t plan on exchanging any gifts but rather hope to finally take a few days out of my hectic lifestyle to have a few eggnogs and just catch up with friends and family in general. It’s too bad I won’t have the opportunity to re- connect with my motorcycling friends at the shows, but I guess we don’t really need a holiday as an excuse to touch base either, do we?
Happy Holidays to everyone and may you all have a safe and Merry Christmas!
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