cycling

A last solidarity cycle

The inaugural Solidarity Cycle, in 2017. (photo by P. Simson)

We didn’t ride 100 kilometres, or even quite 50. It was a glorious symbolic ride in celebration of the many years of Solidarity Cycle, a much-beloved event that has seen dozens of cyclists and hundreds of supporters unite bike and heart to raise more than $400,000 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.

Even though Solidarity Cycle has pushed its last pedal – the event having been canceled this year – three members of Tikun Olam Gogos, who rode in the inaugural event back in 2017 and have served in numerous capacities every year since, just couldn’t let go.

Monday, Sept. 8 was a perfect day as Marie Henry, Darcy Billinkoff and I set out: not a drop of rain, not a wisp of smoke, just sunny skies with occasional clouds and a light breeze.

Nothing could keep us down, not Darcy’s fractured ribs, Marie’s stress injuries or my right hip, waitlisted for replacement. Could this “Wride of the Wrecked” be a clue to Solidarity Cycle’s demise?

There were more portents to come, but first it was time to ride.

Many features of our route to Westham Island came with joyful reminders of the previous cycles: cornfields reminiscent of the years of Chilliwack corn and chili celebration dinners, acres of sunflowers like those popping the Pemberton Valley ride the year of pandemic and big smoke, and kilometres of dike trails like those we traveled in Pitt Meadows. The one-lane, wood-deck river crossing onto the island was a refreshing antidote to that !@#$%!!! (oops, I mean challenging-but-fun) Golden Ears Bridge.

We reached our designated turn-around point, the Reifel Bird Sanctuary, to find the birds behind locked gates.

Even more dismaying, Emma Lea’s dairy bar was shut tight. NO ICE CREAM?! Clearly, the closed signs said it was time to wave a regretful goodbye to the ride that has fueled our summers and our love for the grannies these past eight years.

But, still, we weren’t quite done.

We topped off our ride with Heineken and lunch on the deck of the Riverhouse Restaurant and Pub, an indulgent reminder of many post-cycle beer and burger banquets. We always suspected we consumed more calories than we burned.

In the absence of a formal event this year, I did not solicit sponsorships. However, I set up a fundraising page to show my appreciation for the many people who have supported Solidarity Cycle over the years. Please do visit the page because there is a message there for you: slf.akaraisin.com/ui/grandmotherscampaign2025/p/BarbaraHalparin.

Without the yearly opportunity Solidarity Cycle has afforded you, I urge you not to forget the grandmothers and grand-others aiming to alleviate the scourge of HIV/AIDS that continues to significantly impact Africa. Here are some other ways you can continue your steadfast support for them, now that crucial international aid has been withdrawn.

First, attend Tikun Olam Gogos’ other fundraising events. Second, be on the lookout for another in our fabulous concert series in the near future. Third, buy our merch! We sell our signature tote bags, pouches and other items, including our special edition O Canada line, at Fancy This Gifts (5044 48 Ave., in Ladner), by appointment at Joyce Cherry’s home boutique (604-261-5454) and on our website, tikunolamgogos.org.

You can also find our goods at several upcoming craft fairs: St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School (Nov. 2); Dunbar Community Centre, St. Faith’s Church and St. Thomas More Collegiate (all Nov. 22); St. James Community Square (Nov. 30); and Kensington Community Centre (Nov. 30).

And, please – share your fundraising brainwaves with us because, of course, we are looking for a successor to Solidarity Cycle!

Support the Grannyfondo!

Marie Henry, left, and Barbara Halparin (photo by Barbara Halparin)

Don’t yearn to push your pedals to the max up the Sea to Sky Highway among thousands of lean, spandexed superbodies? Then do I have a fondo for you: the Grannyfondo, aka Solidarity Cycle 2023.

On Sunday, Sept. 10, Grandparents Day, a team of 30-plus grandmothers and their grand-others will conquer 100 kilometres of dike trails and farmlands in the Fraser Valley, all in the service of the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.

Among the cyclists will be grandparents Darcy and Marty Billinkoff and Marie Henry, as well as myself. We’re all members of Tikun Olam Gogos, one of 18 Gogos groups in the Lower Mainland. Gogo is an African term for grandmother (or the oft-used “granny”), and the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam means repairing the world. We are grandmothers and grand-others aiming to alleviate the scourge of HIV/AIDS that continues to ravage Africa.

We ride in solidarity with our African partners, the millions of grandmothers in 15 sub-Saharan nations who are raising their grandchildren, orphaned by a disease that continues to overwhelm, despite the progress that has been made worldwide in the areas of treatment, prevention and education.

Inspired by these intrepid women, we ride with hearts full of the knowledge that we are a part of a life-changing movement in which aging women who feel increasingly powerful in their lives are moving the world forward.

photo - Darcy and Marty Billinkoff — Darcy and Marty Billinkoff *(photo by Darcy Billinkoff)*

Darcy Billinkoff, an avid cyclist, and Janine Reid of Royal City Gogos, conceived the idea for the Solidarity Cycle after learning of similar events in Victoria and Ottawa. Reflecting local inclinations, they envisioned an experience that would be challenging yet doable: a one-day, 100-kilometre ride with a 50-kilometre option. Cyclists are fully supported with nourishing meals and treats, insurance, route maps, GPS, first aid, a service vehicle, a photographer and, of course, a Solidarity Cycle T-shirt. To date, Solidarity Cycle, now in its seventh consecutive year, has raised more than $308,000 for the Grandmothers Campaign.

If you love to cycle, we would love to have you along for this fun-and-fund-raiser, whether or not you are a member of a grandmothers group. If you wish to support the team with your donation, we would love that too! To register or donate, go to solidaritycycle.weebly.com.

To sponsor the Billinkoffs (“the B Team”), go to slf.akaraisin.com/ui/grandmotherscampaign2023/p/bteam. To sponsor Henry, go to slf.akaraisin.com/ui/grandmotherscampaign2023/p/mariehenry. And to sponsor me, go to slf.akaraisin.com/grandmotherscampaign2023/halparin.

Time for this granny to saddle up. See you Sept. 10, 2023!

Solidarity Cycle 2022 – an awesome ride

Barbara Halparin writes about her experience of riding in the Greater Van Gogos’ sixth annual Solidarity Cycle, a fundraising event in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. (photo from Tikun Olam Gogos)

Editor:

On Sunday, Sept. 11, Grandparents Day, Greater Van Gogos held their sixth annual Solidarity Cycle, a fundraising event in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.

The Grandmothers campaign was initiated in 2006 by the Stephen Lewis Foundation in response to the AIDS pandemic and the emerging crisis faced by grandmothers in Africa, as they struggled to raise millions of children orphaned by AIDS. Grandmothers and “grand-others” across Canada rallied together to raise funds and offer support to their African counterparts and we continue to this day. Our motto is “we will not rest until African grandmothers can rest.”

Tikun Olam Gogos (gogo is a Zulu word for grandmother), affiliated with Temple Sholom, is one of 11 groups within Greater Van Gogos who participated in the event. After the cycle, one of our enthusiastic participants, Barbara Halparin, shared her experience in a letter to her sponsors, which eloquently expresses the sentiments of the day…. Barbara is in her mid-70s and “Baba” to eight grandchildren.

We thought you might like to share Barbara’s letter as human-interest story and a wonderful example of tikkun olam. We hope other members of the Jewish community are moved to donate to the event, slf.akaraisin.com, and/or to join the cycle ride next year, solidaritycycle.weebly.com.

Darcy Billinkoff
Co-chair, Solidarity Cycle, and member of Tikun Olam Gogos

* * *

Our sixth Solidarity Cycle, and this year we had it all: rain (OK, a light 20-minute sprinkle), wildfire smoke (ecru-hazed mountains but a sky still blue-ish), heat (a high of 29 degrees) and even a bear.

We had a great new route to cycle, too, one that took us across rustic wooden bridges and loooong, high suspension spans, through tunnels and underpasses, past two local airports, skirting parks, acres of blueberries and corn, suburbs, farms, swampland lush with bulrushes. What an awesome ride! Even through viscous air the magnificence of the Fraser Valley was clear.

We started out from the home of Kyler and Cari in Pitt Meadows, and were soon pedaling across the Pitt River Bridge into Coquitlam. We rode the first 50 kilometres along hard-packed dike paths bordering the river. I had one brief moment of terror when out of nowhere a shot rang out at close range. Was it duck hunting season? Was someone shooting cyclists for sport? We had been warned of bears in the area and another rider and I ultimately decided someone must have fired off a “bear scare.” I found out later that Marty, who was riding sweep, came along shortly thereafter to find himself wheel-to-face with a black bear squatting smack in the middle of the dike.

Solidarity Cycle likes to include a free “adventure.”

We tackled the Pitt River Bridge again and looped back to our point of origin for lunch (healthy, delicious and very welcome), and the news that the air-quality advisory had worsened since morning. A number of cyclists chose to defer the rest of their ride for a clearer day, an option that Janine and Darcy, our safety-wise coordinators, always offer. But the temperature was hovering around 25 with a lilting breeze and, since my lungs didn’t feel like I’d just smoked a pack, I decided to go for it. Besides, if I left, I’d miss dinner.

So on to Fort Langley, via the Golden Ears Bridge. Now there’s a challenge: long on-ramp, longer, steeper climb to the highpoint, big vehicles pounding the deck, and a tight spiral exit ramp. So fun! We left hard-pack trails for the relief of pavement, dotted with occasional roundabouts designed to confuse, spectacular open country through gently rolling terrain and, finally, charming Fort Langley, where the best treat awaited: Joyce and Marie serving up fresh chilled water and ice cream bars, as they welcomed us with shofar blasts.

Sho far, sho good.

Twenty kilometres to go, and I am a horse who knows the barn door has opened and the hayrack is full. We retrace our route, even more stunning in its familiarity. Suddenly out of the haze looms the Golden Ears Bridge. Whoever told me it was easier on the way back, could we please have a word? But then I am over it – I own this bridge! The last five kilometres are a breeze, and I find myself thinking I’m not ready for the ride to end. But it must, and the celebration kicks in with beer, burgers and gusto.

I can describe the scenery well enough, but the feelings generated by the day and the reasons for it are quite another thing. As I write this today – the day after – my smile is wide, as texts and emails fly back and forth. I recall the pure joy on dusty faces, the urge to hug everyone, the over and over “Thank you!” “You are amazing!” “What a day!” It feels like my heart is swelling.

Perhaps best of all is the news that we are within a few dollars of reaching our goal of $50,000, and knowing that we will crest that hill momentarily. And, for this, the credit goes straight to you, my steadfast sponsors. More than 60 generous, loving people rode my handlebars for 100 kilometres. Far from weighing me down, you fueled me in ways you may not imagine. You are the power, and you are the difference in the lives of millions. Those millions also ride with me, and I think – I know – you feel their presence, too.

Barbara Halparin

P.S. If you should be feeling left out, if you had every intention of giving your support and life somehow got in the way, it is not too late! The fundraising link will remain open until December. Just Google Solidarity Cycle 2022, click “donate” and claim your rightful share of the joy.

I’m gratified to have surpassed my personal fundraising goal, and I would love to be able to set my sights higher next year. You can make it happen. You can be a difference.

Again, my grateful thanks.

Father’s Day ride for STEM

A few dozen cyclists participated in last year’s ORT Vancouver Ride for STEM. (photo from ORT Vancouver)

The third annual ORT Vancouver Ride for STEM takes place on Father’s Day, June 19. The cycling event, which begins and ends at Richmond Jewish Day School (RJDS) grounds, raises funds for STEM programming – science, technology, engineering and math, said Mary Tobin, longtime executive director of ORT Vancouver.

Participants can choose from a five-kilometre, 36-kilometre or 72-kilometre ride, all of them within Richmond, which is a naturally flat environment.

Founded in Russia, in 1880, World ORT is one of the largest education and training organizations in the world. To date, more than two million students have been educated by ORT and 300,000 students benefit worldwide from World ORT projects in more than 100 countries every year. ORT schools and training centres operate in North and Latin America, Eastern and Western Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as in Israel.

Katia Fermon, director of Jewish life and community engagement at RJDS, said half of the funds raised will go to ORT Vancouver and half will fund programs at her school.

During the pandemic, RJDS, like many schools, was forced to adapt to remote and virtual education. Now integrating a hybrid approach, the technology that was implemented by necessity is being leveraged to strengthen the delivery of educational programs.

“Starting this year, we are trying to push our STEM programming with graphic design, programming with robots and more online education,” said Fermon. The plan is to implement more technology, design skills, programming and coding skills into the curriculum.

“Now we need the hardware to do it,” she said.

photo - Cyclists in last year’s ORT Vancouver Ride for STEM — Cyclists in last year’s ORT Vancouver Ride for STEM. *(photo from ORT Vancouver)*

Since the cycling event takes place outdoors, the partners were able to run the fundraiser right through the pandemic. Last year, she said, 35 or 40 riders participated, raising about $26,000. Because pandemic restrictions have been eased, the event is taking place during the school year this time and students and parents are encouraged to participate.

Because of the varying route length options, the return times of riders is staggered. As a result, the social component of the day takes place at the beginning.

“There’s a little reception at the start,” Fermon said. “We greet everyone, they get their water bottle, their snacks, we do a couple of pictures. We did it last year and it was very heartwarming. I don’t know of any other Jewish ride, so it becomes a very Jewish moment where we feed you, you say hi to old friends – ‘I haven’t seen you since the bat mitzvah!’ – it’s a very Jewish reception.”

Organizers are inviting everyone – not just riders – to get involved. With more cyclists than ever anticipated in this year’s event, more volunteers are still required. There is a silent auction that anyone is welcome to participate in by dropping by RJDS on the day. And, of course, donations of cash or auction items are welcome.

More information is online at ortcanada.com/vancouver or by calling Tobin at 604-276-9282.

Goldstein wins 5,000km race

Leah Goldstein is the first woman, and the first Israeli, to win Race Across America. (photo by Vic Armijo / RAAM)

Leah Goldstein became the first woman to win Race Across America in its 38-year history. The Vernon, B.C., resident also became the first Israeli to win the cycling tournament.

The 5,000-kilometre race – from Oceanside, Calif., to Annapolis, Md. – must be completed in under 12 days, and Goldstein completed it in 11 days, three hours and three minutes, rolling past the finish line at 9:41 p.m. on June 26.

“Race Across America (RAAM) is like no other race,” Goldstein told the Independent. “I’ve done the equivalent of the Tour de France for females. I’ve done major races and other ultra endurance races of 500, 800 miles, and nothing compares – because it’s not a matter of if, but when you’re going to experience all sorts of discomforts, back, neck, knee, constipation, diarrhea, swelling, some major saddle sores.”

This was the latest in a lifetime as a top athlete. Goldstein won the 1989 World Bantamweight Kickboxing Championship and was Israel’s duathlon champion. As a youth, she was a kickboxing champion and a Taekwondo champion. Later in life, she competed in a string of professional cycling events. That toughness carried forward to her becoming an officer in the Israeli commando and elite police unit.

This year’s race was particularly extreme, during a heat wave that punished riders with temperatures of more than 40°C; not just through the desert, but for the first eight days.

“That can break people down, where they almost feel defeated before they start, but that’s the thing with RAAM, those things are going to happen whether you like it or not, and you have to prepare for them,” said Goldstein. “It’s really something that pushes you far beyond your limits. You’re going to have more bad days than good days, and that’s just the challenge.”

During certain parts, she said she had hallucinations and her “brain felt like a potato.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing on my bike. I didn’t know where I was. And then you kind of snap out of it,” she explained. “It’s that element of the mental challenge of really pushing forward, knowing that whatever you’re doing, you just can’t get off the bike, no matter what the situation, the temperature, no matter what kind of pain you are in.”

It helped that this was her third RAAM, she said, and the crew was able to analyze past performance to build on it.

“We wrote down every single mistake that we made in 2019, with weather conditions, navigational problems, bike positioning, training, with sleep patterns, and we tried to perfect it as much as possible. And because of COVID last year, I had an extra year to prepare for this. I trained as if RAAM was still going to happen.”

Her onboard crew included a medic, a kinesiologist, massage therapists and nutritionists. “I think they know how I roll, and know how to read me on the bike, when I’m starting to fade or things are going sideways, or I’m low on nutrition,” she said. “We won as a team.”

photo - Leah Goldstein during the Race Across America — Leah Goldstein during the Race Across America. *(photo by Vic Armijo / RAAM)*

Whereas riders fought the heat this year, they fought “uncontrollable rain and hail” two years ago. The crew prepared her with specialized clothing and pre-tested water-resistant equipment, just in case those conditions would prevail again.

“Prepare for the worst that possibly can happen, no matter how fully prepared you think you are,” she said. “It’s a matter of how badly do you want it, and how much are you willing to sacrifice.”

And Goldstein has experienced severe challenges. In 2005, during the Cascade Classic, she was involved in what she calls “the mother of all crashes” – she landed on her face at 80 kilometres an hour, “breaking practically every bone in my body, ripping my face right off.” Doctors were astonished she survived. In 2008, she was hit by a car, ejected 25 feet in the air and, in an attempt to cushion the fall, put her arms out, breaking both of them.

Neither accident kept her down. She returned to the racing circuit in 2011, winning the women’s solo category of Race Across America, breaking the previous record by 12 hours.

In 2016 she published a memoir, No Limits, outlining the triumphs and tragedies of her athletic life.

While the naysayers – who called her “insane and crazy” – said she was “past her prime,” the 52-year-old proved them wrong.

“Don’t use your age as an excuse or your past experiences as an excuse,” she said. “We don’t get second chances. What we got is what we got and, if you have a desire to do it, goddamn do it. What are you waiting for?”

Because of the high temperatures, the latest race took her a couple of days longer than expected, but she said the next one she plans on doing in under 10 days – and she’ll keep competing until she can’t anymore.

“If I’m alive at age 90 and I can still pedal my bike, I’m doing that race,” she said. “That’s my biggest goal.”

Dave Gordon is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications around the world. His website is davegordonwrites.com.

Ride to help Israeli veterans

Beit Halochem Canada’s Courage in Motion saw many riders return to do the five-day annual cycle in Israel again. (photo from Beit Halochem Canada)

The 12th annual Courage in Motion, an initiative of Beit Halochem Canada, Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel, welcomed cyclists from across Canada, joined by some Americans and Israelis. From Oct. 27-31, these international cyclists rode alongside Israel’s disabled veterans on five fully supported routes through northern Israel’s archeological sites and landscapes.

Fundraising is open until Dec. 31, and it is expected that the ride will raise approximately $750,000 Cdn. Sponsors’ support and cyclists’ fundraising facilitated the participation of more than 100 injured Beit Halochem Israel members this year. Money raised also funds programming at Beit Halochem centres in Israel. Thanks to the ongoing success of the ride, cycling has steadily grown in popularity at the state-of-art centres.

Lisa Levy, national executive director of Beit Halochem Canada, is the ride’s founder. An avid cyclist herself, she said, “Cycling in Courage in Motion means visiting Israel, supporting an incredible cause, and connecting directly with our members. Beyond the ride’s huge fundraising component, I never fail to be excited by witnessing lifelong friendships taking shape. It is truly a life-altering experience that you never forget and one that participants want to repeat!”

photo - 3 cyclists — *(photo from Beit Halochem Canada)*

Annually, the ride welcomes both new and repeat participants. This year, returning cyclists included Toronto-born Keith Primeau, who rode in last year’s CIM for the first time. Primeau enjoyed the experience so much that his daughter Kylie accompanied him this time.

Primeau played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League, most notably with the Philadelphia Flyers, prior to his career being cut short due to multiple concussions. He co-wrote the book Concussed! Sports-Related Head Injuries: Prevention, Coping and Real Stories (2012), detailing life after concussion.

Other international returnees included former cycling champion Eon D’Ornellas, who competed throughout the 1970s and 1980s on behalf of both Canada and his native Guyana. The proprietor of Toronto’s D’Ornellas Bike Shop, he started a cycling club more than 25 years ago. In 2011, D’Ornellas, then 59-years old, suffered a stroke during a training ride.

Among the Beit Halochem members participating in Courage in Motion 2019 was Asi Mekonen. In 2012, just prior to his release from the Givati Brigade, Mekonen suffered severe head injuries, with resulting brain damage, vision and hearing impairment, and memory loss. Following five years of physical and cognitive rehabilitation at Beit Halochem, he is now a Jerusalem-based musician. Besides experiencing several Courage in Motion rides, he has completed two marathons. Mekonen was already known to many of the ride’s Canadian participants through his on-stage appearances in this year’s Beit Halochem Canada Celebration of Life concerts.

This year, cyclists may have ridden alongside a future Paralympics hand-bike medallist. Critically wounded in 2002 in a military operation while serving in the artillery corps, Amit Hasdai was left with paralysis on the right side of his body. During rehabilitation, he benefited from equestrian therapy, later competing internationally. Since turning to hand-bike racing at Beit Halochem Tel Aviv, Hasdai has enjoyed participating in Courage in Motion. Hasdai’s natural talent, enhanced by Beit Halochem’s support of his training and coaching, has resulted in his current ranking of eighth in the world. He is training to qualify for the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo.

Courage in Motion’s participants enjoyed group activities, including a cycling tour of the agriculture region of the Hula Valley and an evening with Israel’s heroes – all Beit Halochem members – who shared their personal stories of tragedy and resilience.

The next Courage in Motion takes place in Israel from Oct. 18-22, 2020. Registration is expected to open in March 2020. See courageinmotion.ca.

Courage ride sells out

Courage in Motion 2018. (photo from Beit Halochem Canada)

More than 100 Canadian cyclists participated in the recent Courage in Motion (CIM). The fundraising ride, now in its 11th year, has grown steadily in popularity over its first decade and, this year, like many before, was sold out.

The CIM initiative of Beit Halochem Canada, Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel, welcomed cyclists from across Canada, joined by some Americans and Israelis. From Oct. 22-26, the visiting cyclists rode alongside Israeli veterans with disabilities on four fully supported routes, taking them through southern Israel’s archeological landmarks and its landscapes.

With the fundraising drive open until Dec. 31, it is expected that Courage in Motion 2018 will raise approximately $850,000. Cyclists’ efforts enabled members of Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization/Beit Halochem to participate in the ride and will also fund programming at Beit Halochem Centres in Beer Sheva, Haifa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which provide individualized therapies, specialized sports rehabilitation training and cultural arts and family-oriented programming.

Lisa Levy, an avid cyclist and national executive director of Beit Halochem Canada, is the founder of Courage in Motion. “I’m pleased that the ride was, once again, sold out,” she said. “It’s evident that our cyclists embrace the aspect of riding alongside those who are directly helped by their efforts. This year, we’re incredibly proud that more than 120 wounded Israeli veterans participated due to the fundraising by our 110 Canadian riders. We are also gratified that many of our Canadian participants feel that they get more out of the experience than the disabled veterans.”

While many cyclists return year after year, several others were new to Courage in Motion 2018. Two of these first-time participants are internationally renowned sports figures.

Toronto-born Keith Primeau was a National Hockey League centre, playing 15 seasons (1990–2005) with various teams. He co-wrote Concussed! Sports-Related Head Injuries: Prevention, Coping and Real Stories (2012) and is now based in New Jersey.

CIM also welcomed cycling champion Eon D’Ornellas. Born in Guyana and having immigrated to Canada, D’Ornellas represented both countries during his career, winning numerous medals. He has owned D’Ornellas Bike Shop in Scarborough, Ont., for 30 years and, in 2011, he suffered a stroke during a club training ride. Like Beit Halochem members, he knows the challenges in reclaiming his life after serious medical trauma.

All Courage in Motion participants enjoyed group activities following each day’s ride, including a night walking tour of Jerusalem and an evening with members of Beit Halochem, who shared their personal stories of tragedy and triumph. Next year’s CIM takes place in Israel Oct. 27–31. Registration is expected to open in March.

Giro d’Italia begins!

Cyclists met some of the audience in Safra Square during the opening ceremony May 4. (photo from Ashernet)

photo - Israeli model Bar Refaeli was one of the hosts on opening night — Israeli model Bar Refaeli was one of the hosts on opening night. *(photo from Ashernet)*

The night of May 4 saw a spectacular ceremony to welcome the scores of participants and visitors to Israel to mark the opening of the Giro d’Italia cycling race. This year, the three-week race started in Jerusalem with a time trial. Cyclists from around the world then raced from Haifa to Tel Aviv, then from Beersheva to Eilat, across the Negev Desert. On Sunday, the teams flew by special aircraft, with all their gear, to Sicily to continue with the race on Tuesday. This is the first time that such a prestigious world-class sporting event has been organized in Israel. The three most important cycling events in the world are, in order of importance: Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta (Spain).

Giro d’Italia’s “Big Start” in Israel

Sylvan Adams, 58, is funding the construction of the Middle East’s first Olympic velodrome, slated to open in Tel Aviv in May 2018. (photo from margolin-bros.com/en/project/Velodrom)

In Europe, the Giro d’Italia bicycle race ranks in status with baseball’s World Series or hockey’s Stanley Cup. Since the beloved Italian sports extravaganza’s initial race in 1909, the multi-stage race has never started outside Europe – until now. Next May, the annual event’s starting flag will be waved in the Holy City, thanks in big part to Sylvan Adams – the Montreal billionaire now living in Tel Aviv who himself is a competitive bicycle racer.

Adams, 58, is funding the construction of the Middle East’s first Olympic velodrome, slated to open in Tel Aviv in May 2018, in time for the Israel-based initial part of the 23-day Giro d’Italia. The Israeli team is all but guaranteed to receive one of four wildcard invitations for the race.

The bike-racing stadium, called simply the Velodrome, is part of the National Sports Centre being built by the Tel Aviv Foundation, by Mazor-First Architects. Located on Bechor Shitrit Street in the Hadar Yosef neighbourhood, the complex will gentrify a once-impoverished area. Budgeted at $11 million, the 7,100-square-metre biking facility will be jointly owned by the Olympic Committee of Israel and the Tel Aviv Municipality.

Adams, who made aliyah in December 2015, is honorary president of the organizing committee of the race’s “Big Start” in Jerusalem.

The three-week Giro is widely considered the most beautiful of cycling’s three Grand Tours, ahead of the sporting leviathan of the Tour de France and Spain’s lower-key Vuelta a España. Ministers from Israel and Italy met at Jerusalem’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel in September to sign an agreement that the opening three stages of next year’s Giro will be held in Israel.

Like the other Grand Tours, the modern editions of the Giro d’Italia normally consist of 21 daylong segments (stages) over a 23-day period that includes two rest days. All of the stages are timed to the finish, each stage’s time added to the previous. The rider with the lowest total time is the leader of the race and gets to don the coveted pink jersey, called maglia rosa, worn by the leader of the general classification.

Adams, who has until recently been publicity shy, today lives in a penthouse overlooking the Mediterranean and Tel Aviv’s sea-side bicycle path. A two-time world outdoor cycling champion in his age category, his most recent title was won at the World Masters Championship, held in Manchester, England, in November 2015. Adams, who began cycling competitively more than two decades ago, is a six-time Canadian and 15-time Quebec champion. He won four gold medals at two Pan-American meets, and a total of five golds at the 2009 and 2013 Maccabiah Games.

His dream is to turn Tel Aviv into “the Amsterdam of the Middle East,” i.e. a city as bike-friendly as the Dutch capital. He believes something similar can be done in Tel Aviv, where traffic congestion and a parking shortage are reaching a crisis, as more and more motorists come in from “satellite” cities.

“Petach Tikva, for example, is eight kilometres from the heart of Tel Aviv. That can take an hour to drive some mornings. By cycling, it is 20 to 30 minutes,” he said.

Adams first visited Israel nearly four decades ago. He and his wife of 33 years, Margaret, a native of London, England, met while volunteering on a kibbutz.

Now retired, Adams has given up his involvement with the family business, Iberville Developments Ltd., the real estate giant founded after the Second World War by his father, Marcel Adams, a Romanian-born Holocaust survivor. The younger Adams was its chief executive officer and his son Josh, one of his four children, is now running the company, one of the largest owners of commercial properties in Quebec.

Gil Zohar is a journalist based in Jerusalem.

At home anywhere in world

Playwright, cyclist and world traveler Ira Cooper. Among his many endeavors has been teaching English in China. (photo from Ira Cooper)

“I lust to travel, to see places, to meet people and do theatre,” said Ira Cooper.

In everything he does, he forges his own path; he is not one for conforming to the rules. Even his professional definition is sprouting in all directions. He is an actor and a playwright, an educator and a world traveler, a poet and a filmmaker. In the few years since he graduated from the University of British Columbia theatre program, he has worked with children at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, taught English in China, worked as an actor in the Czech Republic, produced films and written plays.

“I have been writing for a long time, poems and short stories,” he said in an interview with the Jewish Independent. “I never tried to publish anything. If you do, everyone could see who you are.

“Then, after university, I worked as an actor for the Nelson Historical Theatre Society. In 2007, we produced a play about Charlie Chaplin, and there was a gap in the play. The director asked me if I could write a scene for it, and I agreed. It was produced and well received.”

His latest play, Sid: The Handsome Bum, a one-woman show about homelessness in Vancouver, was written and first performed in 2014. The play will be part of this year’s Victoria Fringe Festival.

“I wanted to show that homelessness is not general, it’s personal,” Cooper said. “We listen to Sid because she is in a show. Would we listen to her otherwise?… I was privileged growing up, but not everyone is. I talked to homeless people in downtown, wanted to figure out who they are. My mom taught me that there is no ‘us’ and ‘them.’ It’s all ‘us.’ One of the problems homeless people face is that nobody is listening to them. They want to talk, and I listened. There is a community there, like everywhere else. There is beauty there, not just ugliness.”

The play germinated in his head for several years. In 2014, Cooper and two friends, both UBC graduates, Joanna Rannelli and Hilary Fillier, organized a new theatre company – Spec Theatre – to produce the play.

“We wanted this theatre to be for a non-theatre audience. Everybody should be able to enjoy a theatre, but not everybody can afford expensive venues. A theatre could perform anywhere: in a bedroom, in a garden, in non-theatre spaces. Our theatre is accessible to everybody.”

However, theatre is a tough way to generate an income, he acknowledged. “Our theatre is a labor of love. It’s fulfilling. It’s somewhere between a hobby and a profession. I’d say, I have a relationship with theatre, not a career.”

Like Spec Theatre, the play was a collaborative effort.

“We traded ideas,” Cooper explained. “I would receive feedback from Joanna and Hilary and rewrite. In the beginning, I planned it for a male actor, but later that changed. Joanna is playing the title role, which includes five different characters. We hired the director, Kayla Doerksen, and first performed the show in 2014, in the Little Mountain Studio. It’s a small space, 45 seats, but it was sold out most nights.”

This year, Spec is remounting the play for a bigger audience at the Victoria Fringe. “I don’t know anyone there,” Cooper confided. “It’s terrifying. Here, in Vancouver, many friends came to the show, but there, we have to promote.”

They also have to do all the other jobs a play requires besides acting and directing: lighting, stage management, producing and so on. As in any relationship, in Cooper’s relationship with theatre, no job is too small, and collaboration is extremely important.

“I always wanted to collaborate with passionate people on our own projects, not jump into the industry at the entry level and work my way to the top.”

Cooper’s interests are broad, and he doesn’t confine himself to one area of the arts. In the last few years, he also has created several short films, taught English in China, and traveled by bicycle to Mexico and through Europe.

His enthusiasm for cycling is comparatively recent. “It happened around 2010,” he said. “My mom and I talked, and she said that I was smart but not very physical. I wanted to be physical, too, and I thought biking would be right for me. I did some research and joined a group bicycle trip from Amsterdam to Istanbul. But I had to prepare for such a long trip, so I biked from Vancouver to Mexico. It took about two months. I stopped where I wanted, talked to people. It was all about exploration, not the destination.”

His next long bicycle trip will happen in a couple of years – he will be going to Beijing.

“I’m planning parts of the trip now,” he said. “I will bike from Vancouver to Newfoundland, and from there to Argentina. Then, I’ll take a ship to South Africa and, from there, travel north on my bike, through Africa and the Middle East, tentatively Russia, to China. I started a special website and blog for the trip, and I want my readers to suggest where I should go next. It will be an interactive trip.” (His bicycle trip website is pedaleachmile.com.)

Cooper is also planning to stop and work along the way. One of his more definitive plans is to teach English in Saudi Arabia.

“There is a stigma attached to traveling through Africa or Muslim countries,” he said, “and, in part, that’s what my trip is about: removing the stigmas from people, cultures and places. The same about homelessness – I wanted to remove the stigma. They are just people, like everyone else.”

Sid: The Handsome Bum will be performed Aug. 29 to Sept. 5 in Victoria. For more information, visit spectheatre.wordpress.com.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected].