Biking

[On a few of the more recent posts I've included pictures from Phanfare. Because that site is password protected (email me) the pictures will not load unless you have visited Phanfare and entered my password. I'm working on fixing this problem.]

Biking has been a theme of at least a few posts. Lately I've been doing a lot of biking. As my friend Alan would say, "You've got to get you A-- in shape." I said, "don't you mean my legs?" "No, Jason, you're going to be riding for many hours -- you need to get your A-- in shape". Maybe he means I should buy a new bike seat.

Here's the deal. In less than two weeks I am biking 300+ miles to help raise money for the Arava Institute. (Click here to donate). The ride is from Jerusalem to Eilat, and is spread out over 5 days of biking, and one day of rest -- Shabbat. Most days are just 60 miles, but they've included one killer day of 90 miles. (It's rumored to be the hilly day too.) Truth is there are two routes -- the Tsofim (scouts) and the Halutzim (Pioneers). The Tsofim get to do just 60 miles each day -- but I want to do the more challenging route. How could I not.

So I've been training a lot recently. The roads around Israel and not all that great, but I've finally found some pretty decent routes with out too many cars, and since I'm working from home, I can bike between 11:00 and 2:00, when things are somewhat more quiet than at rush hour in the morning or evening. My favorite route is about 12 miles through Ra'anana, Hod Hasharon and Kfar Saba. I've now done that ride many a time, but it isn't quite challenging enough as I try to build up for the Arava ride. It is also very flat. So I've lengthened the route by continuing north to Kochav Yair. It turns out to be a very quiet road with a wide (but dirty shoulder), and Kochav Yair is a climb of about 100m. Not too much, but the best I can find around here. The road takes me within about 1 mile (maybe less) of Kalkiliya. Now, I wouldn't want to ride through Kalkiliya, but not to worry -- the recent Israeli governments have been building a wall. Whatever your politics, I can say that I feel somewhat safer knowing that there is a wall between me, my bike, and the West Bank. It is slightly ironic, because the Arava Institute (the cause for which I'm riding) is devoted to education both Israelis and Arabs -- and building bridges (figuratively), not walls. And yet here I am training for the ride and quite honestly feeling glad that there is a wall.

The other day I rode with Alan. He's a curious type, but also somewhat cautious. He is even less willing than I am to ride on busy roads. Once when we were riding we passed two dogs (large dogs) who ran after us barking like crazy. I'll admit we were both pretty scared. We rode *very* fast. Now, Alan pretty much refuses to go past that house again, whereas I'm not so concerned.

Anyway, I decided to show Alan my route to Kochav Yair. God only knows why, but after we crossed route 6, Alan wanted to turn right towards Kalkiliya instead of left to Kochav Yair. So much for being more cautious. "Don't worry Jason, there's a fence." Yeah. Sure. Well, I follow, and we are on a pretty deserted road that basically traces a path along the back side of Kochav Yair and along the fence. The riding is good because the road is empty, clean, and uphill. After a couple miles, Alan is quite a bit ahead of me. Up ahead I see the road fork, and some guy crossing the road. My instinct? Lets get out of here. I don't like this. So boy was I relieved when Alan turned around and came speeding down the hill. I wasted no time in doing the same. Just a little adventure. Once again, I felt the irony of biking for an organization promoting peace, and yet in practice being scared of strangers.

The other day, I went to pick up Miriam from Gymnastics and I ran into David Schwartz who is also biking for the Arava Institute. We chatted a little bit about the ride. I mentioned the lack of hills, and he told me he just goes to the club, turns the exercise bike to 18 and bikes for 45 minutes. Yow! That sounds hard. I'm feeling like I'll never be able to keep up. He told me the best place to bike hills is outside Jerusalem. Yesterday he called and invited me to join him and a few friends for a ride. The only catch was that they were leaving Shabbat morning at 5:30AM. How could I say no? I couldn't. I didn't sleep a wink because I was nervous I would oversleep. Up at 5. It was still dark. Grabbed an apple, a lachmania (roll) and some cheese, and biked over to David's house. 45 minute drive to Tsomet Nachshon (near Latrun). We found the last two parking spots at the gas station. Clearly there were a few bikers. We set off. David had been sick the day before and so he was a little slow. His friends though... Well it was tough for them to keep with us. You see, one of them is a personal trainer. You might say he is in good shape. He had to go to the top of the hills, then bike back down to the bottom and come back up again with us. It must be tough to be in such good shape. We biked 25 miles including about 400m of ascent (two different 200m) hills. I did just fine, so I think that means I'll be in good enough shape for the ride.

When I bought my (used) bike (16 speed), I had the shop switch out the rear cassette (gears) to make it easier -- more of a touring bike than a racing bike. This was clearly a good choice. I was wondering if I was going to also need to change my front chain links (gears) -- maybe make the small one smaller, or even add a creeper gear. After today's ride, I'm thinking I will do okay as is. As long as I can manage about 7mph up hill the gears easiest gear is fine. In the hardest gear, I can go about 36mph -- which is plenty fast. My nifty little spedometer says I hit 42 on one of the down hills. They were steep hills. (My friend Paul says that if you go as fast as your age, it was a good ride. It was.).

After our 25 miles we returned to the cars to find that not only was the gas station parking lot full, but the fields surrounding it were full. Hundreds of cars. Literally. Latrun must be the biking capital of Israel. While on the ride resting I watched a pack of 50+ riders pass by. And that was not the only pack of bikers I saw. It was just incredible the number of bikers out on the roads.

Back home by 10:30 in time to get lunch warmed up for Anna, Akiv and family while Dena and the kids attend shul.

Trip to the North (Miriam Interview)

We took a trip up north with Yael, Philippe, Aaron and Tal. We stayed at our home away from home away from home -- Kibbutz Ginosaur.


Interview with Miriam
Abba: Hi Miriam. What did you do today?
Miriam: Go on a hike, have breakfast, wake up early, see cows. That’s it. Have lunch, go on a ladder into the water. That’s it. Okay, so, are you writing that?
Abba: Yep.
Miriam: What else? It was scary going down the ladder.
Abba: How’d you do it?
Miriam: I was first and he [Jason –ed] was holding me, around me.
Abba: Do you remember the name of the river?
Miriam: Yehudiah.
Abba: And what does that mean?
Miriam: Avadim? Slaves [Evidently some confusion with the upcoming holiday].
Abba: Yehudim, not avadim.. What’s Yehudim?
Miriam: What we are. Jews.
Abba: So what was the hike like?
Miriam:What do you mean?
Abba: Well, was it easy and flat, or hilly, or rocky, or snowy?
Miriam: Rocky and watery. Some places deep and some places not. And some places slippery on the rock.
Abba: Did you go in the water?
Miriam: Sometimes.
Abba: How come?
Miriam: Because you had to. Some places you didn’t have to, but I just wanted to.
Abba: I bet the water was warm.
Miriam: No it was cold. But I could still go in it.
Abba: Tell me about the ladder.
Miriam: It was high [just 30 feet], and before we went down it, I was crying because I was so scared. Before we went on the ladder Abba found [empty] bakbokim [bottles], and brought them with us for floaties, so we had them to use as floaties. Then we got to another metal steps in the rock, which were even scarier. Abba went first and then when we got to the bottom, I was holding on so I would not fall in. And Philippe threw the bottles to us, so we could get them.

Cows
[The following section was typed by Miriam with the help of the Mircosoft Word spell checker, and a few hints from Abba and Mama. –ed]
to nit I went to dinner in tibrius [Tiberias]. And then we went to the cows and saw the cows getting milked. And then we looked at the calves then I decided to go to see the cows getting milked again. And then Abba came. And the whole family came then the cows pooped on us. And then some of us went to the kibbutz. I stayed.

Abba: Now Miriam, you need to go to bed. Your brother and sisters are already asleep. It is almost 11:00. Good night.

Miriam: you forgot to say good night Miriam.
Abba: Good night Miriam

Spring arrived, Passover is coming

New Arrivals Anna Mendleson (Yale ’89) and Akiva Dickstein (Yale ’90) have just arrived in Ra’anana with their 4 kids – ages 12, 10, 7 and 5. Sounds pretty close to our kids, 11, 9, 7, and 5. Guess the name of their eldest? Dani. Among my college buddies from Yale Student Friends of Israel (YSFI), Sam Schwartz is now living in Ra’anana, Dena and I are here, Anna is in Ra’anana, Ami is in Tel Aviv. It seems amazing – but then I suppose Yale Student Friends of Israel is a self-selected group. I shouldn’t be so surprised that so many of us are here in Israel – temporarily or permanently.

Kimche De Piska.

Our Shul (The Ra’anana Conservative Congregation) participated with all the other shuls of Ra’ananan in Kimche DePiska. I must admit I’d never hear the words before, though I understood it meant providing food for the poor on Passover. Somehow I kept thinking that Piska was related to fish – like Pisces or something. Much later I finally saw the words written in Hebrew letters and I was able to decipher what is perhaps Aramaic. The rough translation to Hebrew must be Kemach Li Pesach, or in English, Flour for Passover. Anyway, in addition to soliciting cash donations, shul members were asked to help pack the food, or/and deliver it. I talked to Dani about the project, and he did not like the idea of delivering food, so we agreed on helping to pack it at the warehouse. I got the location --- corner of Ra’anana near the fields at the end of Katzin St. I checked the map. Seemed easy enough. Figuring that Anna and her 12 year old had just arrived, I thought it might be nice to invite her Dani to come too. He readily agreed, and we were off. I checked them map, saw Kazan St – though it seemed to be in a slightly different location that I had remember. Oh well. Dani and Dani seemed to get along okay. I parked the car on a side street and we walked to the end of Kazan. Nothing but fields. Hmm. We wandered about, but clearly we were in the wrong place. Thank God for cell phones (that’s the language here, but really I should say “thank engineers”). I called Dena, who was able to give me Collins number (from the Shul), who was able to correct Kazan to Katzin and direct me where we had to go. Not actually that far away. We got to the warehouse, and somebody had managed to bring a bus load of soldiers to help too. We were pushy and found a way to help. Dani and Dani stuffed the boxes with Kemach (flour), seasonings, Oil, Grape Juice. I busied myself with getting rid of the empty boxes, and making sure the supplies were ready on hand for the packers.

More Visitors

Yael and Philippe arrived on Thursday night with Aaron and Tal. We were all beyond excited to see baby Tal. The kids ran downstairs to great them, and came up with Aaron babbling away. Dena, of course, had stolen Tal and carried him up. Totally smitten. It’s a good thing I have a little bit of a backbone left.

Friday night was had dinner with the relatives (Ofra, Amnon, Oren, Dafna, Ilan, Hedva, and Mor). It was the first time I had made more Sushi than could be consumed in a single meal. It was a big hit. Since we had run out of the Wasabi tube, I had picked up some powered Wasabi that I mixed together. Boy was it strong. Do you think we should use it for Passover?

Egal Shul
Saturday was the big day in Shul. Dena and I had both agreed to read torah. We both had short readings, but I had ended up with a Shalshelet, a very rare troupe. I’d never had one before. The big deal was not that we were reading, but that it was going to be a Egalitarian service instead of, and not in addition to, the regular conservadox service. I raced to shul to get there on time (8:30am), catching up to Sam the president, and Rabbi Rosansky (not the shul rabbi, but a member who is a rabbi). Lightening hadn’t yet struck, and no earthquakes. Within a few minutes, we had a Minyan – counting women. Had we needed 10 men, it would have required a longer wait. Slowly the shul filled up – and it really filled. Many of the members who were against the change, including a couple who had walked out of the AGM (Annual General Meeting), attended. This was very encouraging, and the gossip, is that all who attended were very positive. They’ll be several conservadox services before the next egal Minyan in two weeks. For now though, it was great. The shul was alive. It was full, there were at least a dozen kids, Shula, the Rabbi’s wife (a trained cantor) led Sharit, Rabbi Rosansky led Psukei D’zimra. Margalit and Bayle led Adon Olam to the tune of Aviv Hegiah Pesach Ba (Spring arrive, Passover is coming), Men and Women had Aliyot and read torah. I suppose it doesn’t sound all that radical – but to be there felt radical.

Polly want a cracker

Ceramics has been Margalit's favorite extra-curricular activity this year. A picture is worth a thousand words, but the real deal is worth at least 10,000.

You've got mail.

I've always wondered why people like to send things with travelers instead of just mailing things to Israel. I always figured the mail worked fine. That is until my mother sent two packages to Dena on the same day. One had video tapes and arrived just fine in less than a week. The other, well, here's the story...

It didn't arrived, and my mother started bugging us about it. Did we get it yet? Nu? Finally on March 21st, I get a notice that I have 3 packages at the post office. Psyche. I drop Ronit at Gan, and head to the post office. One of the package slips is for the new nifty automatic package machine that is outside the post office and is available 24 hours a day. I can't get it to read the barcode on the slip. I try and try and try. No luck. So I go inside and get the other two packages -- Amazon books, and another package from my mother -- but not the right one. Back outside, this time the machine reads the barcode. But it says, "No such package. See the postman inside." Argh.

Into the post office and I explain my story. The guy at the desk sends me back to see Yossi in the backroom. Like I know who Yossi is? I look around and ask everybody I see if they are Yossi. Nope. Finally I head upstairs. On the way somebody tells me Yossi is outside at the package machine. I run out there, but he isn't there. I try my barcode again. Same message. Back inside. Some guys is getting out of the elevator. "Are you Yossi?" "Yes". Phew. I explain the story, but Yossi cannot find the package anywhere. He promises to look for the package and wants to write my phone number on the back of the package notification slip. I refuse to give up the slip, so he writes my number on a scrap piece of paper.

Two days pass. No phone call. i visit the post-office. No package. Two more days, I arrive at the post office at 12:45. Ooops, they close at 12:30. I'll never get the Israel schedule right. I return at 4:30 when they are open again, but Yossi is only there in the morning. This process continues.

Thursday night. It feels like it should be the day before the weekend and we should be relaxing, but we aren't. I'm working. Phone calls from EMC at 9pm, 10:30pm. Bugs at a customer site.

A busy morning. Last night was the clock change. Spring Forward. We lost an hour of sleep. On top of that this week Dani is a crossing guard, so he has to be out the door extra early.

Latest email from EMC is that the bug still isn't fixed. I'm going to have to work today. At least I've already bought the salmon for Shabbat lunch. Dena is out doing other shopping. Phone rings...

"Why don't you visit me anymore"

Who could this be. I decide on the direct approach, "I don't recognize your voice. Who is this?"

"Yossi, at the Post Office. I have your package. Its an international package."

"Okay, I'm coming."

I hop on my bike, for my second ride of the day. Pass Dena (on her bike) coming back from buying Challah. I'm sure by now the security guard at the post office recognizes me. I'm the guy with the bike helmet who comes every other day without bringing anything, and leaves without taking anything. He must wonder what I do in the post office. Yossi has some big long explanation about what happened to the package. I didn't follow, but I see that the package is ripped a little here and there. It was mailed on March 6th. I received my first notice on the 21st, and now on the 31st, I finally have the package. I'm amazed. Amazed that it got lost. Amazed that it got found. Amazed that Yossi still had my phone number to call me. Amazed that I bothered to lose sleep about the missing package. Now I've got my table cloth for Passover.