I did it! 300+ miles in 5 days of riding (and one day off). It was a fabulous ride. The stats:
- 71 miles day 1, 85 miles day 2, 57 miles day 3, 60 miles day 4, and 60 miles day 5.
- 1 totally flat tire
- 1 slow leak
- total ascent: 2000+ meters (a friend had a GPS, but I forgot to record each day's stats).
- max speed: 46 MPH
- max temperature (depending on who you ask): 95, 98 or 108.
- money raised over $4300 (and still counting
- flat tires for the group: over 50.
- money raised by the 120 participants: over $480,000
- pictures snapped: 145 (http://jasonglasgow.phanfare.com/)
- My roomates blog (http://alansalzberg.blogspot.com/2006/05/israel-ride.html)
Then there was the ride itself. We divided into two groups, the Pioneers (Halutzim) and the Scouts (Tsofim). The pioneers, my group, went significantly faster, farther, and higher each day. I was pretty much in the middle of the pack without working too hard. There's something really fun about waking up at 5 or 6am everyday, and then hopping on a bike for 6 - 8 hours. It is so mindless. a great escape from the real world. The fact is emphasized when you ride through barren desert landscapes. Although it is seriously muscle exercise, intellectually it is very relaxing. Along the way of course we saw lots of beautiful sights, and the guides gave us mini-lectures about the geography, landscape, etc. We got to meet a bunch of the students from the Institute, and it was fascinating to hear their stories. Many of the Arab students come from Jordan (unfortunately it has been hard to get Egyptian students lately). For the Jordanians, having visited Israel and gotten an Israeli stamp in their passports means that they'll never be able to visit other Arab countries. (... Maybe they could get a new clean passport, they claim not...) I think it takes a lot of courage on their part. As much as it infuriates me that an Israel stamp would prevent them from visiting Saudi Arabia, so do the stories of their troubles crossing the Jordan-Israel border. One poor student did not return home for his father's funeral, because he was afraid he would not be able to get back into Israel to complete his studies.
My friend Bob checked out the Israel Ride website (http://www.israelride.org/) and wrote,
How was the ride? I didn't see any pictures of you on the web site -- and everyone sure looked much younger. Hopefully, you were able to find older folks that you could out ride ;)Younger? I was biking mostly with 40+ years olds, and the guy leading the pack was 60. Sad to say, I couldn't keep up with him. On the otherhand, I think that means that I've got 22 years to catch up. May I be in as good shape in 22 years. The ride was a mix of people. There were 5 teenagers, a fair amount of 20 year olds and 30 year olds (like me), and then even more 40 and 50 year olds. I think the younger ones make for prettier pictures -- an hence my conspicuous absence.
There were just over a dozen riders from Israel. I spent a fair amount of time riding with the other 4 guys from Ra'anana, Alan Salzberg, David Schwartz, Jon Sumroy and Natan Szajnberg (shown below).
Day zero (Ra'anana to Jerusalem)Alan and I plan to take a cab at 9:00am to Jerusalem. I've got my bike, but we're pretty sure it will fit in the trunk. 8:30AM. The last few minutes. I'm just about finished packing, I'm still sending email, trying to finish up stuff for work. Alan calls. Let's go early. Argh. Have I ever met someone consistently wants to get going 20 minutes early???? I tell him to hold on. I've still got to pack. Yes, I fibbed, but it bought me my 20 minutes I expected. 9:00 I'm downstairs, cab has arrived with Alan. The bike fits. Phew. Alan says we are going to Jerusalem, "Har Zion (Mount Zion)". The cabbie seems like he doesn't know the place. Odd. I tell him near the old train station and the cinematec. This seems to register. Not too much traffic. We're zooming along route 6. Cabbie starts driving like we are in a rush -- which we aren't, and then starts complaining about the horrible Israeli drivers as he passes the cars travelling at sane speeds (which must seem awful slow to him). Hmm. He asks again, "Azeh Malon? (What hotel)" Alan, "Har Tsiyon (Mount Zion)". Now he understands, and explains.... you said something funny before, I didn't understand you. Zayin can either be the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, or a curse word. So because Alan had say "Har Zion" effectively mixing Hebrew and English he was confused -- he though we were swearing at him. Oops. Good that we now have it all sorted out. We arrive no problem at the Malon Har Tsiyon on Mount Zion and check-in. Alan gets his bike, we get out good bags (sunscreen, lip balm, and band-aids courtesy of Johnson & Johnson), water bottles, and biking shirts. A quick ride to verify the bikes work okay, and its time to have meetings. Meet each other, learn the rules of the road, hear the wake up time --- 4:45AM.
Day one (Jerusalem to Ashkelon)
details to follow.
Day two (Ashkelon to Nitazana)
Massages. No water! (details to follow.)
Day three (Askelon to Mitzpeh Ramon)
Kadesh Barmea (hills photo), Egyptian border. Meet Israel soldiers at Army Base.(details to follow.)
Shabbat
Tfilot, Leyning, Student presentations, Havdalah (details to follow.)
Day four (Mitzpeh Ramon to Kibbutz Keturah)
Shacharit with Yael (Photo). Big down hill into crater. Army practice (Namashim photo). 3 riders overcome by the heat. Recover okay at the Kibbutz pool. 2000 year old date tree. (details to follow.)
Day Five (Keturah to Eilat)
Detour to Hizkiyahoo (photo)
Descent into Eilat
Beach and Beer.(details to follow.)
Day Six
- flight back from Eilat to Sde Dov in Tel Aviv. A very quick flight, and just 15 minutes to Ra'anana. It sure beats driving and, I guess, biking.
Day Seven
- I wake up at 6:00AM and don't know what to do. Where's breakfast? Do I have to work? Can't I just go riding all day? I think I'm going through withdrawl.
