Ride Postscript

So here are a few random reflections on the ride: 

• A GPS would be a really cool thing to have - on the other hand, do I really want to know I’m climbing a 12% grade?
• Next time get a granny gear for that 12% grade
• It’s amazing how quickly a community forms among relative strangers when it gets really HOT (did I mention before that it was HOT?)
• Organization is everything (Nancy is amazing that way)
• Butt butter takes on a whole new meaning after about 200 miles.
• Petra is amazing, but Jordan is not Israel. 

I am so impressed with how this group of riders, with widely differing skills, experience and interests became a community over just a few days.  That being said, riding for me, even in a group, tends to be a more individual experience. Perhaps because I am among neither the strongest nor the weakest riders, I often find myself riding alone.  This is not a bad thing.  I enjoy taking in the environment and the sights, and I appreciate the time to think and experience a ride privately.  So while it was really nice to chat with my fellow riders along the way, I was grateful for the long stretches of riding alone. 

I achieved my goals for this trip.  I have renewed my connection to the Land.  I was pleased and comforted at how familiar Jerusalem felt after so many years.  My visit to the Western Wall and to Yad VaShem re-established important emotional and spiritual ties.  Most significant of course was the ride and the important causes for which we rode. This was a physical challenge like none I have ever faced before, and notwithstanding getting sick on the second day, I am more than satisfied with how I met it.  I was able to absorb the desert in a whole new way.  I have written before that there is nothing like experiencing a place from the seat of a bicycle; all of the senses are directly engaged: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.  The combination of that visceral experience with the power of the desert is so much more than the sum of those two parts.  The north of Israel is beautiful, but the south is staggeringly so.  

I was glad I had a chance to see Petra in Jordan.  If you have the opportunity to see this Wonder of the World, do not pass it up.  It was wonderful that Robin was able to join me for the end of the ride and this part of trip.  On the other hand, you should avoid the dump we stayed in in Aqaba.  

Ben Simon and I achieved a mini-Usha74 reunion, and I have had the opportunity to spend time on the kibbutz after 36 years (Avner took Robin and me on a bike trip up the coast to the border with Lebanon today; I will shamelessly add those miles to my total to get over the 300 mile mark.)  Much has changed there, but the memories are warm. 

I am sure that more reflections will come to me in the weeks and months to come, but while I don’t want to accept that this intense experience is over, the time for daily entries has passed.  And so it is with real reluctance that I close my Israel Ride blog.  

I hope you have enjoyed the ride.

L’hitraot

Lester