First Day In the Books!

Today we finally rolled out as a group of Israel Riders from high in the Galilee, along  the Lebanese border, through lush farms, green forests and barren border lands.  We are REALLY far up there:

It was a long hard day, but it felt good to really push hard and see what I have in me.   The test today was a 5 kilometer hill that I swear was straight up.  An exercise in seeing how slow I can go and not fall over. But I made it!  If you are interested in seeing our route, click on this link.  Today's Ride  When I say border, I mean Border!!

Being that close to the border is a stark reminder of how small Israel is, and how close are her neighbors.  Driving through villages (kibbutzim) where folks have dedicated their lives to living in remote places that serve as lines of protection for the rest of the country is eye-opening. They live in the shadows  of tanks, watch towers and barbed wire fences... and they thrive.  How blessed it would be if they could live in peace.

As usual there is a wide range of riders here - some who ride hard and fast, and others who are not as strong.  I find myself somewhere in the middle, which I think is good... I find myself riding with lots of different people - each with a story of why he or she is here... this is a wonderful way to get to know people. And what surprises!!  A woman whose kids live in Syracuse and their kids will go to the high school I went to (I learned that AFTER I told her that Nottingham High was listed in the Wall Street Journal as one of the nation's most riot prone....  but that was in the 60's).  And my friend Tanya from the 2010 ride is back!

We stopped in the Hula Valley nature reserve, which has become home to over 40 thousand migrating cranes.  What a beautiful sight!

A word about our support staff.  They are mostly current and former students at the Arava Institute.  They come from Israel, Palestine, Jordan...and they all have wonderful stories and are absolutely terrific!!  More on that later I am sure.  But here are two of the stars:

I have been following the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.  It appears that Massachusetts was spared the worst of it, though NY and NJ got hammered.  Robin and Molly are still without power, there were trees down on the street, but it does not appear there was any damage.  I just got an email from my mother, so she has power back.  It seems odd to be here and not helping with this recovery - 'we joked in my office that there is always some disaster when I go away... but we did not mean natural disaster!  I hope that everyone has gotten through this storm safely.

Tomorrow is the longest ride of the Ride.  91 miles.  5800 feet of climbing.  Piece of cake!  :)  The Great River Ride is 7,000 feet.  Thanks to Tom Cheatham for making me do that a few weeks ago.

More later.

L'hit,

Lester

What was Lost has been Found

My camera, that is.  These wonderful women at the car rental place found my camera in the car i returned - I was even able to ask them about it in Hebrew!

Thank you Sixt car rentals!!!  and this means I can show you the photo of Cheri and me from yesterday:

We swear we don't look a day older... perhaps a few decades, but not a day!

Today was orientation and test riding.  Glad to have the whole group together.  I have written before about my riding friend David Eisenberg who battled cancer this spring and summer.  He arrived yesterday - fit and ready to ride!  What an inspiration!  The orientation meeting was WAY too long - over 3 hours!  there is much for them to say, I suppose.  I will try to get the Hazon and Arava powerpoints to post -as they contain inspiring messages.

I have a roommate.  Carl, who retired with his wife to Jerusalem.  I will enjoy getting to know him.

And tomorrow we finally start what we came to do.  We Ride!!!!  Can't wait!!!

L'hitra-ot,

Lester

A Bit of This and That

Today started off with a reunion.  Cheri Fox was one of the Lost Tribe of Usha (our group of kibbutz  volunteers in the winter/spring of 1974) who was part of the reunion effort our friend Dennis (another Usha-nik)  inspired over 6 years ago.  Though we have been in touch from time to time by email, today was the first time we have seen each other since we parted in 1974.  Cheri has made her home mostly in Jerusalem since college, and we met in a coffee shop on the edge of Rehavia.  (Funny note:  she gave me elaborate directions to the place, and it turned out to be in the apartment buildings that my parents stayed in when they spent 6 months here many years ago.).  We spent a lovely couple of hours catching up.  Not all of our stories are happy ones - but we both marvelled at how we have grown over the years, raised smart strong kids, and have in our own ways made our mark on this world we live in. Hopefully for the better.

I would show you a picture of the two of us, but DAMN!  I appear to have lost my camera!  Somewhere between my hotel room and returning the rental car it disappeared.  I discovered it was gone too late to call the rental car office - I will tomorrow, and perhaps some good soul found it and turned it in.  There are always people taking pictures during the ride, so there will be photos to see and share, but I do enjoy capturing my own shots.  Oh well.... easy come, easy go (we found that particular camera in the street in Boston one evening a year of so ago).

Through the magic of Facebook, I met up with a fellow rider who was in Jerusalem and needed a ride to Shavei Tzion where the ride is gathering.  His name is Mark, and he is an anesthesiologist from Texas.  We had an interesting conversation about health care reform (and biking).  I think it will be interesting to see if there will be much talk about the elections during our ride!

Tomorrow is registration and orientation, probably a test ride or two, and perhaps a walking tour of Akko, an ancient harbor city on the Mediterranean Sea.

My family and friends are being battered by Hurricane Sandy as I write.  We have lost power in Lexington, so I cannot Skype with Robin and Molly.  I am sure they are ok, though I worry just a bit.  Looks like a Most Powerful Storm.  I hope there is not too much damage and that all are safe.

We had a wonderful dinner tonight in Akko with a large group of riders.  Good food and good company.  It's going to be a great ride.
More tomorrow.

L'hit,

Lester  

A New Stem is a Beautiful Thing

New stem for my handlebars was secured this morning with minimal difficulty.  It is a little longer than the one I had, but the handlebars don't slip.   Tomorrow's test ride will be important.  Today I am a tourist in Jerusalem, visting with my cousins.

Hagai and me at the Western Wall:

View of the Dome of the Rock and Mount of Olives from the roof-top cafe at the new Notre Dame church and hotel.  (Very fancy - apparently where the Pope stays when he comes to Jerusalem)

My Kibbutz Usha friends would never recognize Kiryat Ata - It's so big there is a new highway approach  and a sign that is bigger than the whole town as I remember it:

Tomorrow I visit with Cheri Fox (a friend from Usha days), and then up to Shavai Tzion, where the Ride is gathering.

L'hit,

Lester

Shake Down Ride - a good idea

Had a great shake-down ride with my friend Avner from Kibbutz Usha (next to Kiryat Ata - near Haifa).  A leisurely 60 mile ride up to coast into the mountains on the border (shades of the ride to come!)  But here's the thing - it is a good idea to do a shake-down ride - because even though the new stem that I bought said to set the torq at 5 - two of the bolts stripped at 4.  So tomorrow it will be off to the bike store for a new stem.... oh yeah, and a new tube, since I had my first flat in years.  Other than that, the ride was terrific.  Started out a little rainy, but the sun soon came out, and it was really early, so there was not much traffic (until we were riding home).  Steep switch-back ride up to the Keshet Cave (where a bunch a crazy kibbutz volunteers were learning how to belay).  Check us out:

  Here is the link to our ride. Shake-down Ride!

Dinner tonight with Nancy, also from kibbutz days (she is still here!).  Tomorrow on to Jerusalem to visit with cousins (and Cheri... also from kibbutz!).  Then back up north to join the folks gathering for the Ride... the reason I am here!

l'hit,

Lester

10 Hours is Long Time to Sit

I am not talking about my bike seat - though 10 hours on a bike would be long too.  No, I am talking about the flight from Newark to Tel Aviv.

 Though I had better seat companions than last time (readers of my blog from the last ride will remember), there is not enough benedryl in the world to get me to sleep on a plane.  I think I dozed for an hour or so.  I was struck at the mind control that the airlines exercise over us.  We sit down on a plane at 4:00 in the afternoon...and they decide it's dinner time. So they stick food in front of us.. and we eat it.  Then some time later they decide it's time for another round of complimentary beverages - and so we drink something.  Then they decide it is time for bed, so they turn out the lights... until they decide it's time for breaksfast. Come to think of it, this is not mind control, so much as it is early parenting....  I don't know where this is going, but my sleep-deprived, over fed mind seems to be on its own tangent....

Any, the handoff from plane to car when pretty well.. My bag and AND my bike both made it.  Only hitch was whether it was all going to fit in the car.  No Problem says that rental person, we can always ugrade you to a bigger car.  But not necessary. My finely attuned sense of space and perspecitve told me that the bike and my stuff would all fit if I could get it out of the box.  And indeed I was right!  The storage company came and took the box away, and off I drove  to USHA (with only the vaguest thought about how bizarre it was that all of a sudden I was driving the the Holy Land (with a British-sounding GPS no less.).  Well I made it to USHA in fine form.  After some tea and soup Avner supervised while I got my bike back together - a succesful venture with only a few spar parts left over.  In spite of a rainy afternoon, we took a short shake-down ride to make sure everything was working,... and I think so! It was fun to see the kibbutz - the old and the new.

Tomorrow we are planning on substantial ride from here up along the nothern border - the weather is supposed to turn nice.  Hope so.

Sorry no pictures today - though the scene in the garage was a sight to behold!

More later... i can't keep my eyes open.

L'hitra-ote,

Lester

Biding My Time

It is almost surreal to be sitting in the airport waiting to get on a flight to Newark (when will there be non-stops from Boston to Israel?).  Folks are sitting all around me waiting for their flights, each with his or her own plans and itineraries.  I imagine most are on routine trips, though some are probably off on adventures... wonder whether any will wind up on my flight to Israel, with their bikes too in the belly of the plane???  As I sit here reading emails, checking Facebook, it is almost hard to put myself in that special place of an adventurer... until this exact moment!  The desk person just called our flight, and it was electric!  All of a sudden my pulse has quickened and I am almost bursting with excitement and anticipation.  AND I got to check my carry on bag all the way through to Tel Aviv for free!  It's gonna be a great day!

L'hitra-ote,

Lester

Is it Thursday Yet?

Deja vu all over again...  Is jumble of tubes, padding and stuff really my bike??

Even though this weekend's weather has turned beautiful, the calendar and my work schedule for the next few days meant that it was time to pack my bike for the flight to Israel.  It all fits.  Now I only hope it arrives when I do!

Stay tuned!

l'hit,

Lester

15 Days and Counting

15 Days and Counting

In just 15 days I will be off to Eretz Yisrael for my second Hazon/Arava Institute Israel Ride.  I am excited beyond measure and am eagerly anticipating the splendor of the ride.  The excitement and anticipation are very different from my first venture in 2010.  Two years ago I was a less experienced rider, and I had never done anything like this - sure I had ridden a couple of centuries, even taken long rides a few days in a row.  But nothing like this.  I was excited to be going back to Israel - but the anticipation was mixed with trepidation.  Could I really handle all that time in the saddle?  Would my legs hold up?  Would I be too sore after a day or two to continue?  As followers of my blog from last time know, the trepidation was for naught.  The ride was spectacular and I was well prepared.

So I have approached this round a little differently.  Sure, I have trained hard - but not as obsessively.  I have learned that I can take a day or two off, and even miss a week if the weather is bad or my schedule too crazy, and I will still be ready and prepared.  My training is enhanced by the memories of the 2010 ride.  I sing the songs we sang and relive the challenges and thrill of riding in the desert as I pedal through the hills of New England.  A couple of weeks ago I rode in the Rodman Ride for Kids, supporting the Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters (The Rodman Ride and the Israel Ride are my two big charity rides - I am so grateful for the support of my friends and family.) This last weekend my friend and riding hero Tom Cheatham and I rode the Great River Ride in western Massachusetts - 7,400 feet of climbing over 90 miles of gorgeous fall scenery along the Westfield River.  It is the hardest, and second to Israel, the most beautiful ride I have ever done (this was also a reprise. Tom and I did it a few years ago.)   I know now that I can handle the most challenging hills we will climb in Israel, if I just take my time (It's a Ride, not a Race!).  Here is an experiment.  Since I am hoping to post my rides from this neat iPhone app I have - there is the report of Sunday's ride:  http://bit.ly/LDB-GRR .  Check it out.

I wrote last time of the sources of inspiration that are helping to drive my training.  I am pleased to report that the friends about whom I wrote who have been waging battles far greater than any I have encountered are continuing in their recoveries.  I am more thrilled than I can tell you that David Eisenberg, who last spring dared not even think about riding, will be returning for his umpteenth Israel Ride, having been deemed healthy and strong enough for the challenge.  I could not imagine a more powerful inspiration and role model for taking an important cause and making it part of your soul.

There will be a few more rides before I go, but I am now thinking about what to pack and the adventure of taking my bike apart for the trip.  Not sure whether I will get another posting up before I go.  Check back soon

L'hitra-ote,

Lester