The Invasion Begins & a Pre-Ride Warm-up

In years past my trip to Israel for the Ride has been a solitary one.  Not this time.  Thursday evening no fewer than 20 Israel Riders (11 of them Minutemenschen or FOM) gathered at Logan Airport and crowded the security line -there were 17 bikes to be checked in (the rest are renting.. and at least two riders store their bikes in Israel year round).  The waiting time passed quickly as we exchanged stories of our training, our trips to the airport, and for newbies, more questions about what to expect.

Sadly there isn't anyway to make the flight itself go any quicker... but at least we had good company - and there is nothing like a non-stop flight to make you feel more confident that your bike will actually make to Ben Gurion!  But soon...

We are almost there!

Getting through customs was easy, and one-by-one our bags and bikes appeared from the bowels of the airport. Everybody except me left their bikes with the helpful Ride staff and wandered off.  I took my bike to the car rental place where they promised the case would fit in the tiny car I rented - and it did (barely).  Off I go to see Avner and Aviva on Kibbutz Usha, where I spent a semester when I was in college.  Avner is a cyclist, so it has been my custom to ride with him on the Shabbat before the ride.  We had a wonderful Shabbat dinner - and after a sound sleep, off we went for a 25 mile warm-up.

Except I didn't ride my bike - Avner had planned a trail ride, so I rode one of his... my first time riding off road.  It was fun - though I think I still like road riding better.   Also had a chance to visit briefly with Nancy, who was on our group from college and who stayed on the Kibbutz to this day.

Tomorrow I drive to Jerusalem to visit with family and hook up with the Ride for bike set-up, orientation and..... the Ride!

L'hitra-ot

Lester