The Israel Ride - Linking Our Biblical Roots with Ben Gurion's Vision

by Ros Roucher

The scar under my right knee helps me not forget Sde Boker.  On my right arm, the scar that helps me not forget Jerusalem has become very faint.  Remembering both is Redemption.

Ros Roucher on the 2003 Israel Ride

When, shortly before the First Annual Israel Ride, I bought my first cycling shoes and clips, the guy at the bike store said, "there are two types of riders- those who have fallen and those who have not fallen yet." I moved from category A to category B about halfway through the ride, on the approach to Sde Boker.  As we descended towards the site, something caught my eye, to the right, up a hill.  I called out to the riders around me, "look at that!" and suddenly I was down, trapped in my clips, my first fall, blood running down my leg from a cut right  below my knee.  Someone fixed me up and I generally ignored the knee until it started to throb with pain on the plane ride home several days later.  When the infected area healed I knew the scar would stay and yet I welcomed the mark.  Each time I look at that scar I remember Sde Boker, the ride, the man, the vision.  Like when I look at my right arm (yemini) and see the scar left over from cooking in a new oven in Jerusalem 8 years prior to the knee, I remember Jerusalem- my right arm will not let me forget.

Participating in the first Israel Ride served as a bridge between the Israel of Jerusalem and the Israel of Sde Boker then to - a journey that brought me into the landscape (think Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.)  Seen from a bird's-eye view, we connected the dots.  Follow our path as we zig-zagged from the center of the country to the south.  See how we spoke the modern language of flat tires and skinned knees in the language of our ancestors.  See how we marked a modern observance in an ancient land when we commemorated Yom HaShoah together in Ashkelon.  See how we brought our love for Israel and the work of our legs to express our commitment to improving the land, to strengthening relationships with Israel's neighbors, and to transforming the spiritual into something physical (and vice-versa).  Standing at the grave of Ben Gurion and viewing below a landscape we had scaled, we were the link between the land of our biblical ancestors and the land of Ben Gurion's vision.

The 2003 Israel Ride at Mitzpe Ramon

I think I’ll leave my bike in Israel……

by Paula Reckess

My first Israel Ride was in the fall of 2008.  I had read about the ride, but was never brave enough to sign up for it.  And then one evening I met someone who was riding, and impulsively decided to join him.  I was scared out of my mind, certain I would never be able to complete the ride, but too proud to back out. 

For me, the ride was not only a physical challenge but an emotional one as well.  Other than the person whom I had just met who had inspired me to sign up, I knew no one.  The only long distance ride I had done until that point was the 5 Boro NYC Ride with my son Jacob.  I had never done anything like this in my life, and certainly not on my own!  There were teams from large cities, and couples, and groups of friends, but I was the lone rider from Poughkeepsie.  No team for me.

That first year was tough and exhilarating.  It was a week of firsts for me.  The first time I had ever ridden 70 miles in one day.  The first time I had ever ridden long distances on multiple days.  The first time in forever that I went on a trip of this nature on my own, without my husband.  And, although I had lived in Israel for 4 years, been married there, given birth to my daughter there, and visited at least yearly since leaving in 1978, I had never, ever seen the country – especially the desert - from the seat of a bike.  Why would I????

The 2013 Ride will be my fourth one.  Every year I learn something more about bike riding and about Israel, her neighbors and the amazing Arava Institute.  (I knew very little about riding that first year….I rode the 300 miles in Keen sandals! I wasn’t even up to using clip-in shoes yet.) In 2010 two friends from Poughkeepsie joined me, and one of them is returning this year.  In 2012 I was older and wiser, felt less of a need to prove anything to anyone, and took advantage of more of the afternoon trips.  This year, for the 2013 Ride, there will be eight – yes, eight – riders from Poughkeepsie, including my son Jacob!  I hope my enthusiasm for the camaraderie, the terrain, and more than anything else the students and programs at the Arava Institute were the infectious catalysts for getting them to join me.  I know they won’t be disappointed.

I have shlepped my bike back and forth from the States to Israel 3 times now.  I think its time to assume I’ll be back again for another Israel Ride after this one and leave it there!

It’s not a race, it’s a ride……and a life changing experience.

New Old Friends on the Israel Ride

by Rabbi Art Gould

In my family everyone's favorite relative was Uncle Sid Goldman (alav ha'shalom), aka Goldie, aka Solid Gold.  We would say – because it was true – that you could put Goldie down anywhere in the world and in ten minutes he would have not new friends but old friends.

That's how I feel about the Israel Ride. I first rode in 2008 and by the time we got to Ashkelon I had a number of newly minted old friends.

Like Edna Granot from Australia, with whom I always ride the downhill out of Mitzpe Ramon on Sunday morning because we like to take it easy going down that spectacular piece of the route.  Or my old friend Paula Reckess who sent us encouraging emails and a promise to procure a bottle of champaign when we were struggling to escape Hurricane Sandy and make it on time for the 2012 ride. We made it and I've never tasted a more rewarding  glass of champaigne.

Especially important to me is my old friend Mousa Diabat, alum of the Arava Institute. Mousa was driving the bike truck out of Mitzpe Ramon the same Sunday morning in 2008.  Another of my freshly made old friends – Howie Rodenstein – had made such a big deal about the dangers of that leg that he scared me right off my bike and into the cab of Mousa's truck to skip that downhill. (Hey, I grew up in the flat Midwest, and I live in a flat area of California).  Mousa, his wife Jehan, and son Aseel have stayed with us in the Bay Area whenever they've been in town, as has another old friend and alum of the Institute – Ilana Meallem. You won't get to make Mousa your old friend this fall, because they will (G-d Willing, Yirtza HaShem and Insh'allah!)be having another child right about the time of the ride.

I've made too many old friends on the ride to mention them all. 

I'm looking forward to making more old friends this fall.  To all the riders in the Bay Area – and you know who you are – let's get together for some training rides this summer, so we can make some old friendships even before we all convene in Bayit V'Gan.  Just get my email or phone number from Hazon and give me a call!

Tips from a veteran Israel Rider

by Carl Jacobs

I am very happy to see that other people are contributing here; I look forward to reading their contributions. Please note: The comments in these postings are solely my own, not necessarily the position of the IsraelRide Organization and you should take all my comments and suggestions as just that and make decisions based on your own review and research.

I would like to continue with some of the things I started with and add to the training/preparation ideas I started with.

Since the ride is FULLY supported don’t bother bringing your kick-stand or handle bar basket (yes, I have been asked to put both back on bikes I have helped assemble here). They weigh too much and are totally unnecessary as is that 3 pound security cable/lock you haul around. Leave it at home. Bikes are stored in a secured room or vehicle at night. Bring your GPS or MapMyRide App; you will want to prove to all the people you know at home how much you actually did ride. Just lower the satellite sample rate to save on battery life.

Other things to leave “at home” aero bars… unless you are really experienced rider they are pretty much unnecessary for general group riding; leave your weight loss diet at home to…. Food on the trip is plentiful, excellent and you need the calories!

Aside from the distances the heat can really deplete your energy; bring energy bars and gels (if you are used to consuming them) energy drink powders have been available during breaks on the ride in the past. Fresh dates from the Ketura Date Farm are a natural energy bar and you may just want to power up with them…. As a treat, too much of a good thing can really be bad for you. From my experience riding regularly will keep your weight down, I lost about 30 pounds when I first started riding and have kept it off; my doctor is very pleased….

Hydration is also critical; too little water and you will get wasted and if you don’t bonk you will still feel awful. Figure at least 1 liter per hour. There are enough breaks during the day to replenish your bottles or camel back type water pack. You also have to be aware that you can also over hydrate and get equally as sick. The best thing to do it check how much your weight changes after a typical training ride; if you are losing more than 2% (4 lbs for a 200 lb male and 2 lbs for a 100 lb female) of your body weight you are de-hydrating and need to increase the water you consume. The above is a general rule of thumb that I use, I am certain there are more experienced riders and a few physicians in the group who may have differing opinions and I hope they will comment. Hydration, Nutrition and diet are all possible topics for future blogs, if someone has good on line sources please comment and post.

There will be a team of mechanics to assist you in setting up your ride if you have shipped one from home. There are also a few riders who will be working along with them. Make sure you have your ride checked up and repaired as necessary one or two weeks before you leave and make sure you leave enough time to ride post check-up, not just around the block. Do some hills and push the equipment. Better to discover a malfunctioning derailleur at home then in Jerusalem the day of the ride. You want to make sure that everything is properly adjusted and working before you get here.

There are several very good bike shops here in Jerusalem that are easily accessible from the hotel where we start so if something is forgotten or lost it can be replaced here. I would recommend for those of you with wheels sets that have carbon (or other exotic) spokes that you bring one or two extra (tape then to the horizontal top tube) you will not find them here conveniently on the road if you break one. For those of you that have CO2 cartridge pumps, the gas bottles are available here (around $4 each). I am not sure how TSA treats the gas bottles if you packed them with the bike or in your luggage/carry-on. The mechanics can change a tire faster than you can realize it needs to be done, but you may feel more comfortable with your own pump; only if you are comfortable using it and know how to change a tire. Knowing how to change a tire is a skill you should learn, it comes in handy where-ever you ride.

Bring one or two new inner tubes with you just in case. Make sure the bike shop tune-up checks your tires for nicks and cuts. I have used Kevlar based tires and found them to be fine, they may be a bit heavy but do seem to protect against flats.

Bring sun screen and use it. See above about fully supported… there will be sunscreen available at all breaks; don’t forget the lines where jerseys and shorts end … you don’t want to get a ring burn around your arm or leg.

Speaking of sunburn; get a full head sweat (“doo-rag”). Sweat bands are great for keeping your face dry but don’t forget your scalp. Getting a stripped cranial sun burn is just plan nasty and uncomfortable. Women should also get a doo-rag… part lines also can be burned. The same goes for the back of your neck…..

One more thing to remember to bring is butt-cream. This is a skin care product you use ‘on-your butt’ to prevent chafing. You can get it in most bike shops and someone will always be able to tell you to apply it. If Steve Drysdale is asked we can get a rendition of “Ode to my Ass” on the final evening; a truly memorable performance.

The 2013 Israel Ride - A First Timer's Perspective

The Israel Ride
Blog post

By Jonathan Miller

A First-Timer’s Israel Ride Primer

The 2013 Israel Ride represents a series of firsts that my wife Beth and I will experience.

Besides this being our first Israel Ride, it will be the first time we have rode in an organized event together – not to mention the fact that we will be traveling to Israel to do so. It will be Beth’s first trip to Israel and it will be my first trip since 1976. This will also be the first time that we have undertaken a personal fundraising effort of this magnitude.

Having the ride on our calendar is also an incredible motivator. We both love to ride our bicycles. The cycling season in Colorado is relatively short and becomes limited by weather, family and business schedule considerations. However, with plane tickets and passports in hand, care for our kids arranged and numerous announcements being made via social media about our involvement, preparing for the ride is our number one priority for the summer.

Beth and I learned about the ride via our involvement with our local Hazon organization here in the Denver/Boulder community. Beth has close family members in Jerusalem, so the mission of Arava Institute in terms of building bridges between Arabs and Jews by working together to solve the region’s environmental challenges makes a strong connection for both of us.

We are devoting almost as much energy to the fundraising component as we are to our physical training. Besides the tools afforded by our personal fundraising page, we are relying heavily on social media to promote our endeavors.

Beth and I both have a sizable Facebook audience to draw upon. Not that we are so popular and well-known, we have simply been active on the site for a very long time. Since the day we signed-up for the ride, we have been making subtle posts about our involvement.

Using our Map My Ride account (mapmyride.com), whenever Beth and I head out on a training ride or a hike, the app automatically posts our activity along with a note about our Israel Ride mission.  Map My Ride also posts training updates to my Twitter account (@jonnypositive).

Does this activity correlate directly to contributions to our cause? Maybe not directly, but cumulatively everything helps. The point is for our audience to see that we are committed and feel compelled to support us because they see our passion for the project.

Most recently, I have been videotaping segments of our rides using a Go Pro Hero3 camera mounted to my handlebars. Fortunately, Beth won the camera (a $300 value) last month from Vail Resorts for being a “hero” to one of her meeting and event planning clients. We’ll be getting some incredible use out of the camera in Israel, but in the meantime I am posting our ride videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/Millercycling) and then posting the links to the new videos on Facebook. I have been adding little gadgets to the videos as I go along such as including a link to our fundraising site on every video. We have been getting tremendous feedback on the videos from friends and family. In fact, over the past week we brought in our first four donations just from our social media activity.

Being part of the Israel Ride has already started to have a profound effect on our lives. We are meeting new and special people associated with the ride every day. We are reconnecting with our friends and family via our fundraising activity. We are building our endurance and preparing our bodies for our incredible ride in Israel. We are helping to build awareness and raise funds for Hazon and Arava Institute.

We are looking forward to continuing this journey and sharing the wonderful times that lie ahead.

Discovering the Israel Ride

by Spencer Erman, MD

I would like to begin my Blog contribution with a little background.  I first heard about the Israel Ride a few years ago from a friend in West Hartford, CT  who is a member of our Shul.  He mentioned that he was in training for a bike ride from Jerusalem to Eilat.  I thought he was meshuga, and didn’t give it a second thought (Neil Kochen-his wife Sharon was on the 2011 ride).  Fast forward a few years, and another friend, an alumni of many rides (Bruce Stanger), also from our Shul,  started talking to my wife Nancy into going on the ride.  She has an adventurous spirit, and gave it serious thought.  In the Summer of 2010, she bought a bike and began riding.  I was still  not convinced, and they did not try to talk me into doing the ride.  On my first trip to Israel, in 1969,  I spent 12 hours on an Egged bus going from Jerusalem to Eilat.  I could not even imagine the craziness it would take to ride a bicycle over 250 miles through that desert.  I grew up in Tucson, AZ, and know all about riding through the desert-or so I thought.

Nancy signed up for the ride, and was planning on going alone in 2011.  In the Spring of 2011, I bought a hybrid bike and began riding, just to keep her company.  It was the first time I had ridden a bike since I had learned to drive (a long time ago).  We rode together, and then when I got in shape and was enjoying myself, I started riding both with her and on my own.  When  I saw how I could ride 25-30 miles in 2.5 hrs without adverse affects, I began thinking about joining her.

In late June 2011 (just after the prices went up), I had convinced myself that I could get in shape for the ride.  The idea of riding 40-50 miles a day was not overwhelming.  I asked her permission to join her, as I did not want to encroach on her adventure.  As expected, she was thrilled to have me join her, so I signed up and began training.  We routinely rode 20-25 miles each day on the weekends, and tried to get in rides during the week.  We both bought road bikes (Cannondales) and were thrilled with the increase in speed and the decrease in rolling resistance.  We bought our plane tickets, started fund-raising, made arrangements for the pre- and post excursions, and were ready to go………..until….

Remember the Halloween Blizzard in New England in 2011?  It occurred 5 days before we were supposed to leave.  Our house had no electricity for the 5 days before we left.  We had no heat, no washing machine, no lights, no cell phones, nothing.  We had to pack by flashlight.  Luckily, I had arranged to have our bikes packed by a local bike shop that has a generator, but they had no phones either. Luckily, I was able to pick p our packed bikes the day before we left.  Our dog went to a kennel that had a generator and heat- she had heat, we didn’t.  Our house was without electricity for a total 11 days.

Through a lot of resilience, flexibility,  and temper-control, we made it to Kennedy Airport to check in at El Al  on time.  From then on, everything was FANTASTIC.  We arrived at Ben Gurion, we were met by someone from the Ride Staff took our bikes for transport to the launch hotel.  Nancy and I spent Shabbat in Jerusalem, walked, toured, and soaked in the ambiance.

Speaking about the Ride Staff, they are the people who make this fantastic experience even more fantastic.   Not only with the ride support, mechanical help, food, shelter, and water stops; but the Ride Staff make it clear why we should support the Arava Institute.  Before meeting the staff,  I really wasn’t too clear on what charities we were supporting.  I knew it was at a Kibbutz in the Negev, but that was about it.  One of the women I met was an alumna of the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies.  On the first evening, we had a conversation about why she was doing this.  She said something that I will never forget.  It boiled down to, “ Politics are Politics, but people are people.”  She was a Palestinian, from the West Bank.  It took her 2 days to get to Jerusalem to join us, because of all of the checkpoints and border crossing hassles.  She felt it was well worth it, because she is meeting and working with the people who will be the decision-makers.  These young people, the students at AIES,  are the future of the Middle East.  By learning together, living together, and working together, THEY will be able to solve the problems.  Politics boils down to individuals.  The more we get to know one another, the easier it will be to find solutions.

I am now in training for the Israel Ride 2013. Due to work and other commitments, Nancy can’t join us this year.   In my next posting, I will share my Ride experiences and tips for first-timers.

Spencer Erman, MD

The Israel Ride - A Transformative Experience

by Lester Blumberg

This Israel Ride is a transformative experience.  Whatever drives you
to join - whether it is your first time in Israel or your umpteenth
visit; whether you are a Zionist or an environmentalist; whether you
are troubled by the politics of the Middle East, or find inspiration
in the hope for peace embodied by the Arava Institute; Jewish,
Christian or Muslim; you will return transformed.  You will push
yourself on climbs, perhaps harder than you ever have before, and will
thrill with steep descents.  No matter how well you know the Land,
nothing compares to the sights, the smell, the sounds, the feel, even
the taste of traversing it on your bike.  The hills of Jerusalem are
inspiring, Makhtesh Ramon is awesome; but for me, there is nothing
like riding in the desert.  The stark mountains and expanse of barren
hills, dotted with scraggly trees and the occasional outpost, it is a
closeness, a oneness, with the Land that I have never before
experienced and cannot imagine replicating.  For some it is a
religious experience.  No matter your beliefs, it is certainly
spiritual.

My advice for newbies?  Train a lot, but don't worry about whether you
have done enough.  You'll be fine.  Make sure you have comfortable
clothes.  If you can swing it, bring  your own bike ( The rentals are
fine, but I figured that if I was going to spend so much time in the
saddle, I wanted to have my own bike under me.)  Wear sun-screen and
drink a lot.  The food is great - but don't eat too much of it (my
first time, I over did it the first night, and rode the bus most of
the second day). Don't get caught up in being competitive (it's a Ride
not a Race).  Find your groove and you will find others to ride with
you...but also find some time to ride by yourself.  Make some new
friends.  Get to know the terrific ride staff; they work so hard to
make the ride so wonderful.

I blogged during my rides in 2010 and 2012.  Feel free to visit (or
re-visit) those rides at www.lesterdb.blogspot.com.

I am jealous of those you who are riding in 2013.  I hope I will see
you when you come back in 2014.

L'hitra-ote,
Lester