Hi folks,
A few of you had asked for a ride report… as was difficult to get the full story on snatches of conversation while trying to climb scaramanga. So here it is.
Trip was scheduled a month previously. I was on my way for a two week trip… 1st week was family related stuff needed attending to, and second week was all personal time, so I decided to take Little Fish on the Journey.
I’ve done a couple of tours in country NSW, but never something so ambitious as this. Logistically an overseas tour is a LOT more complicated. Satnav very kindly offered use of this Bike Specific Travel Bag that he recently got as a birthday present. Worked a treat. When riding overseas here are some things you will need to think about:
- Weight Limit – I had a 20 kg weight limit. About 15 for the bike and 5kg for everything else. I packed lightly, and squeezed through without paying any excess. Bear in mind Israel was summer temps so only had to pack for 1 x season.
- Rent a Car – I rented a Mazda 5, which provided plenty of room. Don’t forget to drive on the RIGHT side of the road. Car is needed when you lug around bulky bike bags.
- Oversize bags are sent to a special carousel in airports. Always look in a different place from where you drop your bag off.
- Let the air down on your tires (at least halfway) before checking in.
- Wash the bike before you come back to Australia… Australian authorities were worried I picked up some dirt/organisms somewhere on the way.
- Takes about 1 hour to disassemble bike ready for packing. Equally another hour of assembly on the other end. Remember to pack adequate tools.
- I flew via Korea, with a LONG stopover (overnight) in Seoul. I sent my bags ahead and spent the night with just the carry on bag… which was fine.
I spent some time trying to find some groups to ride with before I left. I surfed the internet, and sent off some emails, but not much luck came my way…. Admittedly I was arriving early June, which is at the tail end of the cycling season, simply too hot as you travel into June. My nephew lives locally and is an active runner and triathlete. We had planned to do some riding together though he lives in a very difficult area which is hotly contested, so personal security was an issue. I committed to spend the weekend with his family at the end of week1, and so after the weekend we took off for the biggest ride of the tour. But more about that later.
I packed the Garmin, and somehow got a hold of the latest Israel map. I downloaded this into both my car Garmin, and my bike Garmin. This turned out to be both a blessing and a curse, as we shall see later. The Garmin maps were extremely helpful while cycling since it gave me some reassurance that my preselected route was being properly adhered to… I found when you ride a route for the first time, it is not very relaxing since you have not seen the landmarks, and are unsure of where and when to turn. You certainly don’t want to miss any turns, as options may NOT be available. Water and food are an issue, as weather was very hot and dehydration was certainly a danger.
As I intimated earlier, my nephew has a young family, but lives in a difficult area that requires passing checkpoints and personal security. Most people he lives with are heavily armed. Interesting to note that I gave my nephew an older set of my EasyRider kit, and he simply LOVED it. He thought this was the best thing since sliced bread. I also pre-agreed with him I would leave my wheels with him at the end of the trip, as a present. These wheels had been built by me a couple of months before, and were fully tested and ready to roll.
So on the Friday… we did a practice roll in the area where he lives. Our big ride was planned for the following Sunday. We took the bikes out and gave it a run… here is a pic in front of his house.
I mentioned earlier that personal security is an issue, so being armed is the new normal. No kidding, when he remarked how relieved he was when the ER Jersey was deep enough to fit his 9mm.
My plans for the tour called for me to spend 3-4 days in the North of the country (very hilly and cooler), and 3-4 days in Tel Aviv which is flat, hot, and an inner city experience. Tel Aviv is a beach city situated squarely on the Mediterranean Sea.
My nephew planned to take the day off on Sunday and planned an all day excursion for a challenge ride up to the top of Mt Hermon, tallest mountain in Israel, which during winter months is a ski resort. On Sunday morning… we woke up very early, and got away at 4:00am. Since I was staying that evening at a B&B up north, made sense for us to take 2 x cars. We drove separately for 1.5 hours, parked one of the cars at a convenient location in the North, and then joined back together again to drive an hour together for the latter part of the trip. The path we took was via the Jordan Valley, which was one of the most spectacular and picturesque roads I’ve ever had the privilege of driving. It resembled a moonscape to my eyes and was VERY different from what you are used to.
Here is some background on the Jordan Valley but pics do not do it justice. For a moment while driving through the area I felt transported to the moon… cool.
We arrived at Kibbutz Dafna which was at the base of the mountain at around 7:30am. We met a third person there who my nephew had corresponded with when searching for routes up the top of the Hermon. His name was Oren, and belonged to a local cycling club, that kindly agreed to ride with us for the day. He was an invaluable resource as he had all the local knowledge, which was sorely needed on the day. Interesting to note, Oren had made a few calls the week before to see if he could get an army training road open which would allow us to get to the very top of the mountain… that is another 4 km at about 15%. Unfortunately the road was firmly closed as several army training runs were on for that day. Secretly I was happy he was not able to open the road, since I had my doubts about this whole challenge anyway, much less these last 4 km’s.
Here is a pic of the Oren and I, while still reasonably fresh…
The Mt Hermon challenge was positioned as a 30 km climb ergo Mountain Top finish, but should be easy at an avg 5%. I had my doubts, about this and with some trepidation agreed to this climb, or perhaps adventure is better articulating what it really was. I think the 5% avg, was after taking the descents into account, because it was really 10-12% average. I have never seen anything like it! My cardio was blown out of the water, and I was going so slow I could barely turn the pedals worrying about stalling. We started the climb late, say about 8:00am, and so the temps started to climb, and it was Very Hot for the duration of the ride. Two water bottles were the way to go…. Oren knew where fill up points were along the way, which was a relief.
I got 20km into the climb, and capitulated. I felt overheated and spent, and was worried about health, heart, lungs, and survival. I had a whole week of cycling ahead of me, and did not want to blow the trip by overextending. The two guys with me looked ok… though I was not so sure about myself. Oren suggested we deviate and start to descend after a break at Neve Ativ, which I was very happy about. We did a major descent that seemed to go on for ever… and bike handled great throughout. Oren told us a story how he destroyed a bike on this descent a few weeks ago.
Here is the strava story….
and some pics of the participants…
And here is the wiki about Neve Ativ…
Ben, suffering on the climb….
An old Druze woman gave us a bowl of cherries at a pit stop… how quaint
In summary, a great day had by all. This was truly an adventure as it took a lot of guts to brave the unknown and enter truly unfamiliar territory, and to conquer your fears in this way is truly exhilarating.
In part two, we talk about the climb up Mt Gilboa, and then on the Tel Aviv….
/Bucky