Our intrepid CRJ riders, Steve, Cliff and Alex began their 5 day journey today on a cold but clear morning in Jerusalem. After a few days of aclimation in Jerusalem where the CRJ riders experienced a very rare post Purim snow shower as well as a major weather system bring much needed rain.
It was a long day, entirely enthralling, memorable, and altogether exhausting. All of that said, I'm going to post in the form of a list in that this is about all I have the energy for right now, at 9:32pm, at Kibbutz Almog, just outside of the world famous Dead Sea. I biked forty of the most thrilling miles imaginable today. Here are some of the details. I...
The 1st day was glorious. Alison, our team Rosen coach, calmed our nerves and help ed us with all the pre-ride preparations. I road out of Jerusalem with Tal and Anna. The wind made it cold but in the sun you warmed up. The elevation on the map was mostly downhill so I was suprised with all the uphill elevations. It was challenging. We quickly got off the road and were on trails with very steep downgrades and no guardrails. I took lots of pictures because the vistas were great but scary. I had to walk up some of the steep hills, but the hardest part was braking on the downgrades. I was tired but proud of my accomplishments of the day. I should have brought my feelings faces! The equipment Tal brought worked excellently. No blisters on my hands and while my rear is tired from sitting, I could be much worse without the padded shorts. The lesson for day 1 was compliments help make the hills more tolerable. Sound familiar.
-Howard S. Rosen
Although it began quite early and was considerably more difficult than I had anticipated, the first day was wonderful. My rental bicycle was a dream compared with the bicycle I "trained" on and I started out quite energized. The first stretch of riding was a deep downward slope through a tunnel and circling around hills towards sea level and the camel that always waits for motorists there. After breaking into the sightline with Dead Sea, we veared of towards nowhere and the beautiful bare hills that border the water. Some time later we turned off-road and coasted over incredibly fun stretch of terrain. Along the way I shared a moment with a lonely donkey, carrying saddel bags who met my eyes as I passed as if to say "What's your business here?" After stopping for lunch and seeing the ruins at Qumeran, we took a short stop at the Dead Sea. I, knowing the pain of the water, did not go in, and found a puppy to play with who sat in my lap and fell asleep while its mother watched closely. We ended our riding day with an unbelievably bumpy, elbow shaking ride towards our spa hostel (lacking spa) and I look forward to a night of very deep sleep.
-Ben Alexander
I have been here since September yet I am constantly amazed with how beautiful Israel is. The bike ride was fantastic and the off road biking was amazing. I have never done anything like this before. And to wrap things up I was able to go swimming in the Dead Sea for the first time ever. Hopefully I'll still be feeling great by Thursday.
Philip Bazeley
 |
Jessy Jessy Gross is a rabbinical student at Hebew Union College - Jewish Institute for Religion. |
We've remained connected to last year's ride, but it with great enthusiasm and pleasure that I welcome reader's to join us on a journey for the 4th Annual Riding4Reform. We hope that you will join on a journey, as we take Israel by bike, March 18 - 22, 2007.
Check here every day for updates for the 2007 Riding4Reform bike-ride fundraiser to benefit the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism! We will be sharing rider journals and photos as we chronicle the ride, March 26th - 30th. FOR PHOTOS, VISIT OUR ALBUM! (Note: This blog began with our 2006 ride, and those posts have been archived inside the blog.