Thursday, November 13, 2008

Day Two





As we approached mile seventy-two this afternoon I was actually feeling stronger than I did at the start of the day. Having never done back-to-back sixty-plus mile rides, having been off my bike for the two previous weeks (and feeling a bit sore from day one), I had my doubts about day two. But over the course of the day I loosened up and the road itself became increasingly user-friendly. So it was a very pleasant second day....

I woke up to the sound of my watch alarm at 4:20 am. The first thing I did was throw open the drapes and walk out on the balcony over looking the Mediterranean. The full moon shone brightly high in the sky occasionally obscured by dark clouds. It’s reflection in the sea was pleasant enough, but two flashes of lightening over the water did not bode well for our day’s journey. Then came the rain. Would we even ride today?

Fortunately, by the time I went down to claim my bike and get the first of the many feedings that are an essential part of the ride, the sky was clearing and showing some preliminary signs of the breaking dawn. As the day progressed the weather only became more and more favorable. Billowing clouds served to provide additional contrast and color to the continuously changing landscape.

If the two flashes of lightening were an omen of anything perhaps they forecast the two flat tires I picked up in the first leg of today’s journey. Even those were no real distraction because the mechanics responded quickly and changed my tire faster than I could open my tool kit.

The early going this morning was not as spectacular as our departure from Jerusalem yesterday. The first half of the day necessitated our riding along the most heavily traveled road of the week.

There was still a lot to look at and we made a couple of colorful stops. At mile twenty we broke for breakfast near a large water treatment center within view of Gaza. The food was distinctly Israeli, ample and delicious. What I enjoyed most, however, were the morning prayers—the combination of the drumming and chanting, and the sheer spectacle of the daveners standing on the sandy slope like colorful flowers facing the sun. Jews praying in the morning are picturesque enough with flowing prayer shawls, and tefillen wrapped around their arms and hanging on their foreheads. Overlay that image on a group of men and women in colorful cycling regalia, in front of the giant dish of the Jewish National Fund’s water recycling system. Surreal.

But the ride is the thing, and the most difficult to describe. When I’m rolling I am loathe to stop and take pictures despite the many scenic temptations—the setting orange moon hanging above the ocean—palm trees and ruins of what appeared to be Roman ruins silhouetted in the foreground. Just one image that I allowed to burn in my mind’s eye rather than my Nikon. Sometimes I lose myself in the physical challenges—the road, my cadence, my muscles, shifting gears, watching traffic and other riders. At other times I find myself pedaling in sync with another rider and we get a chance to chat.

The end of the day found us moving into the north Negev. The open landscape, mild temperatures, and gently rolling roads made it the most pleasant riding of the day. For a half hour or more I had a riding partner in a graduate of the Arava Institute. Gonen is 33 years old, with a young family, and after graduating from one Arava professional program he is continuing on for a PhD.

We covered many subjects. He described some of the powerful features of the Arava program. Typically students study current literature on environmental issues, but they do not stop there. Then they go out and see first hand the projects they read about and talk to the principle people involved, giving real depth to their understanding.

They also have the opportunity to meet with an array of Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Sometime their conversations are focused on the environment, other times on the other critical aspect of Arava—Israeli-Arab relations. Gonen has made great friends from a community that is accessible to only few Israelis. As daunting as peace among these people may seem he feels that their ability to bridge the gulf is a small but important move in the right direction.

It was not too surprising that when all the riders got together to talk about the highlights of our day another person rose and said that he road along side Gonen and had a great conversation!


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