We were very organized - up early at 5am (we gained an hour as the clocks went back last night) - had a makeshift breakfast of what we had left in our fridge and at 7am called for a taxi. That was an experience - the driver was a crazy racecar nut who would weave in and out of traffic at ridiculous speeds, honking at anyone in his way, squeezing between cars and buses. I thought we might not get to our destination in one piece.
We arrived at Beit Halochem early. Gonan, my challenge ride leader (a former Israeli team rider) helped us find our bikes and bike cases and we waited as riders from Jerusalem came in but the buses with the majority fo the group coming from Tel Aviv were late. Sunday is a regular workday and traffic is like Toronto. As people arrived, we met many people we had ridden with before including some of the war vets like Shimon and Danny. We met a young kid (probably only 19 or 20) who had lost his eyesight 8 months ago when as a soldier he had to set off a blast in one of the tunnels in Gaza and was injured in the blast. I spoke with him about his injury and new-found sport of cycling. He is also training in triathalons. We shouldn't complain about our aches and pains.
The ride started late (of course) and it was very hot and sunny. We all started together and then broke into our groups. Nimi rode with the tourist group, doing 60 kms but also a very hilly route and she did really well. I rode with the Challenge group and stayed with one of my cycling friends from Toronto where we ride with the Dornellas club. Rick is a very strong rider and although he was taking it easy, not having done this before, I had to work to stay with him. Through the afternoon the heat started to get to me. Even though I was drinking all the time, I was really dry. Our last climb was relentless - over 10 kms at 8-10% grade, it went on forever. My legs started cramping midway through the climb but I managed to fight it off and kept going. Many riders had similar difficulties but had to stop riding.
There was an evening trip back to Jerusalem to tour the Old City but Nimi and I decided to stay put in the hotel and get to bed early. Her rash is improving slightly and one of our friends, a doctor, got her some prednisone tablets to help reduce the inflammation. She bought some workout pants the other night in Jerusalem to cover her legs and that seemed to help. We believe the skin issue is due to sun exposure so she must keep covered as much as possible.
