We have been without Internet for the rest of the bike ride - in Beer Sheva, wifi was spotty and in Eilat, there was none in the hotel. We are now in Tel Aviv after a long bus ride from Eilat so I will update things from here. These comments will be brief, but I will include some pictures.
Starting from today - our rides are completed and they were great. Nimi enjoyed her rides and did really well - her gearing worked out so well that she found the steep climbs quite doable. The desert, the Ramon Craters are absolutely spectacular. Probably, the most breathtaking scenery we have seen in the country - even more spectacular than the north that we have done many times.
Today, after a typical Israeli breakfast, we packed our stuff and took the tour bus directly to Tel Aviv. Only a handful of us from the trip on the bus as others either chose to fly back or were staying longer in Eilat. The weather has been amazing - warm but not too hot. Perfect for riding. There was rain on the bus ride back and we feel fortunate that it held off for us.
Yesterday's ride for me was one of the best - it seems the scenery kept getting more spectacular. Just 6 of us from the Challenge group chose to do another major climb and then finish with a ride to Timna (the other groups rode there but left before we arrived). That area was an ancient Egyptian mining area (for copper) and the rock formations are similar to Arizona. Simply breathtaking. The mountain climb took us to a view of four countries - Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. we were climbing switchbacks alongside the Egyptian border. The climb was amazing but we flew down the descent as the switchbacks were not so severe.
To complete the ride, we had dinner on a old tall ship as we were cruising on the Red Sea. We had a really good group of people all week and it was nice to celebrate with everyone.
The second last day was supposed to be the toughest - we had a scary descent first into the crater and then a climb up the same route called Scorpion. This was the steepest climb with multiple tight switchbacks. Average grade 10-11%. On completing that climb we then had another one to finish the day, also tough but not as severe. I was up for the challenge and my legs were feeling good.
Working backwords:
The second ride was moderately tough as we were still in the Jerusalem forest and we still had steep climbs. Our hotel was in Neve Ilan, a very picturess area near Beit Shemish. The following two days we were staying in Beersheva. The third ride was the easiest and that was perfect because it was a good recovery day.
