Gabi was born in 1948 in Hungary, and made Aliya with his parents after the 1956 revolution against the Russians, which was forcefully put down, but gave them the opportunity to leave the communist haven.
I grew up in Kiriat-Motzkin, which was a haven for bicycling. Biking was the standard transportation , with very few cars on the streets, but Gabi also played football games on bikes in the school's basketball court, usually till the janitor threw them out. This is where his love for biking was sown.
In later years Gabi lived in mostly hilly places - Haifa and Givataim, where biking was out of the question. But he and his family also spent almost 4 years in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago, where there are many beautiful bike paths, and he took biking up again. He taughthis two older kids to ride their bikes on the same paths, the smaller still with two sidewheels, much to the annoyance of faster users of the same paths.
Upon moving to Raanana, Oded (Gabi's firstborn, - many of us know him) and Gabi swiftly fitted themselves out with bikes - entry level hardtail machines with hardly any front suspension - but they thought this was the tops. Nor did they wear helmets , and they thought bike shirts were for showing off. Not to speak about bike pants, the lack of which thjey felt on their sore behinds after every ride. They did not even know that the pants were padded. They rode on asphalt along the highways, trying to improve our fitness, until the news began to filter out of many biker tragedies. This is when they understood that they should abandon road riding, and try out off road riding. Their first ride was along the Yarkon to Einat, and by the time they got there thet so exhausted that a call for car help from home was made. This is when they decided to give up road riding for good.
At this point they understood that helmets, bike shirts and padded pants are not luxury items, but a necessity, and later they upgraded their bikes to real XC bikes - well, as Gabi said " my GT tank was a little more then XC." Then the quality time Gabi spent every weekend with Oded had to be given up - he left Raanana for BG University in Beer Sheva, and promptly joined the local riding team and community. After riding alone for a while Gabi started looking for someone to ride with, and this is how he became acquainted with Cyclenix. In Gabi's words, Cyclenix was great company I have been enjoying for the past 5 years, and hope to keep enjoying for many more. Some of the great biking trips we took together are among my fondest memories, like the Sea-to-Sea ride last year, Bitronot Ruhama, and last week's night ride at the Dead Sea."
We too, wish Gabi many more years of happy and healthy riding with Cyclenix.
NEXT RIDES
NIGHT RIDE - THURSDAY, 11th February
Night Ride
Please note the new starting point!!!!
We will meet on the corner of Rehov Yerushalaim and Ahuza at 7:30pm.
Helmets and proper lighting on the bike are COMPULSORY! Don't forget to bring a little cash as there is typically a stop for refreshments after the ride.
It's getting chilly in the evenings so dress appropriately!
AWAY RIDE - February 13th - Kibbutz Reim
This is the time of the year when the flowers will be in full bloom and the scenery is spectacular. It's a ride not to be missed.
MEETING PLACE: The trampiada on the Southbound lane of Road 4 (Kvish Geha) at the Ra'anana Central Junction.
TIME: 6.20am SHARP
For those of you wishing to travel direct to Reim the directions are as follows:
Get to Ashquelon and continue on Road 4 to Tsomet Yad Mordechai. Here, turn left onto road 34 and travel about 10 kms where you must make a right turn onto Road 232. At Tsomet Sa'ad turn left onto road 25 and after a very short distance turn righ onto Road 232. Travel 6 kms bypass Be'eri on the right and carry on another 5kms to the entarnce to Kibbuts Re'im on the left of the road. The ride will start from Re'im at 8am
Always remember to take pleanty to drink.
(Please note these rides may change so check back often)
Check back here regularly in case there are changes or other details.
FOR ALL RIDES - HELMETS COMPULSORY
by Law Always ensure that you bring 2-3 litres of water, energy snacks for the breaks, a spare tube, and that your bike is cleaned, oiled and in perfect working order
For more details:
David
054-474-1424
John
050-942-2788
Site News: February, March, April and May rides have been moved to the archive section, so if you're looking for ride reports you'll find them all linked at the bottom of the menu on the right site of this page.
There's an old univerrsity song that I remember where one of the lines is : "Never mind the weather, as long as we're together"! What happend to all our regulars??
Despite the weather forecast it turned out to be a beautiful day, cold at first , but soon warming up, an there were only four of us there to enjoy the ride.....Dina, Ted, Frederic and yours truly. We also took a route with a minimum of mud. Part of the ride took us through the public gardens of Kfar Shmaryahu passed the cultural centre where there's a great exhibition of sculptures (see the photos). The flowers are now out in full bloom. We rode through Kibbutz Gaash, skirting the Gaash golf course and making our way to Cafe Buono where we stopped to quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger. The place was more than half empty! Obviously many others had followed the example of our missing regulars! What a pity. After our stop we made our way, via Rishpon, back to home base having covered 30 kilometres of very pleasant (and faster than usual) cycling. Please, a message to all of you regulars who didn't pitch up because of the weather forecast.....Never mind the weather as long as we're together. Good company more than makes up for adverse weather condition!!!
Ride Report - Jan. 30, 2010 - Local Ride - by Merrill
"It was a dark and stormy night. There was a feeling of dread in the air. Suddenly a shot rang out and a blood curdling scream was heard"... ooops, wrong story!
It was a quite warm and slightly overcast as about 15 of us gathered in Ra'anana for our Shabbat ride. A big welcome to Mario, who joined us for the first time. (Unfortunately, we did seem to lose him in Kfar Saba, just as we were completing our ride.) A short discussion was held to see which route would offer us passage through these troubling times of sticky mud, deep puddles and sand. It was decided that we would head out in an Easterly direction via Moshav Givat Chen. With no exact route in mind, David led us through a few sandy patches and on through Hod Hasharon.
We took the pathways between Hod Hasharon and the Yarkon Junction, veering into the fields to avoid deep mud and water. I discovered the following equation:
PLASTIC IRRIGATION PIPES + WET MUDDY TIRES = SLIPPERY FALLS
See , there is no age limit on learning new things. We rode around there for a while and then decided to cross over the main road and look for more rider-friendly terrain. Along the way, we rode across some streams and it was quite nice to get our feet wet and lose some of the heavy mud on our tires. We rode along the pathways of the 40 road towards the Kfar Saba Industrial Area and discovered that it is possible to ride off-road all the way to the new G Mall.
From here we took the scenic route through the Kfar Saba Park and were pleasantly surprised at what a large and pretty park it is. We then pedaled off to Cup A Joe, where we once more received pleasant service and tasty sustenance.
From here, we allowed the Kfar Saba residents to pedal off homeward and the rest of us made our way back to Ra'anana, “ tired, but happy. Shaul was very lucky to still have a car, as he had forgotten his door wide open in his excitement to start the ride. Luckily the car and its contents came to no harm. Have a nice week and looking forward to seeing everybody down south next Saturday.
Ride Report - Jan. 23, 2010 - Local Ride - by John
One dozen riders met at our usual place and off we went along Ahuza Street making our way to "Dina's route". Somehow or other a few of us took a wrong turn along the way, but landed up overlooking the Mediterranean from an excellent vantage point. It was an interesting detour , but in the summer this route will become extremely sandy!
Thanks to the invention of the cellular phone the split group was soon reunited and we made our way to the Western lookout point in the Sharon Coast Nature reserve. This is always a good place to make a short stop and have a quick snack. The view from this point is amazing. It should not be too long before the rare black iris makes it's annual appearance and hopefully we'll be there again to see (and photograph) this rare species. From there, we made our way through the reserve, skirting the Gaash golf course and riding on to Yaqum where we waited a short while for David who had a chain problem.
Then it was off to Spingo for our usual "breakfast" stop. The recent rains have made for some nice muddy patches (no one fell today!) and also resulted in firming many of the sandy tracks that are heavy going in the summer months.
All in all we covered +/- 40 kilometres in near perfect weather conditions and the company was, as usual, more than just good!
Ride Report - Jan. 16, 2010 - Burgata to the sea and back! - by John
The route: FromBurgata to the sea and back along the banks of the Alexander River. +/- 40 kms. This was a nice easy route. No uphills and very little mud.
Participants: 23
Weather: We couldn't have asked for better. Not too hot and little or no wind.
Incidents! Beora managed to sample what little mud there was by falling in it but came out none the worse for wear and Daniel took a tumble because a deep rut that he was unable to avoid. He too, emerged without any after effects.
At the beach Megan gave a lesson to some on how to make flat stones hop across the surface of the sea.
Summary: All of us had a great time and spme of us ended up at the branch of Aroma just North of Beit Lid Junction for some light refreshments.
Ride Report - Jan. 7, 2010 - Muddy Eastbound Local Ride - By Merrill
We could not have asked for a nicer day for a ride! It was crisp when we set out, but quickly turned into a lovely cool and sunny day. We started off a group of seventeen, but we lost a few along the way. We had a few new riders with us and we wish them a BIG welcome and hope they will continue to ride with us. We set out riding through the fields of Givat Chen and unfortunately we encountered a lot of sandy pathways that made riding a bit of a strain and we were forced to walk through some of the deeper areas. From there we continued on through Hod Hasharon towards the Yarkon Source. There was a lot of sticky mud along the way and our bicycles quickly became about 5 kilos heavier.
It was pretty easy to divide the ride into sections, such as follows:
1. Where I threw myself into the bushes in order to avoid falling in the mud.
2. The place I fell going up the incline that David said was impossible to ride up.
3. The lake I went swimming in, when I did not realize that the "puddle" was about 70cm deep.
4. The stinging nettle weeds I landed in when trying to ride up a steep incline.
I took away Ingride's title of always making a "splash"!!
Kudo's to Avram, Megan and Gideon for managing to get themselves up the steep incline and honorable mentions to Frederic and myself for at least trying.
We rode past the Rosh Ha'ayin train station and around Park Afek. We then rode back through Moshav Elishema, through Hod Hasharon to Cafe Joe in Kfar Saba, where we discovered that it is indeed possible to satisfy everyone. John had his shakshuka, Frances and I had our ice cafe barad, Barbara enjoyed her museli, while David, Ingride, Frederic, Megan and Yossi snacked on a variety of tempting sandwiches. The food was good. The service was quick and pleasant and a good time was had by all. It was amusing to see the look on the staff's faces when we walked in - a motley crew, covered in mud, squishing water out of our shoes, with big stupid smiles on our faces.
From here, we let David and Ingride make their short trek home and the rest of us continued on to Ra'anana. The ride was about 40kms total and that is a nice distance, considering the terrain.
Just want to take this opportunity to thank John and David for their ongoing contribution of their time and efforts to Cyclenix. Also want to thank everyone for helping to change my innertube this morning after I "killed" the valve. Another special thank you to Megan for supplying us with superb sound effects!!! Last, but not least, a big thanks to all who rode today and made the day a really fun experience. Hope to see you and your bikes all clean and sparkling next week.
Ride Report - Jan. 2, 2010 - Local Ride - By Frances
Once in a Blue Moon...
The Cyclenix year has started off well: Merril has a new sparkling pink Specialized bike, the ride was great, the weather was perfect, and it was a blue moon for the new year. A blue moon refers to the second full moon in one calendar month. This usually happens every two years or so, but it is only once every 19 years that it occurs on the new year. So, auspicious indeed!
We whizzed off on one of our favourite routes - taking in the Sharon nature reserve, the blue sea view and past Cafe Buono (for the car-loving boys) and on to Spingo. Along the way we had a few bike problems with gears and brakes that misbehaved and a fair share of nasty black, clinging mud. But we soldiered on to enjoy our usual refreshments before heading home. Around 38 km of beautiful scenery on a perfect day, with a wonderful group of people.
Ride Report - Dec. 26, 2009 - Local Ride - By John
There's not much to report on as far as today's ride is concerned. Twelve of us met at the start and the weather conditions were as near perfect as can be. The route was a well worn one for us, albeit that we changed the order now and again. There was some mud, but not enough to have entitled us to call ourselves "The Dirty Dozen" at the end of the ride.
It was great to have Gabi back with us and good to see that he's recovered from his recent injury which was the reason we've not seen him for some time. By the way, the injury was not sustained on a bike ride, but in the gym! He did take a tumble today (in the mud, and I never managed to catch it on my camera!)), but fortunately came out none the worse for wear except for a bit of mud! Merril had and argument with a bouganvillia bush and Megan made her debut as our medic (see the photos) under the strict supervision of our resident Dr. Daniel.
We made a water stop at Cafe Buono at Yaqum service station where there was an impressive display of high-powered motorcycles (sorry, no photos of the motorcycles). That's about it. At the end of the ride some made their refreshment stop at Arcaffe and others went on to Gam Cafe at the lake in the Ra'anana Park. I was at the latter venue and can vouch that the food was good and so was the service. The ride itself was +/- 33 kilometres of very pleasant riding in very pleasant company. See you next week!
Ride Report - Dec. 19, 2009 - Tel Aviv to Rishon - By Ted
What a windy morning we experienced. As we rode south in the initially cold morning from Reading, we worked doubly hard against a powerful headwind and dodged the oncoming traffic of Sat walkers and barely evaded those ambling along with their backs to us. To avoid pedestrians we detoured slightly from the esplanade by riding on the Hilton path towards the Yarkon hotel's "drive" but soon were back in the "dodge'ems". But for all that work we had compensation in the way of the sea. The strong winds were blowing the waves that came crashing down on the rocks and barriers lining the route and the further south we rode the stronger the force and proximity. At times we felt the spray and heard the roar of the crashing waves up close. We passed Jaffa and Bat Yam on the newly built beautiful paths (battered by recent deluges)and eventually after some "where are we", reached the Rishon shore where many changes had taken place since our last ride there years ago. On the return we temporarily split up into those who rode road on and those who rode off...road that is! It was easy going as we “breezed” along with the wind at our back and we effortlessly reached Aroma for b’fast. We sat in the shade and munched and slurped, noticing that it was actually cool when stopping. I should mention that apart from Ingride’s abandoned glove it was an ideal ride. Perfect sunny skies, windy weather, stormy seas and good company.
Ride Report - Dec. 12, 2009 - Local ride - By John
Shame on all those regulars who didn't show up for this ride. Four stalwarts pitched up for the ride. We may not have had the "quantity" but we had the "quality". Megan, Frederic, Daniel and yours truely! Despite the weather forecast there was NO rain and neither were there any sandy patches! There was however no shortage of mud! We had a really great ride travelling along Ahuza Street to the West, down the Park road where we turned off to the left and then continuedalong one of our well travelled routes down to the TA - Haifa railway line, then North to Rishpon, on to Shefayim, Yaqum, through the fields and on to Bnei Tzion and Spingo for a well deserved refreshment stop and then back to home base. We had to do a wee bit of walking because of some muddy patches and the wind was agaist us on our homeward stretch. Daniel had a puncture but his "Jeefa" saved the day and there was no need to replace the tube! All in all we had an excellent +/- 34 kilometre ride.
Eleven set out from our meeting spot under the expert guidance of Ariel. Welcome to Beverly - and a HUGE apology. You and Steve were not forgotton - it was entirely the fault of the sweep. He thought you were ahead of him.... Jules and Frederick went back to look for you, but without success. So, please give us another chance! See the photo of collective apology.
So, nine continued through the Sharon Nature Reserve to one of our favourite spots - the lookout over the sea. The weather was perfect and the surf was up. After a short break we whizzed on. With no sandy spots or mud, we managed to make good time and were sipping and eating by 9.30 at Cafe Bouno. There were no toys for the boys to admire - so we enjoyed the sun and conversation instead.
Ariel led us back to Ranaana, exiting the fields near the cemetry. We then went on a lovely route through the quiet streets and parks to Weizmann street, where we disbanded.
One comment about the moral tone of our group - it has sadly reached rock bottom! Yes, everyone has started PILFERING - today, it was avocados. Who knows what it will be next week. Megan is also concerned about the aesthetics of our group. My ensemble of pink socks, orange T-shirt and red riding shirt didn't pass muster. Uh Oh, I will try harder next week....
Participants: 10 - no new faces but a bright and shiny new steed for Frederik (many happy riding hours ahead) and raising to 4 the "fleet" of Specializeds in the pack.
Route: The ride was in 2 segments plus a "micrologue" (a one-liner epilogue equivalent!).
The first: from the starting point eastwards, then south up the hill to Oranit, and from there, after a bit of compass boxing (and sparring!) west, then north and back down along the eastern side of the Kibbutz.
The second: east again then north up the hill to Nirit and to the lookout (Mitzpah Hezi). Then down again along the singletrack (some ride-able some not, some more so for the brave, and less so for the cautious but sadly without a video capture of John's slow-motion summersault!), then back to the cars.
The "micrologue": a further 2 km section (half of it single-track), discovered next to where the cars were parked, to compensate for a short ride.
Bottom Line: Upside - great riding area, beautiful countryside, challenging up-hills; perfect weather; great company
Downside - not nearly long enough (a mere 14 kilometres in all) for which I take full responsibility. Problem was I didn't realise how fast we'd all scale the up-hills and summersault down the downhills........!
I don't remember much about the ride other than the two punctures that we had within a few minutes of each other and the amount of pumping we had to "perform" as both were punctures were unusual in their nature. We did overcome these obstacles with some professional guidance from about half the group kibitzing and interestingly, some of those were riders who had been absent for a good few rides so what could they contribute? Amongst those AWOL's were Daniel, Yossi, Geva and others to whom I apologise for not remembering by name. Oh, and yes, we had ome NEW rider with us, Brad who hails from New York and is here studing medicine. Welcome and we hope to see you often during your stay here in Israel. Yossi also rode his new frame with old bits and it is some bike! Amazing weather made the ride so easy and it's true that we did have to divert a couple of time to avoid mud but David was there to lead the flock to our ultimate destination at Spingo. The route via the sea and the lookout point was marred by some patches of sand but what else can you expect. It is the Middle east! To carry on from the previous report, this was the Clean Two Dozen as we were 24 riders who had a wonderful and relatively clean ride.
Twelve set off in the cold morning air with a threatening sky. Welcome back to Shlomo - we hope to see more of you!
We went through Gan Rashel and Kfar Shmaryahu (seeing how the other half live) stopping for a short break at one of our favourite spots - overlooking the sea. By this time the sky was blue and the sea sparkled in the bright sunlight. The weather was great for us cyclists, but the parched earth needs those big, fat raindrops.
We then went on through Shefayim to Cafe Buono, where the 12 became 10. We enjoyed a snack amongst the chrome and steel of vintage Cadillac's, a Plymouth, a Jaguar Sports car and even a bright red MG. Needless to say, the boys ogled the toys (even the engine of the MG). Even I appreciated the beauty of the cars (and the engine) - usually I can only identify cars by their colour....
Despite Friday's rain, there were still sandy patches, but all was forgiven when we came upon some well-laden avocado trees. The true character of the riders emerged - yes, it seems we have quite a few long-fingered members. Curious lumps were seen about the clothing of some of us - they will not be named and shamed, but we know who you are!! Ted disappeared for a while, having taken an alternate route, but met up with us again. So, no losses this week.
We had a very enjoyable 30 km ride in ideal conditions.
By the time we left Elishema, we were rarin’ to go after an unplanned delayed departure of half an hour. The bikes took to the trail like horses at the bit as we churned up the dusty clay surface along the Kanah stream which to our surprise is under development works (without us being informed or consulted!). We improvised and soon reached the reedy track lining the banks of the almost stagnant Yarkon. We had the company of three new riders one Alex, one Fredrik and one lovely Y(J?)asmin. I leave it to you to work out the gender from their names but nowadays even Ted can be female. The shady and fragrance-full eucalyptus trees interspersed with reedy cane gives this rides that special quality but we soon reached the sunny stretch behind the Baptist village after having forded the stony Yarkon without mishap as even our newcomers managed the crossing with ease. Barbara dipped her legs in the Yarkon-source waters and then rode determinedly up the little rise as did Dina showing true grit. Izik in his old age forgets that bikes have gears but even in third he took the rise with no effort. We eventually reached Einat for breakfast where I noted that we had an equal number of men and women riders which is encouraging. The ride back was more chaotic as we lost some of the group and at one stage there were three bunches making their way back to Rome as all roads do indeed reach Elishema. If any one of you is still missing, just call! The weather was mild to hot but compared to humid August quite a treat. Despite the disarrayed return it was a satisfying 32-36 km ride depending in which group you rode back. Nice Garmin GPS shot of the route from David in the gallery.
18 enthusiasts gathered at our starting point, including two new cyclists: Beora and Steve. Welcome! We hope to see more of you. Our youngest participant, Lorial (15) brought the average age down and is evidence that there is a long and happy future!
We set off on a familiar path - through Rishpon, Ga'ash, the Sharon National park (with marvellous sea views), past Cafe Buono, through Udim and on to our watering hole, Spingo. It was after Cafe Buono that the Cyclenix magic carpet ride became a bit unravelled - we split into two groups (after dropping a couple of people along the way). The heat encouraged a small group to head back on a shorter route. A good thing too, as bicycle trouble hit them and being closer to Spingo helped. The second group soldiered on, experiences a touch of the Sahara (more like Sahorror) - very sandy bits that felled almost everyone. We unravelled even more with each one trying to get ahead to beat the heat. We kind of limped in, one by one to Spingo, where we enjoyed our usual repast.
We covered 34 km in the heat, which is no small feat.
Now that conditions have improved – a later starting time and cooler weather (or so they claim) – seventeen people met for this morning’s ride. A warm welcome to Thelma who did amazingly well for her first ride, and a welcome back to Tzvi and Sharon after a long break.
The ride started with Gabi and David leading the way along Weizman street, turning right off the road and past the cemetery. We headed north through parched fields and along sand-filled lanes (where some of us unintentionally came off of our bikes), until we reached kibbutz Yakum. We circled the kibbutz from east to west, and then rode along a mountain path overlooking a beautiful gorge. Apparently this scene is at the edge of the Yakum Park, the rest of which we will hopefully visit in the not-too-distant future (hint, hint).
It was at kibbutz Yakum that we encountered a runaway horse – luckily with its owner at its tail (literally) – as well as a chameleon that stubbornly refused to adapt itself to John’s shirt. (According to Ted, it took one look at John and turned green.) There was also an extremely steep slope tackled only by the daring, and various members of the group coming off their bikes unintentionally.
The group continued onto moshav Udim, again circling the moshav before starting on its way back. As far as I know, this part of the journey was uneventful, but perhaps I was simply too far behind to notice the action. We stopped at Spingo for refreshments and perky conversation, and from Spingo it was home.
To summarize, it was a fun 35 kilometers in challenging terrain and with good company. Wishing you all "Shana Tova" and "Gmar Hatima Tova", and may the coming year bring you countless enjoyable Cyclenix rides!
There isn't much to report on from today's ride except that it was nice to have Geva back riding with us!
The route was a well worn route, the highlight of which was our stop at the lookout point in the Sharon Coast Nature reserve overlooking the Mediterranean. It's raelly a great view. We made our usual breakfast stop at Spingo and then headed for home having completed 37 kilometres of pleasant, scenic riding in very pleasant company.
Special Ride Report - Sept 3, 2009 - Nahal Prazim - Dead Sea Night Ride By Gabi Raanan
Last Thursday night at approximately 10 pm , 7 Cyclenix members braved the distance, the 30-degree heat, the late hour and the king-sized mosquitos and showed up for the Nahal Prazim ride near the southern part of the Dead Sea.
It was quite a surprise for me to arrive at night to a parking lot located in the middle of nowhere, behind the end of the world, and find maybe a hundred cars, all with bike carriers. The place looked like a major train station, with biker groups leaving every few minutes uphill towards the West.
After a short introduction by Alon Rahavi from Spingoteam, a large group of some 30 riders - including the 7 of us - set off for a 25 km trail that made for easy riding, and a great night experience. After a couple of Kms of open country, we entered Nahal Prazim, winding its way southwards in a gentle (really) uphill slope. The ride was slow due to the large number of riders. We met many smaller groups, some taking advantage of the moonlight and riding with their lights off. At some points it felt crowded like a walk on Dizengoff. The spectacle of the long snake of lights slowly winding its way along the steep canyon was awesome.
After some 10 kms we stopped for makeshift coffee near the "Flour Cave" - Mearat Hakemach. It got its name from the white chalk powder covering its floor and walls. At this point the Nahal is very narrow and surrounded on both sides by vertical walls - I almost expected to see a line of Indian Nation warriors on horseback, with feathers in their hair and arrows strung in their bows, show up on the top of the rocks. It is definitely an eerie place, particularly in moonlight. However, the sound of water boiling in the pot and the smell of fresh coffee in the air brought me back to reality.
From there we rode swiftly a few kms eastwards on an easy trail across Mishor Amiaz, and then came the real fun part: downhill on the long, wildly winding serpentine of Nahal Sdom. It's a few kms long and being all downhill there was no need to turn the pedals at all - pure delight. Miraculouosly, nobobody took any significant fall, and we did not have even one puncture along the entire trip.
Back at the car park, the good souls of Spingo opened a table and topped it with good nurishing food, which was hungrily consumed by the tired riders. We sincerely appreciate Spingo's expert organization of the event, including the surefooted leading by Doron Ziv and the sweep Alon who made sure noone got lost.
Don't go away now, because it's not over yet.
At around 3:30 am, when most riders finished packing up and left for home, 6 of us travelled to one of the beaches of the Dead Sea. There, in the dark, we took a long dip in the dense warm,salty and oily-feeling waters. Very conveniently, a warm-water shower awaited us on the beach, and from there we started our sleep driving homewards. After various incidents related to sleeplessness, we somehow managed to get home safely, except for Ingride's telephone which till this day probably decorates one of the coffee tables in the Alonit on Kvish 6.
All in all, it was a remarkable experience, that took me only a day and a half to sleep off, but was worth every minute of riding and every mile of driving spent on it.
A smaller that usual crown met at the Reading parking lot in Tel Aviv on a love windless, sunny and clear day. It was great to have Baruch, Harriet and Gila with us. We need to see you more often! Ah, and Barbara was there with her new bike! We wish you well to use it and may you have many hours of happy and safe riding on it.
Baruch was appointed "leader" of the group and he and Harriet set off on their trusty tandem with the rest of us in pursuit. We headed for the Tel Aviv Port and then mafe our way along the Tel Aviv promenade towards Jaffe acrrying on all along the coast to Bat Yam. We passed through Jaffe and used the newly constructed path to Bat Yam to reach the beach. Hundreds thronged the beach and sea was full of bathers taking advantage of the ideal weather. We the headed back towards Tel Aviv passing through the Old City od Jaffe and stopping to enjoy the view of Tel Aviv. From there we cycled through Neve Tzedek and on to Tel Aviv's Rothschild Street, Rabin Square, Dizengof Street and back to our cars. Oh yes, off course we made a refreshment stop...A ride without a "breakfast" stop is not a complete ride!
Only 8 riders showed up at the start of today's ride, seven regulars and one visitor from the USA, Stephanie Vogel. Welcome to Israel and we hope you enjoy your stay here. It was great having you along on the ride.
Raanan lead us today and although we have covered this area many timed in the past there were one or two variations that were new to us. Thanks Raanan for showing us the way.
We ended up at one of our favourite "breakfast stops", Spingo and were back home relatively early after having covered about 33 kilometres.
Don't forget the "Dead Sea" ride on the 3rd September. If you intend participation it's essential to register on the link provided on our website!
Hope you all have a good week with lots of safe riding!
5.30 am and I am woken by the alarm clock! What am I doing getting up at this time of the morning on a Saturday when most of the people are still sleeping? Oh yes....I have to get ready to cycle. One has to be either nuts or addicted to or love the sport of cycling to get up at an hour when the sun hasn't yet thought of rising!!! Well, it seems that all three reasons apply to me.
12 of us were at the start and Ted was appointed the leader of the ride and a very good job he did. Thanks Ted. One of the 12 riders was Dan, Megan's son (my grandson). Welcome to Cyclenix Dan. The more you ride , the easier the rides will become.
Just as we hit the off road in the industrial area of Ra'anana, Megan's back wheel decided to rebel! Yes, this was Megan's first puncture with the group. Ted came to the rescue and with your truly's spare inner tube and Ted's expertise we were soon underway again taking a trail that we have often ridden before. A few uphills and a wee bit of sand now and again let us know that we were exercising! By 7.30am it was already getting HOT! The call of SPINGO and the "Spingo menu" kept us going. On the last stretch of road before reaching Spingo ,Dan decided that he was not going to be outdone by his Mom so he too picked up a flat tyre. As we were so close to Spingo, we decided to push the last 200 metres and get the wheel repaired there, which is exactly what we did. Whilst we were "refuelling " from the very adequate Spingo menu, Dan's bike was being repaired. Spingo get a tops marks for their menu and their service.
Breakfast finished, Dan's bike repaired and a few purchases having been made at the Spingo shop, we headed for home. And so came to an end a very pleasant ride in very pleasant company, another 31+ kms under our belts. Oh, as an aside Megan accomplished another "first" for her with Cyclenix. She fell off, sustaining nothing more that a grazed elbow!
For those of you who have been giving our Saturday rides a miss because of the heat and/or the early starts, remember, we also have a Thursday evening ride. It's never too hot and all the rides are easy rides.
On another steamy August morning a slightly larger group (12 riders) than a week before, gathered to experience the breaking of the new path towards the kingdom of Yaqum. Actually it was a re-ride of last week, with hopes for avoiding the snapping of the chain this time. And so it was, thanks to Gabi's new Merida 900 replacing old faithful GT iDrive.
We welcome back Shaul after a period of not showing up for the weekly rides. Shaul came back with his usual zeal and, I can proudly note, with a significantly larger water tank then before - an entire 1 liter of water instead of the usual 750 cc.
And we want to welcome Megan, John's lovely daughter, who joins the group after spending 14 years in the galut in France. The true reason d'etre of coming back to Israel has been revealed to her today.
The ride itself was quick, uneventful and ended - where else - in Arcaffe in Raanana. No snapping of chains, not even a single puncture, slowed down the rapid pace. We repeated last week's ride along the Poleg puddle and then turned west at Yaqum, crossed the bridge and returned at a fast trot southward to Shfayim, and back over the Rishpon bridge to the East side of the road. From there a quick 15 minute ride landed us around early 9 o'clock in the blessed breakfast crowd of Arcaffe. At Arcaffe, Ariel got the day's puncture, but it does not count, having happened after the official end to the ride.
P.S. - if somebody knows why those horses always select to empty their bowels on the bridges over Highway-2, please share the secret with us.
Ride Report - August 8, 2009 - By Gabi Raanan
On a steamy August morning an unusually large turnout - all of 5 riders, with the beautiful sex being in clear numerical advantage of 3 to 2 - waited in vain for the group leaders to show up. After 15 minutes of waiting we set out on a less used route towards Yaqum (where else?), along the Poleg "river". Actually it is just a slime-filled, slowly moving shallow pond. However, it was useful for guidance along our path.
After an uneventful first half of the ride, Gabi's chain snapped and we spent a good 3/4 hour trying to fix it, assisted by remote instructions from David over the phone. The marvels of the new era... Once fixed, it turned out that Gabi forgot to thread the chain thru the rear dereilleur (that thing is the mess of gears and wheels hanging on the rear wheel's axis and getting forever caught in the bushes). So we had to dismantle the chain that has just been spliced together with so much loving effort, and recompose it. Luckily a small group of riders, among them a chain specialist, just materialized in the middle of the orchard and helped put Gabi back on his wheels.
After that it was an uneventful but pleasant ride straight to Arcaffe in Raanana, and back home, refreshed and with 30 kms and a pleasant ride under our belt. And yes, John was not there with his camera, so nobody took photos for the archives...
Well, this was one of the smallest turnouts we've had for some time! Six of us were at the meeting point and we set off doing a reverse route of our usual Home Patch ride to the North. We have done it all before but this time around it was a change looking at the scenery in "reverse"! Of course, we stopped at our favourite "watering hole" on this ride....SPINGO, where as usual the food and service was first class. And then, it was homeward bound. We covered 30 + kilometres in a much faster time than usual (because of the smaller number of riders) and we were also very lucky with the weather, because, by the time we headed for home, the real heat had not set in!!! We may not have had the quantity on the ride, but we certainly had the quality!
Meeting Place and Time: Car park opposite Yad Le’Banim at 6:30 am (sob) Participants: Eleven (with the women outnumbering the men!) Conditions: Hot, hotter still, and boiling hot. (Did I mention the heat?) Route: We turned right out of the car park and onto Rechov Ahuza in the direction of Rechov Yerushalayim. We cycled west towards the Herzliya airfield (had I known I would have refused) in parallel to the new park. Turning north, we rode along the Tel Aviv-Haifa railway line and then again west through Rishpon. We crossed the Coastal Road and continued towards the Sharon Nature Reserve, where we stopped to rest. We then returned through Ga’ash and Rishpon, stopping for coffee at Aroma in the shopping center adjacent to Shfaim. From Aroma it was home.
Highlights:
Ted’s puncture (bear with me, it does get better) that took two new tubes to fix.
A lecture by David on the benefits of cadence. (This apparently is the art of benefiting from the correct number of pedal spins per minute. And I did try counting, I really did, but people kept talking to me.)
Gidi pelting up an almost 90 degree slope, with the rest of us gingerly cycling around it.
The ever-beautiful sea view at the Sharon Nature Reserve.
The many aromas of Aroma (which surprised us by being almost as nice a coffee-shop as Spingos) and the various members of our group who insisted on sitting outside in the heat, rather than under the gentle caress of the air-conditioning.
And last but not least, a viper (“Nachash Tzefer” in Hebrew, but the non-Saddam Hussein version) winding its way across the road. And if you don’t believe me, check out the two stunning photos by John, which beat anything I’ve ever seen in the National Geographic.
Conclusion: After surviving that heat I’m ready to tackle the Amazon Rainforest. But it was a lot of fun (about 25 kilometers worth, in fact).
Ride Report - July 4, 2009 - THE PEACOCK -By Adrian Wolff
Seated in a synagogue on the High Holidays, one often notices the late-entry of some-one, always well-dressed, walking towards his seat, waddling slowly, displaying himself. He smiles sweetly, slowly nodding his head to those seated, kind of thanking you for noticing his presence. This is a peacock, showing off his wares.
Ronnie Feinberg was the complete opposite. Quiet, unassuming. His input into Israeli cycling was enormous, yet he never sought a ‘thank you’ or acknowledgment. His satisfaction was to see riders enjoying themselves. Ronnie knew that cycling was a growing activity in Israel through his ‘Green Wheelers’ grass-roots riders.
As I drove at 06.00 towards the starting point I noticed many cars with bicycles heading for their early morning ride. Literally thousands of Israeli cyclists are enjoying themselves either on the road or off-road each Saturday morning, and also on a Friday.
The first annual Ronnie Feinberg Memorial Ride took place on Saturday 3 July 2009 when nearly 100 riders (70+ roadies and another 23 Cyclenix off-road bikers) took two separate routes to join at Springo Cycling store outside Basra.
Unisport Cycle and Sporting goods importers, where Ronnie was the accountant has begun a charity Ronnie’s name to sponsor children from underprivileged backgrounds in cycling activities.
Hilliard Hart, one of the three-some said ”Ronnie, I am sure you are organizing great bicycle ride up there…..”
Bicycle Unit of the Civil Guard (Mishmar Ezrahi), The Department of Community Affairs and the Civil Guard of the
Israeli Police Force in conjunction with the Israel Cyclists' Association call
on you to join the Cycling Unit of the Civil Guard.
Volunteer Now .
Follow the link for more details.
THE BOTTOM LINE ! : ALL RIDERS PARTICIPATING IN THE CLUB'S ACTIVITIES MUST ACCEPT THAT THE CLUB
CONSISTS OF A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS, FOND OF RIDING IN EACH OTHERS COMPANY, ON
THE BASIS OF UNDERSTANDING THAT NO ONE TAKES OR BEARS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR
OTHERS AND EACH IS FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN LIFE, HEALTH AND BELONGINGS.
©
Unisport Cycle and Sporting goods importers, where Ronnie was the accountant has begun a charity Ronnie’s name to sponsor children from underprivileged backgrounds in cycling activities.
