Cyclenix - The Ultimate Interactive Mountain Bike Website in Israel

Ride Report - August 28th, 2010 Local Ride - by John

A slight increase in the number of riders from last week.....lucky 13! It was an uneventful ride except for the fact I had a puncture and thank goodness David and Ted were there. They make repairing a puncture look so easy! We rode towards the coast and stopped by the Sharon Coast Nature reserve look out. It's always a very pleasant stop. We then made our way to Spingo at the entrance to Bnei Tzion to quench our thirsts and satisfy our hunger and then it was "Ra'anana here we come". We covered a distance of some 35 kilometres. The route was not too sandy and under the able leadership of David we even managed to reach Spingo without having to climb the usual back-breaking hill on the Western approach to Bnei Tzion. All in all, a very nice hot ride in pleasant company.

Ride Report - August 21st, 2010 Local Ride - by John

Home Patch Ride - 21.8.10

We advertised the early start of the last few rides to beat the heat, but it looks as though today, the heat beat us! Only 9 pitched up at the start, the lowest attendance for some time and I put that down to the intense heat we have been experiencing. Anyway, we decided to take a shorter route to enable us to get home early. The route took us through the industrial area of Ra'anana, to Baztra and Bnei Tzion and then on to Yaqum via Udim. It's a route we have travelled many times. At Yaqum we headed for home making a refreshment break in Ra'anana at the lake (Gam Cafe). We covered about 30 kms and the conditions were good, not too much sand and we were home before the real heat hit us!

See you next week I hope. We'll be riding in the Tel Aviv area along the coast line so that should be a wee bit cooler! Watch your weekly bulletin for details.

Ride Report - August 14th, 2010 Local Ride - by Frances

Home Patch Ride - 14th August, 2010

SAND IS KING!

16 of us gathered in the already muggy early morning, ready to follow our leader. We headed off towards Hod HaSharon via Givat Chen. The sandy fields managed to make even the hardiest pedallar walk a few meters. Once through the sand, it was plain sailing.

We came to the Yarkon which offered shady patches along the route and at the source, people enjoying the cool and clear water. A pity the water is contaminated by chemical waste in other parts...

On the way back, two left us and the remaining 14 enjoyed coffee and pastries at the Margalit Mall. The ride back to Ranaana was mostly along the quiet side roads of Hod Hasharon - a lot easier than battling back along the sandy paths. We rode a scenic 35 km more-or-less circular route.

Ride Report - August 8th, 2010 Local Ride - by Merrill

Home Patch 7.8.2010

Having had the audacity to forget to write up last week's ride review, I have been given double duty.

This week, we finally took off earlier in a lame attempt to out ride the intense heat and humidity. We rode through Rishpon, across the Kfar Shmariyahu Bridge and down to Sidney Ali (really not correctly spelled or pronounced). The more courageous of us rode down the steep incline near the mosque and the U.S. Consul's residence and then continued along the sea shore through the Herziliya Marina and on to Hof Tzuk and the Colony Hotel.

From there, we cut east, passed the army base and the mini airplane field and ended up in Herziliyah. Here is where things got tricky. We tried to cut across Herziliya to Ra'anana, but ended up, once again, doing a long down and up. The group got split up, and I think a newcomer, Liron, was lost for a while, but in the end we all arrived at Arcafe for some cooling refreshments.

Here, we had the pleasure of running into John and family. We wish his wife a speedy recovery and we think John should stop pushing her down stairs, even if he does have friends on the police force (LOL). A nice 35 km (I think) ride. The heat was bearable as long as we kept pedaling and seemed to become intense whenever we stopped along the way. Frances has now ridden the Bianci twice and is seriously liking this new feel. It's about time she got off that primitive machine she was using { - :

Ride Report - July 31th, 2010 Local Ride - by Merrill

Home Patch 31 July 2010

Better late than never. Sorry for forgetting to write this up. Mea Culpa. We rode the well know route along the sea north towards Yakum. No surprises, everything as usual. On the way back, due to the heat, many of the group rode the last stretch before SPINGO along the rode instead of cutting through the orchards. SPINGO's passiflora are in peak season, so what they lack in ice cafֳ© barad, they make up for in passion fruit. Hylton's brother and sister-in-law joined us and we were duly impressed by their stamina. Collette joined us for the first time and managed to keep up quite well, despite some mechanical problems ...... the bike, not her.

A nice uneventful ride of about 32 kms.

Ride Report - July 24th, 2010 Ha'Yarkon Ride Report - by John

July.2010 - Ha'Yarkon River ride

Thirteen (lucky number for some) of us met to start what Merrill promised would be an easy ride of +/- 34 kms with no sand and lots of shade! Well, there wasn't to much shade and the ride was a wee bit more than 34 kms........it was between 45 and 50 kms! Technically it was an easy ride but after about and hour's riding someone turned on the heater!!!! Whew! Hot was not the word to describe the weather conditions......It was boiling!

Today was not Frederic's day but he never lost his ever present smile. His chain broke twice but fortunately our resident mechanic, David was there with his trusty chain tool (*See the photos!) and on both ocassions we were soon on our way again.....and as if this wasn't enough he also had a puncture. We were introduced to a state of the art method of inflating a tyre when Frederic took out a tiny pump, fitted a small gas cylinder into it, and in seconds the tyre was inflated and we were ready to move on!

We made a stop at Aroma in the Tel Aviv port to quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger and then the group broke up. One or two waited to be rescued by family members; some took a shorter route back and a few "meshuganas" hit the trail back to Hod Hasharon along the HaYarkon river.

All in all it was a good ride albeit a bit too long and I am sure that on reflection, everyone enjoyed it.

Ride Report - July 17th, 2010 Local Ride - Ladies Day - by Francis

2010-07-18

The day started out well: we ladies were in the majority - a rare ocurrence for cyclenix, and there were some clouds to keep the sun away. The female majority didn't last long, though, as some more men joined en route.

We cycled a familiar route with Avi making a detour to show his friends the spot where his helmet proved its use. We managed to keep away from the sand and had a speedy 27 km cycle, arriviing at Spingo shortly after 9am. That must surely also be a record of sorts. Like vultures, some of the group fell on the Passiflora, filching those that were ripe. Quite a few bodies had some rather strange bulges afterwards... A really enjoyable ride before the heat of the day.

Ride Report - The Annual Ronnie Feinberg Memorial Ride 2010 - by Adrian Wolff

10.7.2010 Ride in memory of the late Ronnie Feinberg

Ronnie Feinberg was a 'nice guy'. Many people we meet are 'nice guys', but that is not enough. Ronnie went out of his way to assist people without charge. He was a wealth of cycle technique and organizational knowledge. He was involved in helping so many young and beginner cyclists in various ways. He also is known to for having expanded Cyclenix's prorgarmme by having organized better qualilty rides and leading them on various rides all over the country.

It is so satisfying know that his cycling gear was donated to the IDF Veterans, Cyclist Department and one of his top-quality bicycles is now with an Israeli participant in the Para-Olympics - let's hope he gets a medal!!. Ronnie's other bicycle will be loaned to an up-an-comming young cyclist for competition. Ronnie you were an example to all of us.

Two years after his very premature death, 80 roadies and another 20 Cyclenix Mountain bikers participated in two different rides and met to at Springo Cycle Store in Bnei Tzion after their appropriate morning rides. Here, tributes were paid to the Late Ronnie and his brother responded.

Cyclenix riders met at the usual site opposite Yad Lebanin in Ra'anana at 07.00. Our ride, led very ably by David Lewis took us through Basra and the fields to Yakum before making a huge arc turning south-east through Udim towards Springo near the main entrance to Bnei Tzion from highway #4.

Our ride today was mostly riding in the opposite direction from the 'regular' Yakum-Udim ride. The scenery looked so different. David took us through a bamboo forest and along a narrow trail along the Poleg river. Cyclenix always surprises me making new trails out of regular routes. Never boring. Aslo the particiants are always cheerful, friendly and helpful.

Cyclenix wants to welcome an new participant, Larry, recently arrived from the USA. Hope to see you at many more rides, especially at the away rides.

Check out these sites

Israeli Police, cyclist rules of the road: Israeli Police, Bike Riding Rules

Beginner's Mountain Bike Info Guide: http://www.romp.org/rides/beginnerguide.html

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.