Ride Report - March 28th 2009 - by John
Today was the ride of the "Magnificient Seven",
Two boys and five girls, for the boys it was heaven.
The sun was shining although it was cold,
Regardless of this, the seven were bold.
A special "welcome" extended to Dalia,
Who was joined by Barbara, Frances and Talia.
Dina, Ted and John were there too,
And out they rode under a sky of blue.
Conditions were good, ideal for a ride,
An abundance of flowers were seen on each side.
Yellow and white and mauve and green
Filled our view of this beautiful scene.
The route was quite a regular one,
A few weeks ago it was what was done.
At the view point overlooking the sea,
Some of our girls stopped to have a quick wee.
Cafe Buono was the stop we had,
But the smoke and noise was just too bad.
Spingo, I think, remains at the top,
So next time we're out, that's where we will stop!
Nevertheless, it was a good ride,
The 30 plus k's filled us with pride.
We all returned home in a very good mood,
After a ride with good company and jolly good food.
with apologies to the Bard!
Ride Report - March 14th 2009 - by John
Just a short sweet and to the point write up about today's ride....
Weather: Except for the wind, excellent!
Refreshment Stop: Spingo, Bnei Tzion. As usual first class friendly service and good food.
Company: Only 8 riders, but wonderful company and that's what makes our rides so
enjoyable. We were happy to have Geva riding with us again.
Comments: Listen Boys and Girls, don't let the weather put you off!!! Two of our regular riders
were not with us today because of injuries!!! (Not caused by cycling!!!) Motti was
injured in a "kitchen accident" and underwent surgery and Udi sustained a broken leg
in an accident while riding his motor scooter. We wish them both a speedy recovery.
Ride Report - March 7th 2009 - by Ted
Yossi and Geva, two new riders joined us today for the ride against the wind. David’s route, planned to thwart natures ferocious weapon, almost succeeded but who can ultimately beat nature! Read on for the details. But first, let’s examine what were the criteria that made our two latest riders come away knowing that they are “Cyclenixable”!!
- They had a ready smile
- They enjoy bike riding
- They go where their leader takes them
- They don’t complain (even when the mud sets in)
- They don’t give up (even when it’s hot and the hills seem never-ending)
- They are willing to get up at ridiculous hours to ride.
- They enjoy the company of fellow riders.
- They love the outdoors
- They care for their bike.
- They like to explore new routes
- They (if you can add more items, let John have the details) look forward to Ted's reports.
Going by the list, we can now define a “Cyclenixt” so if you were one of the twelve who rode with us this morning, you now have official recognition and a claim to fame for having those splendid traits noted above. And who really cares about the route details? They are the smallest part of the ride but it just so happens that David’s route was ideal and we ranged to the east, north, west and south and not necessarily in that order. We even saw the see (See-saw, get it?), mud and sand and sighed with relief that the heat was not as bad as expected. Gofferman was the watering hole and enough said on that point. Lastly, we all admired Hylton’s experimental saddle and hope that it is as good as they claim as more of us may need to make use of it.
Ride Report - Feb. 14th 2009 - Re'im - by John
WOW! Another "first" for our group! A trance party in the middle of the ride!!!! Read on....
What a great ride it was. Perfect weather, great route with a few new sections for some of the riders and very pleasant company. Ten of us met at the usual meeting place and off we went towards the Industrial Area of Ra'anana, north through the orchards of Bazra and then onto Bnei Tzion making our way towards the Tel Aviv - Haifa railway line. As we entered the Bnei Tzion area we heard it! The music from a Trance party somewhere to the west of us! At the suggestion of some of the riders we decided to find the source of the music......we followed the sound down through Bnei Tzion towards the airstrip used by those daredevil airmen who take to the skies in their motorised flying contraptions that are held aloft by a parachute!!!Rather them than me! We tried going South towards the forest where I now knew that the party was taking place ( I have passed there on previous occasions and seen these parties in progress at the same spot) but our path was blocked by a stream of water that didn't look clean enough to cross. So, back we went to the level crossing between Bnei Tzion and Shefayim. We travelled South along the western side of the railway line eventually hitting the sand road that took us to the "party".
What an eye opener! (See the photos) There were literally hundreds of young people who had been going strong since the previous night dancing to the beat of the music. As for the cars, I couldn't believe my eyes. For at least a kilometre along the sand (lots of mud!) road there were cars parked on both sides of the road and travellig towards us were more cars, including two police vehicles, one of which was bogged down in the mud! I have no idea how many calories were burnt up at that party, but it must have been an astronomical number!!!
Having observed the party we pushed on Northwards and then made our way back to the railway line where we turned North along a dirt road (with mud patches here and there) towards Yaqum. Here we crossed the bridge and travelled back South towards Gofferman's at Rishpon for our breakfast stop. Having satisfied our thirst and hunger it was then...."Ra'anana, here we come" and with another 30+ kilometres under our belt another great ride had come to an end.
Oh, I haven't forgotten.....welcome back to Avraham after a long absence and welcome to Jossie as well. We hope to see you more often on our future rides.
Ride Report - Feb. 7th 2009 - Re'im - by Adrian
Silly or Stupid ?
The Re'im or Be'eri Cyclenix rides are a must in our cycling winter calendar.
In life we sometimes do silly things, but do try to limit and control the stupid events we initiate.
Getting up at 05.30 to leave the house to fetch Shaul is silly – would rather stay in bed!!!!
Driving in convoy 100 kilometers in very foggy conditions at 10C is silly
Driving through Grad/Qassam territory is stupid especially as the previous day (Friday) two rockets landed where we are driving and riding. Heard firing/blasts during our ride. Rockets landed the next day in this area.
Twenty-one riders including 4 women (yeah) started out. Ariel knew the route well, leading us through trees, and wheat fields. This ride is technically difficult as over half of the 22 kilometers is single track – up and down like a roller-coaster – such fun (see the photos). A few short, steep inclines requiring us to walk and push the bike, followed with long down-hills.
The sad part of the ride is seeing the result of the drought in Israel this winter. The un-irrigated wheat is only about 20 centimeters high, while in previous rides the wheat was thigh height. The fields are thin and parched. A further disappointment was the lack of yellow flowers and no red carpet of poppies, so famous in this area. The Besor River does not flow, when on previous occasions I rode across the weir in knee-height water (see previous photos)
We had a very pleasant pit-stop on our way home at the Yad Mordechai junction.
Judging by the traffic and number of visitors to this area, obviously Israelis are not over concerned about the lack of a cease-fire.
This ride was professionally led by Ariel, who showed us an example how to lead a cycling tour. He cared about each rider, warned us of dangers, stopped to keep us in-sight of each other. Posted riders at junctions so no-one would get lost. Ariel, we appreciate it.
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.
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