Ride Report - Dec. 25th - Local Ride - by John
It was cold, really cold, when 6 of us met at the usual place for our regular Saturday Cyclenix excursion. We set off on a well worn route through the Industrial area of Ra'anana and on to Batzra turning North just before the "big" hill into Bnei Tzion. We made our way towards Udim, but, after crossing the bridge, instead of making a right-hand turn towards Udim we turned left and travelled South until we hit the Poleg river going from the East to West towards Yaqum. It's usually a dry bed, but today there was water. It was along this section that leads to Udim that we cycled along the path that was overgrown with reeds, all wet from the morning dew. Merrill led the way and collected most of the dew so she emerged at the end of the path drenched!!! Thank you Merrill for clearing away most of the dew for those that were following you! We came to Udim and that the top of the hill at the entrance to the Udim Nature reserve we met Avi....so now we were seven! We carried on back towards Yaqum, making a refreshment/breakfast stop at the Service station on the Coastal Road at Gaash before we hit the trail back to Ra'anana. All in all we had a very pleasant 31 kilometre ride in absolutely perfect weather conditions.
Ride Report - Dec. 12th - Raanana-Reading-Atidim-Ramat HaSharon - by David
Route: On Ariel's initiative, a circular ride from Ra'anana down to Herzliya Pituach, then south on the "cliff road" to the Mandarin, continuing to Tel Baruch, Reading, then east along the Yarkon to Ramat Gan, to Atidim (for a refreshment stop), back north crossing Road 5 at the Tennis Centre, through Ramat HaSharon, Herzliya and back to Ra'anana.
Distance: 41 km
Participants: At the start 11 but "depleted" to 9 at the Mandarin
Conditions: Mostly paved, cool, and conducive to riding at a brisk pace despite a moderate south-easterly head-wind to Reading
Bottom Line: Thanks Ariel for a great ride
Post Script: Happy Birthday Merrill…!
Ride Report Dec. 11th- Local Ride-by John
"The loneliness of a long distance RIDER!"
Hey what happened to all the die-hard Cyclenix riders today? Did you get scared off by the weather forecast? Was it the wind? Come on now, the weather was great (except for the wind on the homeward bound stretch). The photos say it all. The first photo is a group shot of all the riders except me and the second is a group shot with me included.
The truth is that there weren't too many riders out today, just a few,(there were only two cycles parked at Cafe Buono!) and a couple of hikers as well, including the beetle.(4th Photo) Now really! If the little beetle was prepared to venture out, aren't you ashamed that you didn't make the effort???? Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I rode a route that we've done a number of times, and found that there have been a few changes since we last did this ride....one section was blocked off and I had to go back a about 100 metres and then, on the approach to Shefayim from the Southern side where we saw some contruction going on the last time we did this route the path has changed and some kind of stadium is nearing completion. The few sandy patches that we usually encounter have been firmed up by the recent rain. In fact, there really wasn't one sand patch on all the ride. Even that very sandy patch on the way out of the Sharon Coastal Nature reserve was easy to ride. I had a nice ride albeit a lonely one, but I did have myself to talk to!!! Oh, and I admit it! The homeward bound section was rather slow because the strong head wind. I did 31 kms and was home by 10am just as the wind started to get even stronger!!!!! By 11.20am it was blowing a gale and there was rain and thunder!
Ride Report Nov. 27th- Ben Shemen Forest-by Adrian Wolff
Ever since the First Immigration (Aliyah) Period which began in 1882, Jews have been purchasing land, building the country and planting trees. Before that period the land was parched, with very, very basic primiative agriculture, poor infrastructure, as the resident Jewish population was mainly orthodox living in the four biblical/religious cities - Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, and Tiberias.
Ben Shemen is one of the larger forests in Israel with miilions of trees, roads, paths, picnic and activity sites, all free of charge for the visitors to enjoy.
Last Saturday 20 plus Cyclenix members arrived at Ben Shemen at about 7.30 in the morning to find hundreds of other keen cyclists already parked and enjoying the trails. (Cycling has become very popular in the passed 15 years). The park can accomodate everyone.
David Lewis cautiosly led us both uphill and down the various trails of the forest. Our ride consisted of sand roads, single-tracks, some very steep inclines and declines. Well done to all the participants!!!!! We came upon a larger group of families with their children taking part in an local organized hike in the forest.
We rode to the highest point in the forest where we gazed northwards. The 'green line' is a very clear demarkation of the 1948-1967 border between Israel and the West Bank. The West Bank has the same rocky surfaces and micro-climate but is NOT green - no trees, no agricuture. "...[a] desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds-a silent mournful expanse....A desolation...that not even imagination can grace....There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus had almost deserted the country." Mark Twain.
We stopped for a short break at a memorial site to the Hagana soldiers killed in this area fighting against the British-trained Jordanian Legion in the 1948 War of Independence. One of the Hagana soldiers killed was a 19 year-old Holocaust survivor, arriving in Israel in 1946.
Simply the Jews have planted and grown. We can be proud of our achievements to make the 'desert bloom'.
Click HERE to see the GPS data.
Click on Google Earth to see our "joint effort" ride in greater detail.
Ride Report Nov. 20- Local ride -by Frances
Misty Marvels
Around 20 of us gathered in the cool (at last) morning air to set off on a familiar route that was made just a little mysterious by the swathes of mist we encountered every now and then. We had quite a few new faces - a special welcome to the Venezuelan contingent from Caracas. Meir, an Oleh Gadash and Ari, studying here for a year. B'Hatzlacha to both of you!
We rode along to Bazra, Bnei Zion, Yakum and Udim. On the way back we stopped off at a new find: a gas station at Ga'ash. We replenished ourselves and took the slightly longer route home. Along the way we lost and found people - a good ride around 31 km in excellent weather.
Ride Report Nov. 13- Wheels of Hope Ride (South) -by John and David
Nine of us were represented at the ride (maybe more that I didn't see). The weather was hot! There were lots of uphills and NO shade. The photos say it all and David's link from his GPS (go to:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/56499205 ) gives an even better idea of where and how we went! There were one or two sandy patches but on the whole the trail was a good one. We certainly had lots of exercise and no shortage of burnt calories! This was Etgarim's first off-road biking event (the 55 km Galil ride held in May each year is all on-road). There were 1,100 participants, 800 doing the longer 32 km ride (there was also a 12.5 km ride). What was amazing and so heart-warming was seeing the number of physically challenged people who rode the entire longer course - a humbling experience to say the least. At the end of the ride some of us adjourned to the "Aroma" at the Beit Kama service station where we refreshed ourselves and satisfied our hunger and thirst. It was a great experience and hopefully the next "Wheels of Hope" ride in the south will be in cooler weather!
Ride Report Nov. 6- Home Patch Ride -by John
This is going to be short and sweet as we have ridden this route many times. Considering that many of our riders were taking part in the Kinneret Ride today, the turnout of 11 riders wasn't bad at all.We rode down to the industrial are of Ra'anana and then throught the orchards on the Norther side of the area towards Bnei Tzion, pushing on to Udim and then returning via Yaqum and Rishpon. Ted, made amends for leading us through a somewhat (no, very) sandy patch by introducing us to a new refreshment stop at the service station immediately to the north of Gaash. It really was a nice place with excellent food (especially the shakshuka) and service. We'll be there again. From there it was back to home base. We covered 34 kilometres in ideal cycling weather. Good exercise and great company!
Don't forget that next week is the "Wheels of Hope" South Ride. This is the link.
http://bikeisrael.com/0082_MSgen.asp?msid=2,98
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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