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Ride Report Oct 30- Home Patch Ride -by Gabi

On a day that the cool weather reminded us of the Hungary trip, 14 of us started out northward towards the familiar Bnei Zion - Udim - Yakum - Rishpon route. Blessedly, in order to beat the heat as the saying goes, instead of the inhuman hour of 6:30 we started off on the less eccentric hour of 7:00. One of us wore no helmet and he should not repeat this on further trips. We lost Avraham to an early call of duty at home near the Gan Shlomo building, and 13 continued onwards. At Yaqum 4 of the group split off and rode swiftly homeward, while the rest of us crossed the bridge and trotted slowly southwards on the west side of Highway 2.

There was nothing out of the ordinary on this ride, except a bit of rain which caught us unprepared just near Shfayim. We took shelter in the tunnel under Highway 2 until it was over, then continued thru Rishpon to a well earned coffee at Arcafe.

Due to John and David being AWOL, there was no photographing done on this trip, and consequently there is no permanent record of it ever being taken, except this sketchy description.

Ride Report Oct 23- Burgata by the Sea Side -by Francis

ALEXANRA RIVER RIDE FROM BURGATE - 23.10.10

26 of us gathered in the cool morning at Burgata to head off to the beach along Nahal Alexander. The skies were overcast - an excellent day for cycling.

The route follows the course of the river, from Moshav Burgata down to the coast just south of Mvuot Yam. There were many other riders and walkers out enjoying the cooler weather. The sea was sparkling, but with no brave swimmers.

Total riding distance there and back - 38 kilometres with changing scenery and lots of greenery along the river bank. The Alexander is one of the few rivers on the coastal plain which can boast an all year round water content. The good conditions remained until the last part of our return, when the sun came out - the last few kilometers always seem to be so much longer in the heat. On the way back, the FAN team (Free Avocados Now) went into action and liberated some - they will, of course, remain incognito...

Some of us ended the outing with a short drive to Tzomet Rupin to refuel at the Aroma coffee shop.

Ride Report Oct 16- TelAviv - Jaffa - Bat Yam -by Hylton Sher

John accused me of not having done a write-up for Cyclenix for the last three years!!! "Not true." I said. But in confidence, probably not far off!!

Sooooooooo, 21 of us started from Redding Power Station in north Tel Aviv soon after 7.00am, and you could already feel the heat.

Welcome to first timer Steve, a new immigrant from California and one who I am sure will settle down well with his Israeli born wife and three young kids. Also to Brad who is not new to Cyclenix but claims to have been too busy preparing for exams. Let the results speak for themselves!!

We followed our well known route ably led by Ariel, along the Tiyelet going south and through to the port in Jaffa. Today, there were no fishermen selling "live catch just off the boat" and I suspect; being a Telavivian and a quite frequent visitor to the port on a Saturday morning; that much of the morning catch comes out of cold storage anyway!! The boardwalk through the new park south of Jaffa is really fabulous and well worth a stroll, especially in the evening.

The route took us to the beachfront at Bat Yam which by this time was teeming with people and somewhat hazardous to negotiate. At the southern end of the beachfront, some of our more adventurous riders took a quick dip in what was probably a warm Mediterranean, and then we headed back to Tel Aviv through the Susanne De Lal centre, along the central boulevard on Rothschild and towards an extremely pleasant coffee etc. stop ay Cafי Barnash, located at Bograshov 87, and now owned and run by Arial and Ofra's daughter Noa. The coffee and food was really good and the service outstanding!!! All accolades to Noa. I for one will come back with my family for more.

Ride Report Oct 09- Eastward Bound by Merrill

Ahhhhh! There is nothing better than the first ride after the first rain. Everything smells clean and different and a good portion of the sand mysteriously disappears. We met at the entrance to Elishema at 7 and the 16-17 of us began our somewhat circular journey along the fields and pathways through Hod Hasharon, towards the Yarkon Source.

Along the way, we hear little tidbits of our comrades' ride through Europe and this only serves to enhance the lovely morning. Our first Yarkon crossing is familiar to us. The river is not deep, but the bottom is rocky and sometimes difficult to maneuver (see Frances, I am setting the stage for your breathtaking performance, even thought we have ridden that itsy-bitsy stream a million times). Well, some of us made it across without getting our feet wet. Some of us got our feet wet and some of us decided to go diving for water turtles. Needless to say, Frances and her brand new spiffy bicycle got a good baptism in the Holy Waters!!! But kudos to all who tried ..... some of the more intelligent group members stuck their tongues out at us and rode around, avoiding the opportunity to cool down a bit. We met up farther on, none the worse for the wear.

Happily we rode on towards Kibbutz Einat. We were hoping that David would forget his idea of going a longer route, but I guess his memory is still keenly sharp, as about 2km before the coffee shop, he stopped and pointed out the 2 options. Half of the group decided not to push themselves and rode straight for the coffee, while the other half of us went mountain climbing (more like rock climbing) in Park Nachshon. The climb was not extremely steep, but very rocky and winding. I think it was a good technical practice. The ride down the other side on the dirt rode was exhilarating.

I learned (almost the hard way) that road grates are sometimes removed and big chasms left in their place, so one should not take it for granted that there will always be a road in front of you.

12km later, we arrived at Einat just in time to say goodbye to our friends, who had finished their sustenance and lounged around for long enough. We partook of the lovely refreshments (best ice cafe barad to date) and even had a considerate waitress who combined our orders so that we would get all the bargain sale prices!!

At some point, we separated our "tushies" from the chairs and began the ride home. Once again, the group divided (accidentally, this time), but we all arrived back at Elishema, safe and sound. The shorter route was about 31km, while the mountain climbers totaled out at 43km.

All in all, a great ride with a lot of shaded areas and good views.

Special Ride Report - Hungary Ride 2010 by Gabi Raanan

Click HERE
to view this Report

CLICK HERE to read Gabi ride report from Hungary and Budapest September 2010.

Ride Report - October 2nd, 2010 - Heat and Dust by Frances

11 of us gathered to set off on a usual route ridden in a slightly unusual order. So, we saw things backwards, so to speak. Apologies for the lack of photos, but John forgot to bring his camera and since there were no other budding photographers, we will have no evidence that we actually rode in a chamsin....

After not having ridden for nearly a month and a half, the 30kms had me beat. Even though I have a new bike (eventually), it is still motored by muscles, and those muscles felt the strain. We were cheered by a break at Cafe Buono, where some of us tanked up on sugar-laden drinks, whilst others stuck to healthy carrot drinks (they don't know what they are missing). With new vigour we set off again only to wilt in the searing sun. We passed by some avocado-laden trees and the usual ganavim managed to liberate a few. Despite the heat and dust, the route was good and we had very little sand along the way.

Ride Report - September 25th, 2010 Local Ride - by John

Home Patch Ride - 25.9.10

Under the very able leadership of Ariel 7 of us took off from our usual meeting place and headed West along Ahuza Street making our way towards the Herzliya Airport where Ariel showed us a "new" (to me anyway) sandless path through the orchards to the Tel Aviv - Haifa railway line. From there we made our way through Kfar Shmaryahu and croosed the Coastal Highway to Nof Yam and from thereFollowed the coastline along the cliff top to the Marina and along the pier. Thereafter we headed for home through the industrial area of Herliya Pituach, the Herzliya park and on Arcafe in Ra'anana where we made our refreshment stop. We covered +/- 30 kilometres in hot humid weather. Thank you Arield for a very pleasant well led ride.

Ride Report - September 11th, 2010 Local Ride - by Frederic

Home Patch Ride - 11.9.10

Une nouvelle année commence, mais comme de coutume, notre rendez-vous du samedi matin a attiré une douzaine de passionnés. Nous prenons alors la direction de Shfaym via Rishponג€¦ menés par le rythme de David qui va un jour nous expliquer la technique de survoler les passages ensables avec aisance. Megan, Meryl et moi-même, toujours à l'affut de fruits de la passions, mais encore sans grandes illusions, avons fait le tour des plants du bord de route, pour n'en trouver qu'un ou deux exemplaires !!! Arrivé au Café Bono de Yacum, au kilomètre 19, et on reprend la route vers notre point de chute, le Café Spingo! 2 routes s'offrent à nous, soit la route bitumée et bien droite, soit les champs d'orangers avec son sable et sa route sinueuse. Le choix fut difficile, les plus courageux ont choisi la seconde. Apres une collation qui s'est fait attendre, le retour fut agrémenté par la rencontre de Meryl et d'un merveilleux petit caméléon qui ne voulait plus nous quitter! Nous avons parcouru 32 kilomètres, Il faisait beau,ֲ pas trop chaud, tout le monde était en forme, bref: voila une belle année qui commence!

English translation by Google:
A new year begins, but as usual, our meeting on Saturday morning attracted a dozen enthusiasts. We then take the direction of using Shfaym via Rishpon. Led by the pace of David who will one day explain the technique of flying over dunes passages with ease. Megan, Meryl and myself, always looking for passion fruit, but no great illusions, have toured the roadside plants, just to find one or two fruits! Arriving at the Cafe Bono Yacuma, at kilometer 19, and we resumed the road to our point of fall, the Café Spingo! 2 routes open to us is the road paved and straight, or the orange groves with its sand and winding road. The choice was difficult, the most courageous chose the latter. After a snack that is long overdue return was enhanced by the meeting of Meryl and a wonderful little chameleon who would not leave us! We traveled 32 kilometers, it was fine, ֲ not too hot, everyone was in shape, short: here is a great year ahead!

Editor's Note: As you can see the Google translation from the French is not perfect but I think it did an admirable job.

Ride Report - September 4th, 2010 Tel Aviv Ride - by John

4.09.10 - Tel Aviv Ride

Well, this was the last ride of the year...5770, not 2010! We met at our usual spot for this ride, Reading Power station car park, and at 7am off we went. It was our usual route towards Jaffe, Bat Yam and on to Rishon Le Zion. Just after the start Barbara had a puncture and history was made! David didn't fix it. Frederic did! Thank you Frederic. From then on it was smooth sailing (or should I say riding) until someone had the bright idea of leaving the paved path and entering the sand dunes just before the Rishon Beach! Bad idea!!!!We had to walk most of the way until we hit the road again at the entrance to the Rishon beach. And there Barbara did it again!!!! Another puncture, this time though, the front wheel which was easier to handle! Well done Barbara...a full house! Once again, Frederic to the rescue. It was David's day off!!!! Then off we went (this time on the road) back to our cars, stopping at the Tel Aviv port to quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger. Another nice ride in good company. See you all next year!

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.