Ride One-October 27th

Start and Finish at Kibbutz Enat Gas Station
Totals:  108 KM
              860M Climbing

It finally rained here yesterday for the first time in earnest since the spring.  Finally a respite from the heat and most of us began the ride with leg warmers and long sleeves.   After five minutes of riding though I found that my legs felt like jello. Sure, I know that bike riders say things like "I am really tired" and then suddenly find that we are not and blow the pack away on the first climb-but I really was tired.

This was a long week and my sleep patterns were poor. Calls from the states from family members far too late at night had me on edge and cost me a lot of sleep.  Students of mine had a lot of issues too, and I found myself up looking at their work and trying to give them feedback that they were asking for and needed "right away."  And then there was the letter from my friend in Colorado who told me that she had recently heard that my old biking coach whom I revered so, and had not contacted for several years, had passed away from pancreatic cancer.  Damn.

Our sails shift in the breeze from time to time due to the people we meet.  Dominic, who owned Dominic's Bicycle Shop in Tempe, was my wonderful coach and friend.  I started riding for him in 1979 (his first team in Arizona) and loved racing for him.  He was Italian and spoke broken English but comprehended everything that was said and everything around him.  He had a good heart, a sharp wit, and was an exceptional racer.  He also was a pioneer and many racers today I am sure were influenced by him or people like Dominic.

So today's ride was dedicated to Dominic and I felt sad that I was devoid of any true sense of energy.  We headed on the road back towards Tel Aviv and though it was not raining where we were, it was dark and threatening over the city.  The sun coming over the Jerusalem Hills at this time illuminated the clouds and Itay pointed out a somewhat truncated rainbow that looked more like the leg of an elephant suspended in the sky than anything else.   Yet it was colorful.

We pushed on and did the hills near the area of Ben Shemen.  This is one of my favorite places to mountain bike and though the area is slowing being chewed up by avaricious  developers, there are forests of single track and short steep climbs that challenge all levels of mountain bikers.

From here we stopped by the town of Modiin.  This town has sprung up over the past ten years or so and now, in my opinion, stains the surroundings like like a wart on a supermodel's nose.  Did I mention "avaricious developers?"  We did our thing, got rehydrated and took on some food as well and then pushed on.

The first climb of the day was up the short but challenging hill that leads to Neve Shalom.  This town houses both Jews and Arabs living side-by-side trying to demonstrate to the rest of the world that though things are not perfect, we can in fact live in peace with one another.  A few of us tried to chase down our coach, who always powered up such climbs.  I tried, really I did, to hang with this group, and almost succeeded but found that my legs were just too beat to keep this fast pace.

Down the hill and off on the flats and then some rolling hills for the next hour.  We made a turn on a road that began to lead up though not too steeply, but a hill that nonetheless and once again  the group split apart.  I had never been on  this road and had started feeling a bit better late in this ride.  I saw what I assumed was the top of the hill and joked with David (our coach) to "catch me" at the top as I sprinted off.  He of course did and then informed me that there were still two kilometers left of climbing!  What a jerk I was.  I then found myself behind a group of three riders and once again felt the energy dissipate from my legs and this time, my entire body.  Though I clung on to this group until the last 100 meters or so, I knew I was totally blown for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, the ride back to Kibbutz Enat was easy and we sat in a pace line just enjoying ourselves.Thankful for the cool weather and thankful that we had avoided rain.

A quick stop at my health club on the way home to stretch and take a sauna and then home to my wife.  What was strange walk we took later that evening.  We were about 25 minutes into our peaceful walk with our dog Forrest when I suddenly had to stop and rest for a few minutes.  My body was once again totally drained of all energy, and I had to almost shuffle the rest of the way home.

Had I not eaten enough the night before?  I thought I had.  Had I not eaten enough on the ride?  I thought I had too.  I think the reality here is that all athletes, even those as old as I am, have these days and as hard as we try to regulate our caloric intake and manage our sleep and fitness routine, the vicissitudes life (midnight calls from the states) shake things up.  I wonder how Dominic would have responded to my performance and post-analysis.  I think he would have smiled and handed me one of his famous drinks (wine, sugar and egg yoke) and said, "Jimsey, drink this and stop complaining."