Day Five: (LAST DAY...)
Up at 6:30 as usual
Breakfast was the same ol-oatmeal from home, hard boiled eggs and vegetables all mushed together in a salad and then picking around at other things since I was always still hungry!!

We then left to have the big last day and the big climb into Jerusalem. We rode a little and then got a lecture on what we were seeing. We rode a little more and got another lecture. We were looking out over this big hill and I laughed to Matt and said, ok, lets go down there across that valley and go climb up that hill. He looked at me and said, "Rachael, that is what we are doing." I looked again and realized—he was right!! Ugh! I was nervous about this climb

We also declared this hill the $10 Edie Challenge-Edie, one of the fourth year HUC students who was not on the ride, had challenged us; for anyone who climbs all the way up the hill while making forward movement only ON the bike -you can stop as often as you want, just no forward movement without being on that bicycle!-she would donated $10 to IMPJ

I wanted my $10! (And yes, the anthem of ten dollars, I want my ten dollars from Better Off Dead ran through my head repeatedly. Matt, Brian, Rachel, Adam and I rode off together in a little pack. We all talked as we chugged up the hill.

Slowly, slowly,
Brian and I pulled ahead and ended up riding together. Suddenly we came to a bend and rode down hill to where everyone else ahead of us was waiting

We had done it. We had DONE IT!! It had been really hard but not TOO hard, not so hard that I could not do it. I rode up to Ross and jumped into the best hug ever and just cried and cried

I did it

I could not have done it without Brian and everyone else

But I also could not have done it without me believing I could do it-and I did. I felt so good to succeed. I thought back to last year and how I could not even try and I felt such joy to know that I had not only tried, but succeeded. Ross cried too over feeling so successful-about having something that was his and his alone that no one else could touch, taint or take away from him (don't tell Ross I told you all that he cried. It's not very manly-tee hee)
It was a great moment

As everyone else came in, I handed out Izoton and cheered. Charlie made it, Jean made it, everyone made it up. Claire, Neil and Karen also made the $10 challenge
Since we had all done so well, we decided to extend the challenge up to the Elvis gas station.

I rode with Brian again and we had such fun talking about whatever. As we were coming up the final final, steep, steep climb to Elvis, I had too little speed and had to step off my bike

Sigh

I was standing in the middle of this steep hill, half way up-not wanting to go back down to get the momentum to make it all the way, not wanting to walk the last 10 feet to the top and quit and lose my $10 status. I walked down a few steps, situated myself side ways and tried.

No luck

Tried again, made it up 3 feet, and was off the bike again (almost falling as I went since I got clipped in by mistake)

Tried again, 4 more feet and off

Brian stood there cheering me on and helping me make it up the whole time

People passed by saying OH NO! We all know how hard that situation is. I tried again-I refused to walk up or down that long hill.

Finally, I made it, I made the last few feet and rode the last 200 meters to the gas station

I earned my $10 the hard way!

At the gas station, some people had ice cream and some just enjoyed the silliness of the Elvis themed gas station outside of Mivaseret Tzion

We rode up and up and up some more (I think there were some downhill moments in their too, but I do not remember them)
I was feeling like I might not make it. I told Howie and he asked if I had the mental strength to do it. When I heard it was on road, I said yes

And I did

We rode up and up into Mivasseret
I was with Michael S and my knee was really really hurting me. We were talking about it even. I was figuring I would ride into lunch and see how it was doing after a rest. We then came to the top of a hill and I felt something that felt like the sound of tearing.

I was so scared

Ross rushed back, Michael stopped, I got off my bike and walked around a bit
I felt fine…but afraid. Dave had driven passed me looking for the other Rachel which was just funny in this scary moment…He finally came up in his tractor and asked if I was done and I said no, not yet.

So I got back on my bike, Michael watched me pedal as we coasted down hill. He said I was pedaling fine. It was painful to turn my legs around the gears, but doable.
Then we began climbing again

As soon as I had resistance, my knee locked up and I knew I was done

I got off my bike and got in the tractor with Itai and Dave

I was angry and upset, but realistic about it. I tried, I won, and I simply could not go any further. I took the tractor to the synagogue in Mivasseret and had some lunch

I got my knee wrapped up and had to tell people I was all done (with only 1½ hours left!!!)But it was what it was.
After lunch we took off and I cheered from the tractor after everyone. On our way up to Mivasseret, Guy, Dave and I had seen a sweatshirt left at a bus stop and I had said that I wanted it. Dave took a detour of following the riders to stop and get it
I had no idea what he was doing until he ran back into the tractor and handed it to me! I just giggled and giggled. It really made me feel so much better

We rode behind everyone up to the Begin highway. Ross said (after the ride) that he had heard at lunch that we might ride up through Begin Park which is the way we went last year-which would have just been impossible-he said he was scared when he heard that and that he was sure he would be unable to complete the ride if that was the route. When we were about to get on the Begin, he said that Oren and the police escort were debating which way to go and he went over and begged to not go through Begin Park. Once they agreed to take the highway, he was sure he could make it)

At this juncture, Karen said, Rachael, I am so tired, I don’t know if I can do it and she was crying. I asked if she wanted to stop and she said-very resolutely-no! And so she kept on riding

Dave and I rode behind the riders and watched the traffic get quite angry with us
We were in the tunnel and some care pulled through the riders knocking Noah off baance and caused him (in his total exhaustion) to fall
I was so angry at this driver and so frustrated for Noah
It took a while to get Noah back on the bike and the bike all straightened out-his chain had fallen off…

But we kept going

Suddenly we were on Betzalel and only 3 minutes from home. Then the police took us down Hillel instead of staying up on Karen Hayesod! I kept saying OH NO, OH NO! Because I know I would have been really made to think I had to take one more hill…

But it was ok because King David has suddenly become less steep than it used to be...

They all rode in the gate and I hopped out and walked in. I never got to thank Dave because he left right after that…

They cut the ribbon and everyone walked in leaving their bikes behind. I found Ross in the crowd and we hugged a long time. A videographer came over and asked what we were so emotional about. I said it was because I had gotten hurt-but that was just the simple obvious reason.

There were so many things to be emotional about then-having done it, having been hurt, being together for a year, everything we struggled so hard to for to get there, all we had each gone through getting through the ride, the sadness of being done, the joy of being done…ultimately, the video guy asked a dumb question…or, maybe just an unanswerable one

It is like that on these big adventures…how do you explain to someone else the rawness of it? The basic- living in a world that is all body and emotion? It is so uncomplicated which makes it so intense. There is no buffer of distraction between your bodily experience and your brain

For 5 days there was nothing else other than aching legs, burning muscles, panting lungs, beating hearts, mind games to overcome the rigidity of the experience which would not let any of us leave our bodies for a moment-the battle between body and brain, between reality and expectation, between fear and strength

It is impossible to explain those things to people who were not there in a short one word answer

How was the ride? Everyone asks. The best I can say is, Fine.

And people know I am lying or over simplifying and I know that I cannot explain it much better than that but I am happy they ask and they are happy I try to answer by telling some quippy moment from along the way.

Day Four:
Today, we got up early in Netanya (we always get up early…)
When we rode out of the kibbutz and the weather looked bad. I have never had to ride in the rain and I thought today might be the day...but alas, worried readers, it was not.

We had climbs that day and I was having nightmares we would be riding into headwinds AND rain (like last year)

I had my big fall in the morning on a dirt path. I was not clipped in because the people in front of me stopped. But, when I went to put my foot down, I got caught on my clip and pulled myself down to the ground. It was sort of funny. I fell hard and wanted to just lie there for a second. Everyone riding by stopped to ask what was wrong. Avi came up and said, "Rachael, Rachael, talk to us-what did you do? What hurts?" in his heavy Israeli accent. He was worried so I got up.

I rolled over and said, "I fell!" And that I had skinned my knee and my elbow. Dave the medic came up and looked at it and proceeded to wipe the dirt out of my open wound. AAHHH!!! At this point, I sprang to action and began trying to fight him off (this was all in play and good fun since I was fine). Dave then picked me up by my good leg and began holding me upside down.

We all laughed. Dave then asked if I wanted a band aid and I laughed more because when Matt had done the same thing a few days earlier, Dave had refused to give him one. I refused to take one. Too proud for antibacterial stuff!

In the morning, I rode with Neil a great deal.
At one point, we were left behind with Dave, Itai and Zvi and no one knew which way to go. Finally we were found and caught up but being left behind did not feel so great. We had fun together though, being silly about it-which-you have to do…I mean, what else is there in that moment other than to laugh at it, wait until you know where to go and go? I was anxious to get rolling but the whole situation was pretty ridiculous. I mean, we were with the experts and they did not know where to send us!

Then we began to climb and I was riding with Neil and Karen. I had such a great time with the 2 of them. The climbing was hard but we stuck together. We hit the off road section and Neil's chain fell off his bike as we began climbing. I stopped and waited for him. It was a cool moment to feel strong enough in the middle of a climb be able to wait for someone else, to feel committed to someone else to wait, to have him be thankful for not having to climb alone and that I did not have to climb alone either.

So, we climbed these hills-some of the impossibly steep (hence-more pictures of me walking my bike up hills. We climbed up to lunch at the top of some beautiful look out place. Plus, we were just south of Ben Gurion Airport so we were treated to quite a how at lunch with the airplanes landing.

Howie took silly pictures of me standing and announcing the evening activity as these HUGE planes flew overhead and no one could hear me.

Claire’s knee was kicked at that point and she rode in the car the rest of the day-poor girl. It sucked but she took it in stride. She seemed to know that she needed to rest and so she rested. I took Claire’s bandana so some part of her would make it the whole way

Neil, Karen and I kicked the @#%!* out of those hills up to Yozma

The last hill was really long and as we rode up, I was looking at each person and thinking about what I knew about each of them and what they were struggling with-Jean, for example, who could not train at all because of her hurt shoulder-who walked her bike sometimes-but who kept on going and kept on going. Each person was there for a reason and to wrestle with something and I sat back and watched as it was happening and it was a beautiful thing to see

We climbed and climbed into the late afternoon and rolled up to cheering pre school-ers at Congregation Yozma who gave out card stock medals to everyone

Jean and I went to the bathroom and as I stood and waited for her, the kids came to meet me. I was talking with a whole bunch of three year olds-one little boy asked me in Hebrew, who are you? And I told him. Then he asked who was in the bathroom. And I told him. Then he asked, is she making kakki? I told him I did not know but he could ask her when she came out and I laughed and laughed because he was so sweet and earnest in his curiosity

While I waited, I was standing in front of a mirror at 3 year old height so I had a good look at my legs which were pretty messy-cut, bruised, scraped…it felt great!
They had a little ceremony for us and then there was an optional ride from Yozma to Neve Shalom

I did not even think twice about doing it-OF COURSE! I rode the extra
I was so excited and impressed with Karen because she came too and I did not think she would. She is pretty incredible. I really admired her commitment and her ability to push herself hard.

As we left Yozma, my camelback leaked all over the back of my shirt so I threw it in the back of Dave’s tractor and then was without food or water-but I knew it was not a long ride. Brian actually took it and threw it in the back of the tractor for me which was super kind of him.

We rode and rode up some long big hills. Coming down one of them, I realized that I needed to ride alone for a minute and for about three seconds, as I rode down that hill, I had a clear vision of exactly who I am. That I am a balance of many things; that I can be both giver and taking, stronger and weaker, for my self and for others…And I sang-I do not remember what I sang, but in memory it feels like that version of psalm 150 I like so much…this Monday when I was in shul and we sang it, I closed my eyes and I was there again on that hill… I cannot remember exactly how it felt, but I remember that I felt it and it felt pure.

The last bit was straight up into Neve Shalom and some pretty rough terrain-very steep. I was riding up one section and I could not get my bike to shift out of the middle into the granny gear. I was working so hard to get up this hill!! And I was laughing because it was ridiculously hard. But I did it!!

Near the top, I was going too slowly and had to step off my bike but was still clipped in and almost-but did not-fell. I found that whenever I was falling, I began screaming and shouting-no, no, no!! I refused the gravity and I refused the fall until I stayed standing. I was in front of 2 jeeps full of military guys so I was extra happy I had not wiped out there.

I made it the whole way with some great climbers. As long as I kept going it was fine-stopping hurt my knee terribly so whenever we had a break, I tried to just keep rolling around in little circles just to keep things moving. It got to be much easier doing that.

We finally made it to Neve and we were EXHAUSTED!! (well, I was!) I took a luke-warm shower (feh!) and then went to dinner which was pretty tasty but not fabulous (good soup though!)

We organized a fun evening program/talent show which was great. Everyone met in the theatre and we all did our various skits and songs. We watched some video on the video projector and the slide show. The whole thing was wonderful-really and I think people really enjoyed.

I did a skit with Michael Loftus about the 10 commandments of the ride. We enacted coming upon a can can of Izoton (energy drink) which was not consumed (held by Howie) someone yelled out, hey Howie, where is your spigot? It was so funny! Michael Snyder then did the Gd voice over and read off the commandments. Oded had everyone write verses to IMPJ to the tune of YMCA.

And then we revealed the Gamad Anaks-Neil was mine-Everyone seemed so excited and pleased with the gamad anak thing! It was fun to watch it be revealed and to feel like we (Ross, Oded and I) had done something wonderful together-I felt like the three of us really contributed to the building of a really cool community

Then we all went to bed

I woke up (as most nights) in the middle of the night to pee several times. Each time I woke up, I tested my knee first to see how it was and it seemed fine every time. At one point, I figured it was not worth going back to bed, but then I checked the time and saw it was 3 am and thought it might be worth it to rest a little bit more… ;)

Day Three
I skipped shacharit and had a long breakfast with Jean. We enjoyed some Rachael oatmeal together. Rachael oatmeal would be my own, homemade, high fiber, oatmeal goodness which I love.

We biked out of the city to this beautiful path along the water which reminded me of Cambridge. There were even people rowing crew. We stopped by a zoo and Guy took my picture with an emu or a gnu or some other oddly spelled, exotic animal. This part is not like Cambridge as exotic animals with any spelling cannot live in Boston.

I found out that Michael Snyder had a love for the movie "Animal House" and he began giving out Delta Tau Kai names which was so funny

Karen and I had another pee break with Orly while we waited and waited for 4 year in Israel students from the Carmel program and from Tel Aviv University to join us for the day. I think it was cool that they came along, but it was a little bit frustrating because they did not seem to be entirely prepared. For example, I do not think they had water or snacks. And they seemed to be dressed in clothes for a 20 minute ride and not a day-long work out.

We rode onto this off-road space which was extraordinarily fun for me. I really LOVED it

I fell off my bike when some of the new kids stopped on the hill in front of us and did not step out of the way-they did not know the trail etiquette. I was still clipped in so I fell over.

When I fell, I just laid still for a while so as not to do anything unexpected and move into someone else’s way. Dave came up-he was worried about why I was lying in the trail. But I was fine. It was a nice little breather.

I then rode all the way from the back to the front. They could not go fast enough for me and it was quite a feeling of accomplishment to feel adept in that space

But I wore myself out though.

We sadly came to the end of the off road-ing fun
We were lost a lot and had to turn around and wait often

Ross got a flat tire which meant more waiting. But while we waited, Yotam showed us these flowers we could eat which tasted like sourpatch kids. I still like sour patch kids better, but it was fun having the little treat in the middle of nowhere

Neil and I rode together a great deal and I really enjoyed getting to talk with him and be with him while riding. I think the world of him as a rider and spending time with him as another rider was a treat.

We had to bike through some water and I almost made it across with Karen, but then I hit a rock (see the video). On the video, you can hear Karen asking me if I want to go back and try it again with her and I say NO!
I was too wet

We had al ha eish BBQ with Eyal which was lovely. It was so nice to see him and the food was tasty!!!!!

On the way there, Jen, one of the guest bikers, bonked (had an energy shortage)

At lunch, I went with Karen, Dalya's assistant, not the rider, to get snacks from the car so that everyone could have for the afternoon. I was worrying that people were not carrying enough snacks. I had given all of mine away to people who were without.

We rode on the street after lunch and I put myself up at the front with the pace car which tired me out more. I was trying to drag off the car but our driver was not driving smoothly enough at our slow speed for me to do so without thinking I was going to bonk into the car so I hung back a bit and rode as close as I could with Yonotan.

We stopped at the end of the road section and got scratched by the prickers when going to pee

My knee was really hurting and I was just wiped out

Mickey and I rode together a long time and I do not think I would have gotten through to the end of the day without out him
We talked about Judaism and Reform v. Conservative
Towards the end of the day coming into Netanya, I was really hurting to be done
Between my knee and riding so hard all afternoon, I was pooped!

We finally made it to our kibbutz (YAY! I was so happy!)

We all showered and changed and I prepared for the next day
I ran into Jonathan Shapiro in the hotel lobby…that was random-and really nice to see him. He was there doing staff training for the camp he is now the director of.

We went to dinner and I was not doing so hot
My knee hurt and I was hungry and I felt all out of it and loopy
For dinner, I had fish-Musht-so it was all in one piece with the head still on-Now, I am not against deboning a fish so I can eat it myself-but I was SOO hungry-having to take the time to debone whe all I wanted to do was get some calroies in my body was painful!!

After dinner (which I did not eat until 8:30 at which point I was about ready to pass out) I went straight to sleep after I massaged my leg a bit with Michael Snyder’s golf ball (very clever to bring that along! It worked great…)
I was happy to go to sleep

It was also election night and most people were gathering in the lobby to watch the results but I was too beaten up by the day

Hey, it happens. The morning had been so wonderful, I did not mind being so tired by the end of the day. I knew I would wake up refreshed and ready for the next morning. (Well, at least, I HOPED I would!)

Day Two: To Tel Aviv

Up early (6:30) and out the door
Breakfast in the dining hall-always an adventure
Slept cold and hungry-not good
My left knee was hurting because of the clipless keeping it locked into some odd position while biking (Not to mention the repeated motion of biking all day) I went to have Zvi fix the clip on my shoe and he re did all the cables on my bike-he decided the whole system was junk...and he was right. This of course happened just as it was time to leave for the day. So, I was leaving late
Karen, Claire and Mickey all waited for me (It turns out everyone was waiting for all of us at the gate, but I did not know this). I felt so loved and supported to have all these people waiting for me.

My sunglasses broke as I was waiting for my bike repair and Karen, Dalya's assistant, not the biker, gave me hers for the morning :) She was really sweet about it since she did not want to but knew riding without them would be killer for me...how kind of her!

By lunchtime, I was spent! I barely had any energy for anything. I did not even want to run the mixers at lunch but did so anyway with Ross
We had people stand in 2 concentric circles and talk for a minute and then rotate and meet the next person. Looking at the video of it after, it was so fun. People really seemed to enjoy.

I got my avocado and crackers for lunch! Yifat, who had all the food, was so good to me!! She took great care to make sure I could eat at all the meals.

In the afternoon I had a little more energy but not a lot
Coming into Tel Aviv, I rode with Karen quite a bit
We talked about kashrut, what we were thankful to Gd for (like legs that work so they could be sore), then we hit the dunes and had to carry our bikes up steep, sand hills which was funny. I mean, here we are riding4reform...except we were shlepping4reform instead...I am glad we all still had our sense of humor because carrying a bike up a sand dune is tiring!

Karen and I took Orly (Orly is blind and rides tandem) to go to the bathroom and I felt I was becoming better friends with her and a person she was coming to trust and turn to which felt good. Plus, guiding a blind person through shrubbery while trying not to fall in the shrubbery is an interesting challenge I was not expecting to face on this trip!! :)!

We then rode into Tel Aviv and I was dragging. I had some gu which was gross and I spit it out. That stuff is just scary! It is this stuff the consistency of icing which you suck out of a small packet. It is full of carbs and sugar and all kinds of ingredients which I cannot pronounce, let alone spell. Who knows what is in it, but it is nothing natural and I like all natural.

I hung out with Guy (who is 17) who was so funny. He said his ass had fallen off and I told him I would carry it the rest of the way for him! He was fun and riding with him made the time a little easier

We rode past the US consulate and up the familiar streets of Tel Aviv

Ross tried to get on one of the buses which was funny

It was exciting to be in the city

When we came to our hotel at 5:30 or so, we were all beat! It felt so good to get in that shower! I took a very long, very hot shower and watched as the water ran with mud and I thought back to my hiking days...

Rachel Crossley, Ross, Daniel and Brian went down to the beach to go swimming in the Med and I thought they were nuts! Plus, the cold water would have destroyed my tired muscles.

It was good to be off the bike

I got BenGay form Matt for my right knee which was beginning to be troublesome...(ominous, foreshadowing music here...)

Dinner was delicious!
I sang my Amoeba song to Brian, Josh and Karen. They asked me to sing to Howie from his gamad which was really fun and silly-When I stood in front if him and serenaded him, I forgot all the words eventhough I had just sung the song a minute before.

People were gamad/anaking quite a bit which was great!
There was an evening program which I skipped. I think Dalya was frustrated by that, but I was just too tired

Neil, Claire, Ross, Karen and I went for a walk to the beach
I got “caught” in the revolving door because I was too tired to push it any further and it ran out of momentum

We did not quite make it to the sea because we did not want to climb down and, then later, back up the stairs. But we saw the water and it was pretty!

Neil bought a magnum bar on the way back

We were at the part of the beach where I went on my first Israel trip and where I have been many times since. It was cool to connect to all those moments and add this one as well.

People were doing capoeira there and eating dinner. I made a little scene about not wanting to go down the stairs by shouting and resisting Ross and Neil who wanted to go down. (I did not mind going down, it was the up that I wanted to avoid!)

I laughed alot
Back to the room and then to bed

DAY ONE
March 26, 2006

Opening Ceremony in Jerusalem
It was so good to see everyone!

How am I feeling?
Nervous? Not really-mostly excited (although, see my post on the R4R blog...apparently, I gave a sense of being nervous which made everyone ask me if I was feeling alright...)

We Sat around a long time and I got bike tuned up-the brakes are a little...questionable...but with Itai on the case, I know I am fine

I had left my gloves on bag and the bag went under bus so while everyone was settling in the for the ceremony, I was frantically pulling bags off the bus trying to find mine. Since I had been a good girl and gotten there early, my bag was on the bottom...of course. But eventually, I got them. Phew! A ride for a day without gloves would have been disasterous!

We Rode all day-mostly down hill and on street
Rode through the zoo and the path we are familiar with which was comforting since we, team HUC, had done it so many times before on our way up to the Kennedy Memorial
Because I was feeling so at home, I felt like I could be a cheer leader and help and support others which was a radically different feeling from the year before where I thought I was just going to fall apart from the moment it started until the moment it ended (well, any moments in there where I was on the bike...)

We rode down the path we came up last year (which I did not know at the time) I think there might have been something poetic about that...I rode the whole way down this time...as opposed to last year where David S. and I walked up the whole way...:) but boy did we have fun

Charlie fell off his bike and needed to go get stitches right off the bat. After last year, I was so worried for him. (Last year, Charlie, age 72, had to leave the ride and be hospitalized for overhydration...yes, that actually happens!) I thought Charlie was back in an effort to prove that he could do this. When he fell, Dave the medic said he was done riding but Charlie hung in. He rode all day, stopped for stitches, came back and rode right through to the end. What a trooper and an inspiration. I think he is crazy in a way I really admire

Matt had his clipless (clipless are those things on your shoes which allow you to clip into your pedals. Why it is called clipless is beyond me. Neil swears that this is the proper terminology) fall (I had mine a few days before the ride and left a shiner on my left thigh!! Woo that was pretty!) and Dave the medic would/did not give him much medical attention-pretty much told him to rinse it off...Matt was not pleased, but was a trooper and kept on

Rode with Claire and Karen a bunch and was feeling really strong-I got to show them to ride standing up and it was fun being with the girls

Rode along the water way which was lovely. I enjoyed the ride and getting used to riding again after a one month break.

At lunch, Ross and I ran a mixer; Sock game
We all laughed and smiled a lot. I felt like everyone was learning the names quickly which meant we were doing our cruise ship directing jobs well.

It was freezing cold at lunch, however because it was 3 pm when we ate! We stopped for snack on the side of the rode at lunch time. (Did we leave late or just ride really slow?) When we were pulled over, some guy was very angry at us for blocking the road and he began shoving Boaz around

We got in to the kibbutz at 6:00 just as sun was setting and immediately did shacharit while stretching. Matt had been left behind when he pulled over to pee and was, needless to say, upset. I think it was a rough first day for him, but he took it in stride so well. It was great to see.

During Dinner, I handed out gamad anaks (giants and midgets-everyone had someone else on the ride they were responsible for and had to do nice things for like give out candy or something creative) and people started getting into it and doing cute things (like one person gave someone else a chicken drumstick in a ice cream bowl as dessert)

Dinner was, as all meals were, a little difficult for me since I cannot eat so much of the food. I started of by trying to carb load, but found that messed up my system so I went back to my usual eating style of veggies primarily and felt a whole lot better.

Ross sat with the computer and people blogged. I did not get or make an opportunity to do that which I was sad about, but I was just too tired.

There was a speaker who told some interesting stories about how the land we were in got to be settled, but his English was not so good and people were very tired so had a hard time tuning in to him. Dalya served beer and that made everyone feel very good!

In the room with Rachel-she showered while I organized for the next day which then became my routine for the week. While she talked with Doug, Ross and Dalya and I sat out in front of my room and talked and hung out. It felt good to be able to step back and analyze all that was going on. Ross had to stay up until 11 to do a phone call with riders doing a parallel ride in the USA-poor guy...in the end, I doubt it was worth it. It sounded like the US riders were preoccupied with the ride they were about to do to appreciate a phone call from Israel, let alone from a tired rider.

Rachel and I were going to bed, I put in ear plugs as she took her hearing aids out-what a strange moment.

Asleep by 10:30, up at 6:30 NICE

Riding4Reform

March 25, 2006
Day negative one:
The night before, we had Havdallah at Ross' for anyone in town who wanted to meet. We had 15 people in Yemin Moshe for nosh and dessert. It was wonderful to have a chance to meet some new people, see some old people and give everyone the chance to talk a little about how they were feeling about the ride beginning the next day.

After, Dave Cohen, Rachel Crossley and I went down to Ben Yehuda to get some last minute supplies. We all got matching necklaces and bracelets (big blue-beaded ones) and one for Ross as well. We should have also gotten one for David Singer, I think. I miss him...

We got Rachel settled up at Matt Sofers because she is allergic to Ross' cats and we all crashed out for one last night of good sleep before (dun, dun, dun...cue dramatic music) THE RIDE!