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.
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.
posted by Rachael M. Bregman at 12:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home