Mud mud no glorious mud
no mud to stick to our wheels
So follow me down the road
And avoid that glorious mud
Hello my fellow Cyclenix bike riders,
After all these years of managing to get out of writing the write up (usually because I was working weekends writing), I have finally been roped into it.
I am sitting at Landwer Coffee and have just heard that the other half of the group are at ArcCaffe.
Guys, we really have to work on sticking together. It is much more fun when we're all together.
Here we have John, Rafi, Haim, Arik, Beni, me and a new rider with us from Modiin named Leora initially from Canada. Welcome to Cyclenix.
Can't name the people at the other restaurant because I’m not there, but I know that Talia is there, with Leonardo and two new Venezuelan guys. Leonardo's wife was here with us looking for him.
Very noticeably missing were David, Ingrid, Ted and Michal. John is with us but without his breakfast buddy. We all wish them the best
So we were missing our two ends, the leader David and the sweep Ted.
We rode our normal route and went around Udim. About 32 km
Special thanks to Merril for leading us and showing us some new detours.
Today 23 of us congregated at 7:30am in the parking lot of the Herzog High School in Kfar Saba, for a ride planned by Arye.
We set out along Ben Yehuda Street, turning left at the Derech Ha’Poel junction onto Zamir Street. We then rode out into the fields through Derech Ha’Movil Ha’Artzi, or National Carrier path, so called because underneath this unassuming dirt road runs the biggest water pipe in the country, responsible for channeling water from the Sea of Galilee to the center of Israel.
Continuing through the fields along Highway 5503, we bypassed Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu and crossed Highway 5504 next to the Camille Restaurant (where we didn’t stop). We cycled by some fascinating excavations recently discovered during construction work for a railway line, and after that, passed the domed tomb of Shimon Ben Ya’akov. We rode through Kibbutz Eyal and along the southern edge of Tzur Yigal, coming across a plaque among the trees called ‘Meeting Place of Friends’, erected in memory of two young friends from Tzur Yigal. We made a U-turn around Kochav Yair and returned on our tracks in a south-westerly direction adjacent to Highway 6, until we had again reached Nir Eliyahu and Kfar Saba.
The ride was interesting from a historical point of view, and we stopped to inspect the various relics. It was also quite challenging, with a few tough up-hills, one very steep down-hill, and some rocky patches. There was one puncture (mine), a negligible amount of sand, two very unfriendly dogs, and lots of chatting and laughing. Arye did a great job of taking the lead for the first time, with backup from Shaike who made sure that the front of the group didn’t actually succeed in shaking off the back!
To summarize, it was a great ride of 33 kilometers, in a varied and unfamiliar environment, with the usual good company.
Participants: 30 (which approaches our record number) which included Leo's son Phillipe, and Gil and his son Misha who joined us for the first time. Welcome to the three of you and we look forward to your riding with us again soon
Route: The rainy conditions earlier in the week made it possible to ride two sections which we need to avoid in the summer, which made a welcome variation. See our route in Google Photos Album of today's ride (note: includes to and from Kfar Saba)
Ride Conditions: Near perfect weather for riding, hardly any sandy or muddy sections. Overall distance 34 km.
Bottom Line: An enjoyable ride - great company!
A fresh and early start
for all the brave of heart;
Cyclists, geared and ready
upon their bicycles steady.
And off we set
Through fields decidedly wet,
Along the Nahal Ra'anana canal
encircling Basra and Tel Izhak in high morale.
Past Agam Udim and a new watery ditch
Gentle meanders via Nahal Poleg's bamboo pathways
With nary a delay, we stopped for a snack and kibbitz
Onwards through Yakum Park, via some well inspected avocado groves
Finally heading back towards coffee at Landwer in our droves.
It should be noted, young John, managed to climb
An extra hill in his excitement to reach Landwer in record time!
He blamed another for his little navigation rumpus
I say in response: time for a compass?
Upon our arrival we did somehow chase away
A nearby table of genteel walkers
(Was it our smell that rid us of gawkers?)
So with swathes of space we were then spoilt with many sweet delights in honour of Anna's birthday.
So many happy returns to Anna on your special day!
And please, next week would all Cyclnixers remember to include a tip when they pay!
The rooms were all booked, weekend plans with family or other Cyclenix members were made and we all headed up to the far north for our Cyclenix weekend up north led by Eli Set.
Friday afternoon was supposed to be an easygoing flat ride around the Dan Hatsbani area with amazing scenery. Thanks to global warming, weather in Israel is not as predictable as it used to be. Just a couple hours before the ride, the heavens decided to let all hell loose. Pouring rain, flooded streets and fields and hail! Yes bloody hail! I was in my car heading south after my morning ride when this happened.
Definitely not cycling conditions.
So the hard decision had to be made and the Friday afternoon ride was cancelled. A bit of a bummer but it definitely was the right decision.
So we all met at our meeting point in Gadot. We were 16 Cyclenixers since a few had to cancel their weekend plans with us for various reasons.
With a bit of a late start Eli introduced himself and we were on our way. The scenery was amazing and every so on, Eli stopped t
o give us geographical and historical explanations about the area we were in.
From Gadot we headed towards Machanayim and Ayelet Hashachar, random walkers and runners all seemed to recognize Eli and all greeted him. I guess besides being a brand name in the mountain biking community he is also somewhat of a celebrity in the area.
We were warned of 300 meters climbing that really isn’t a lot over a 30 kilometer ride. Somehow all of the climbing parts were in on or two spots so they were surely felt.
We did have a couple mishaps. Ingride who is very gracefully modelling her new pink and turquoise 27.5 lust with SLX components, missed a tree branch that was sticking out and was rudely pushed off of her bike. I have to say it was one of the most elegant falls I have ever witnessed. She got a bit of attention from her chivalrous husband who iodized and bandaged her finger.
Yael seemed to be riding a bit slow which was explained by her tire losing air. At some point we were told that she has a puncture and Uri helped her fix it. Later on she had another puncture and once again it was fixed. This time the fixing and jiffa did the job and she could ride on all the way through Hulata, Yesod Hama'Ala and back to Gadot.
I tracked 33.8 kilometers with a 373 meters of climbing.
Even though half of our plans were cancelled, the mishaps and the ride not being too easy with the hot hours that we ran into it was yet another great ride to be written in the Cyclenix log.
There were quite a few requests for more rides up north led by Eli so we hope we can turn this into a more regular event. Thank you Eli for your offer to lead us on a ride in your area, for the choice of route, and above all else, a great biking experience for us all.
Participants: 25 which included Yoav who joined us for the first time. Welcome and we look forward to your riding with us again soon
Route: One of our more regular routes but considering the time of year relatively sand-free. For details see my GPS data (but note: this includes the extra distance from Kfar Saba back to Kfar Saba) on the following link: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2868555280
Ride Conditions: Early morning cloud cover helped to provide ideal riding conditions. A good pace, despite 25 riders, enabled us to end our ride before temperatures began to rise into the 30s.
Bottom Line: An enjoyable ride – great company! Shavua Tov to all.
28 of us gathered to ride into the blue yonder - no clouds, no wind - a perfect summer day. Christine (from Switzerland) joined us - good for her as she cycled to Raanana from Jaffa! And back again after our stop at Arcaffe. We hope you will join us again before going off to wheel around Ethiopia. Since Succhoth is a day away, there is the feeling of holiday all about - people enjoying the last of summer before (hopefully) winter sets in.
We went as far as the beach near to Udim (no swimming today) where we stopped for a break to see the sea and shmooze a bit. We covered around 36 km - well done to Yoavi (our youngest member by a looooong shot) for keeping up and doing so well in the sand.
Some rode home and others went to Arcaffe to refuel.
So, lets sing along with Cliff Richards and his Summer Holiday:
We're going on a summer cycle ride
No more working for an hour or two
Fun an laughter on our ride away
No more worries for me and you
For an hour or two.
We're going where the sun shines brightly
We're going where the sea is blue
We've been there before
And it's good for me and you
To All Cyclenix Members Friday April 13, 2018
An Important Message:
To all Cyclenix members
Throughout the years that Cyclenix has been riding together, the group has always been organized by the same members. W...
CLICK HERE for the whole story
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Over time was involved in a variety of sports :
The Cyclenix Group My Away-Away biking history:
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If you have any questions or want to get in touch for any reason, feel free to get in touch with David or John:
Email: jcandy@inter.net.il
David: 054-474-1424
John: 050-942-2788
New riders always welcome to join us.
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