Lamberg Travel: Bike Ride in Israel

This was the 11th year of the Israel Bike Ride, a road bike ride through the Negev desert from Jerusalem to Eilat over 7 days from Nov 4-11 with 170 riders. I was the oldest biker, as is often the case. The route was modified from the past when it passed near Gaza to a more inland route via Be'er Sheva for obvious reasons.

I had not been to Israel for 20 years when I toured with Ryan who was there for a year-long program, Otzma. I doubt that inner Jerusalem changed much, although there is now light rail, but Tel Aviv is a modern city with 40 story tall modern condo and office buildings, while still having small bakeries, falafel shops, and funky stores. The museums are world class; it took a day each to see the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Art Museum.

Although this looks like quite a crowd, we broke up into 3 distance groups, about 30, 50, or 75 miles/day. Police watched major intersections. Each group was followed by a bus for tired riders, and an ambulance (not needed as far as I know). With so many riders, we always had someone nearby. I partnered with two old friends and rode with them most of the time, as long as they could keep up.