XC Racer Blog Post

There's no jungle in Israel...

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BY: Will Cooper

Published: 24th March, 2011


This trip started back on a freezing cold training ride in December when we decided that it would be a good idea to move on to Israel after our usual Cyprus training camp this year. After all it's not that far from Cyprus to Israel and it would be a great opportunity to look for some crucial World Cup points as well as seeing a new country.

It was tough to organise with accommodation not so easy to come by, hire car insurance issues and a lot more safety precautions to take when moving around the country.

After nearly two weeks and 4 races in Cyprus we left the other riders behind and took a one hour flight across to Tel-Aviv and were pleasantly surprised by the modern airport. Security asked a few questions and it was clear that you must be on best behaviour when making your way through the entire checking in procedure.

 

So far so good, we picked up the hire car, which took a while and then got out our new map of Israel for the "easy drive" along the coastal road from Tel-Aviv to Haifa, where we would be staying for the next two weeks. An hour went by and still no sign of either the sea or a place name that we recognised, we floated through a check point that we had read about in the guide book with no worries and then things seemed to suddenly get a bit spooky. The large roads dried up and the villages were like graffiti covered ghost towns with a lot of dead end roads, shacks and dimly lit streets.

We had wondered into the West Bank!


Port Inn


At the time this was unbeknown to us and after some searching and feeling pretty uncomfortable at 3am in the morning we turned around and headed back the way we had arrived - however as we approached the check point we had previously floated into, we were greeted by a collection of armed soldiers! Although a bit scary they were actually quite nice and after some initial questioning showed us where we needed to go on the map. We were now on our way to Haifa and after getting lost in the streets we finally arrived at our accommodation around 5am! What a start!

Paul - Nazareth


A long lie in and some coffee and we were ready to start our Israeli adventure. We had three races in total starting with two in a row so made our way to the first of the two courses in Mishmar ha-Emek which was a real mountain biker's course. Steep ups, and technical downs, it was a pleasure to ride. After this we made our way to the Haifa course, close to where we were staying and the venue of the European Championships last year. We were not so impressed by this - it was tough but not so enjoyable, a bumpy ride in what felt like one huge rock garden.


House in Israel


Having got both courses locked in the memory we got a good nights sleep before the race at Mishmar ha-Emek the following day.

We arrived at the course early and got to the managers meeting where we planned to look for a feeder for the day as we were travelling without a coach. It was here that we met Jonathan, who fed us brilliantly for the day. Jonathan was from Leeds but has lived in Israel for the last 32 years and kindly offered us the chance to go and stay with him and his family for the day where they live in Shamir close to the Lebonese and Syrian border, just on the edge of the Golan heights.

 

The race itself was a mixed experience with Paul finishing strongly after losing a good position with a dropped chain but Ben had to retire after a crash that left him unable to pedal.

The next day was the race in Haifa and we were lucky to once again find a feeder that belonged to the same cycling club as Jonathan. Today the racing went the other way around with Ben completing the race strongly although mechanical issues stopped him from getting into a good position and Paul having to retire, exhausted from the race the day before. Both riders carried good form though and were now optimistic for the final race in Misgav.

 

After two days of racing we had a nice spin and a well deserved chill out and then planned our week ahead. Although we were here to race and that was obviously the priority - it made sense to see some of the amazing places in Israel. Nazareth was an interesting place with some rustic steep alley ways, cobbled streets and obviously full of history and religion.


Ben & Paul with Megan and team mates


Then came a day neither of us will ever forget. Having contacted Jonathan to see if his offer was still open we were delighted to be formally invited up to Shamir to go on a training ride with his daughter, Megan - a talented Junior rider hoping to forge a career in professional Mountain Biking.

 

Our drive up involved a routine stop by the Police to check our car and ask us some questions. This seems like normal practice and you tend not to


A normal sight in Israel

panic too much after the first few times. Security is tight in Israel, you are scanned and bag searched before entering every shopping mall or car park and it is a fairly usual sight to see a normal guy carrying a gun whilst out for a meal with his wife and kids!


Dining in the Kibbutz


We had heard of the word Kibbutz a few times since arriving but didn't really know what it meant. We were greeted at the entrance to the Kibbutz where Jonathan, his wife Maria and their daughter Megan live. A Kibbutz is a gated village where a community of Israeli families live. There is a huge dining area where they all eat breakfast and lunch together and some evening meals. Most of the families work inside the Kibbutz too at the factory or in the Olive fields.

 


Street riding in the rain


The weather in Israel had been very hot in the opening races but the forecast had showed that a storm was brewing and it looked like today would be the start of it! Jonathan and Megan showed us around their home and then took us for lunch in the communal dining area which had every sort of food you could possibly want before a chat around the dinner table and then we were ready to kit up and go training.


A missile from Lebanon


It was clear Megan had thought about this ride and took us to meet two friends from her team who joined us on the ride. We then visited various land marks and areas that had been hit by tragedy. This included a helicopter crash close to a neighbouring Kibbutz and a roadside cemetery marking the spot where 12 soldiers had been killed by a missile from Lebanon in the 2006 war. We also visited the local cycling shop (which had also been hit by a missile) and saw some of the young riders on Megan's team who looked pleased to see us. The bike shop owner, and Megan's trainer was a great guy who gave us a better discount on some parts we needed than the local bike shops in London!

 


Children at the local Bike Shop


The rain then started to come down hard but this was no time to go home and we continued to do a mixture of off road/on road and street riding and we saw more neighbouring Kibbutz, Forests and Cemeteries. The ride lasted for nearly 4 hours and on arriving back at the Kibbutz we were treated to a hot cup of tea, shower and then dinner before having to say a fond farewell to Megan and her family.

 It had been an amazing day, not just for the sights we had seen or the ride that we had done but the genuine people we had the pleasure of spending time with. Megan is a mature driven 16 year old who really couldn't do enough for us and will certainly have a bright future in the sport!


Paul, Ben & Megan


Finally we had a rest day and decided to take the drive down to Jerusalem to have a bit of a tourist day although in true cyclist's style, we didn't walk too much! Jerusalem is huge and takes days to see so for us a stroll around the


Aremenian Meal


old city seemed the logical thing to do. An Armenian lunch was a nice experience, as was the almost underground bustling street market. In parts it was a bit dangerous looking and in others spectacular, certainly a place you have to see.

Back to training and some bike maintenance, a bit of shopping and lots of rest ready for Misgav. This will be the final race before we return home to England to get ready for the National Series opener in two weeks time. It's been a long journey since we set off for Cyprus back in mid February but Israel has been a treat. It's different, there are no Starbucks, things close at weird times, the weekend is on different days and it is very clear this is a country with a troubled past but the people


Jerusalem


we have met are friendlier than most, and we can only hope that the troubles here are starting to go and that we can come back here to race again soon!

 

Paul Beales/Ben Roff - Orange Monkey-Cannondale





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Will Cooper

Orange Monkey Pro Team Rider

www.myorangemonkey.com

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