Ori Devir has been the driving force behind the creation of the Israel National (hiking) Trail. When he heard that Todd Balf wanted to cycle the length of the trail on his mountain bike, he said "You know, if you do that I will have to shoot you."This is reported in a wonderful article by Balf in Bicycling magazine, passed to me by my friend Gregg Stern, about cycling on the Israel Bike Trail which overlaps closely with the hiking trail.
The Hazon 2007 Israel ride is now only three months away, and Jerusalem to Eilat on roads looks pretty simple compared with Balf's ride. However, nearly 300 miles in a week is a tough ride, and although I am not participating this year (nor have I done so in the past), I will be supporting many friends through sponsoring them. The ride supports Hazon and also the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, where Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and Egyptians study and work together on the regional environmental issues that know no borders.
Please consider making a general donation if you don't have specific friends to support.
Technorati: Israel National Trail cycling
3 comments:
I just re-read Balf's story of his ride through Israel; it caught my attention as I train for the Wheels of Love ride from Tiberias to Jerusalem, Oct. 28-Nov.1, 2007 benefiting the Alyn Pediatric Hospital (www.alyn.org).
Balf's ride is amazing. Do you know of any group that organizes such a ride?
JD
JD - Hazon www.hazon.org organizes bike rides in Israel each year ... not quite as rigorous as Balf's but pretty exciting. Contact me at by email if you want to hear more: richard at-sign hazon dot org
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