strange days...

one never knows what might happen to him while riding his bike. mostly he can fall hard on his face, riding a singletrack, or get hit by a passing car. he might even hug a tree...

well, an airplane crashed on me yesterday... true story. i was riding my bike, when an aerobatic plane hit the ground just 5 meters away from me. it was surreal. i pulled the pilot out of the wreckage...

he's OK, thank god (he was religious...hmmm). i was a little shaken, but it was the weirdest thing ever. whats next? an alien story? any thoughts?

single speed video...

http://www.flix.co.il/tapuz/showVideo.asp?m=3056548

this is the ss race video from last weekend.
cheers!!

house hunting...

its an easy riding week, and i am using my time to find a house for moran and i to move in to. wer'e thinking the carmel mountains area, as its close to moran's studies, and its smack in the middle of the best singletracks in the country....

also, i have my favourite road climb in israel- beit oren - just a few kilometers away.

i can't wait to live with moran in the same house. at last she'll discover that i bite me toe nails. hmm...

a freak of nature...

sometimes i forget where i am. i just grab my bike and go ride, not paying attention to the surroundings. i forget that i spend a few hours each day, outside, in the wilderness... i should be so thankful for being able to do what i do....

and for being able to see the madones in their blossom. its the peak of the madone season, and you can litteraly pick them fresh, straight from the tree.

yeah! the compost is back, didn't you know? your'e sssssso last year...

euro trip...

our euro stint looks like a world away from where we are at the moment. moran is all into working and studying, and i am exhausted from a wicked desert training camp.
oh, the 24 hour race has been totally cancelled. bummer. i'll have to make do with a 230 km race in march. singlespeed style. oh the humanity!

i said- "god damn!!"

this one will leave a mark... it was the hardest training camp i had ever been through. too many kilometers, too many climbs. i hope the mark it leaves will make me, indeed, faster.

the shap takes a wiz while a big cat is walking around. i think its a cat, i did not have my glasses with me...

it seems to be the favorite sport with the desert people of Sde Boker, this shoe throwing thing. i couldn't understand the rules, but hey, whatever makes them happy, right?

off i go again...

its another CCC team training camp... this time a rolling camp, starting in megido (a.k.a- armegaddon), riding through the jordan valley, and into the desert.

which is alot different than where moran and i were just a week ago.

i will be back on saturday, hungry as hell, and with a new tan pattern on my forehead.

600 kilometers, and i'm back. see ya'...

more singlespeed pics...

this one was taken mid race, by adi ma'ayan, a gifted photographer, no doubt.

the forests are full of flowers these days, and it so nice to ride outside every day. we should be so thankful for the awesome weather we have in Israel, and for the riding options it gives us...

this one was taken by morani- the bikes await us whilst we gulp the beers down our throats. the beer buzz came by the end of the second lap. yuk!

we'll always have Prague...

you know, i have been drinking beer for a while now, and it is really growing on me. not my beer belly, thank god, but the taste. i can even drink it very fast indeed... hey, it even helped me to win a bike race on saturday!!

prague has all kinds of architectural styles, but my favourite has to be the gothic theme. it is truly overwhelming in its darkness and attention to details. it gives me the kajivers just standing next to it.

this is a picture of whats left of the north pole. yah, its scary, i know.

i hate global warming.

Prague after thought.

spending a whole week away from my bikes made me miss riding alot more than i thought it would. i just love this sport. i like the wind in my hair (note to my self- you have no hair), the feeling of freedom, and the adrenalin of singletracking.

ofcourse, some things are not missed one bit...

ahh, the czech food. i honestly think i have gained 2 kilograms this week. no riding, fatning food, and cold weather might do that to you... never mind, i have another training camp this weekend. wednesday to saturday of hard riding will take that fat away. fingers crossed.

single speed race!

its that time of the year again, when every single speeder in israel feels the urge to get out of his comfort zone, and go kick some ass. so he gets out to a great course, drinks half a liter of disgusting beer, and rides as fast as he can for an hour...

the result? loads of drunk singlespeed riders roaming the hills and singletracks, looking all smug and cross eyed. it was funny as hell. and hard...

the atmosphere was awesome, and these people show me time and again that they are THE scene makers of the israeli biking world. i won the race, and got a boot filled with coins, making this 900 shekel win a bit of a burden...

thanx for a great race.

Prague...

the medival times are still with us, or so it seems, as you walk the freezing streets of this beutiful old city. the prague experience was only enhanced by the exterme weather condithion, and besides, it was empty of enoying tourists.

the most beautiful thing i saw in Prague.

layers. its the only thing that separates between living normally and dying of exposure. we survived- and enjoyed every minute of Prague.

wer'e back!!

no pictures yet... i will update a bunch tomorrow. it was awesome, and frrrricking cold.
tomorrow morning i am racing the infamous "drink vodka as you ride" singlespeed race. i intend to win. or puke... whatever comes first!

going abroad...

in a few minutes i'll be 28 years old... and what's better to do than celebrate it by hopping on a plane with the girl i love, and travel to europe?
so, wer'e off to Prague. we'll take it easy, and be off the grid for a few days, so i won't update the blog 'till friday. bring on the cold :)

meanwhile...

i try to hone my kids bike riding skills. its working alright, and i can take my training wheels off already. please notice that i do not have my helmet on... its ruining my low center of gravity.

ahh... surfing. drinking sea water, waiting in the freezing cold water, the shrinkage factor, the sharks, the salt in your eyes. i love surfing. the net.

we will miss these cold days so much, comes summer time, with all its heat waves and sweat fests. i love these cold clear days. keep 'em coming.

4 days to go...

4 days for our vacation in prague. i already started to look for warm clothing, as it is minus 5 degrees over there. maybe i'll eat some more junkfood in order to coat myself with another layer of fat. bring on the pizza.

hippie kids = happy kids?

it comes and goes...

the war got to Timna. all i have to do is wait. another month, then. hmm...

24 hours of this?

i'll take it. the race course is awesome! it has just the right amount of singletracks, double tracks, uphills and downhills. its in the middle of the fricking desert, right across from the Moab mountains of Jordan. 24 hours of moab? ha! 24 hours of Timna.

good. there's nothing good to watch on the TV anyway...

getting ready.

today i'm going down to the 24 hours race course, for a pre-run of the thing. it may be a 4 hour drive each way, for a 1 hour ride, but its worth it, 'cause i need to choose the right ratio for my singlespeed beast.

meanwhile, i try to eat as much as i can, and rest. i will have a week's worth of riding hours, cramped into one long day this weekend. i think i'll be fat by the time the race starts...

5 days to go...

its 5 days to d-day. 24 hours of pure pain, or pure pleasure. depends on how you look at it.

so, i took the time, and recorded with my band, right here in my house. it was easy to transform my room into a recording studio... just put some foamy acustic shit on the walls. voila'.

its a mutant. what can i say?

Peace, please.

the ongoing war in Gaza forces me to re-use some old pictures i took. War makes me sick.

a friend of mine got sent to that damn war zone. people on both sides get hurt for nothing, and it has been going on for thousands of years. fuck that.

YES- FUCK THAT.

Oops!

a CREMBO crash. if there's such a thing as a good crash- this must be it. period.

Bling!!

a few days of cold and rain are not enough to tempt me out of riding. and it is cold, considering this is Israel... i spent the last few days at Moran's, and we went out for the silvester. it was damn funny...

we found ourselves in a party where the average age was 40ish... these guys kick ass, dancing like its no one's business.

and i managed to squeeze a cold and wet ride in the Carmel mountains, on my recently renovated singlespeed. it works like a cold and wet dream.