flavours of life...

this weekend was about getting the bike garage (or "hall of bikes") relocated to our new house. my father came and helped building the whole construction once again. they were all there:

the 9.9 singlespeed and the 8500 race bike.

the madone road bike and the gary fisher rig singlespeed.

and the vintage 9800, do not forget. Moran's 4500 wsd and my redline monocog 29 singlespeed also attended... i think i almost got it all covered. almost. there is yet another 29er on the horizon. a carbon one... yummm.

off the grid...

the little episode i had on tuesday reminded me of how fragile our body is. somtimes its hard for me, as an athlete, to listen to my body, and just let go. you know, the training plan, the racing calendar and such...

so i decided to let go a little, and listen to my body... i will lay low for a while. a few easy days will just do good for my body and mind.

we'll work on the house this weekend, and enjoy the wintery (is that a word?) weather.

next week- back with vengeance!

meanwhile...

yesterday, after a hard workout (2x25 minutes climbs), i felt bad. real bad. my head was aching like never before. i felt like i was about to faint or somthing... i had to lay down and let it go away. my babe came to the rescue. i feel great now, but it was frighetning, really.

Elmo moved to the new house, too. this is him laughing, as we busted our asses carrying stuff into the house. bastard.

and of course- big kudos to Itay, for finally popping the question. Adi said yes. wooohooo.

Adi, by the way, is not in the picture. Itay is the guy with the NOSE, obviously...

sun's out again.

its that in between time. you know what i'm talking about- the rain has stopped, the sun's out, and the trails are just dry enough to be ridden again. perfect.

so the kids i train were out there, climbing the dry rocks with their moisty and muddy tires. slippery stuff.

and after days of cloudy skies, you can actually see the sunset at 17:40 or so...

i hear its about to rain again this weekend. racing in the rain is always a treat. a dog's treat.

road mud.

on friday, the Shap and i went on an epic 5 hour road ride, climbing to the highest part of the carmel mountains, from 3 different roads. the weather was great, but some early morning rain left the roads in muddy conditions.

it was awesome, going on a road ride like this, starting right at the doorstep of our new house...

meanwhile, this week will be mostly house organizing, and on friday- the first cross country race of the season- single speed style!! woohooo.

dust to dust?

yesterday was the most polluted day ever! a wall of dust came from the african deserts, and filled the israeli air with dust particles from hell. there is nothing like a hard workout, while breathing sand into your lungs. phew...

everything about last night was symbolic. the village in which i've lived since the day i was born, was left behind. the house in which i've lived. my family. my parents. oogie, the fat bastard.

its a new chapter in my life. into the future i go. and i must say- it looks bright and shiney.

Have you seen this bike?

# its sentimental value is very high.
# it was stolen in a despicable and insulting manner.

# the decent finder will be rewarded.

if you've seen this bike- please contact:

00-512-2368820

ask for lance...

keep on moving...

went for an easy spin, after yesterday's 3X20 minutes of hard workout. the legs are a little spent, but the wet double tracks, and the beatiful skies make up for the sore muscles.

today i'm moving some stuff out of this house, and it is the end of a (short) era. i moved here exactly 6 months ago, and i've loved every minute of this house. it will truly be missed.

meanwhile, the reader radar is getting filled. sorry for posting about it so much, but knowing that people from all over read what i write, and look at my pictures is very exciting and fulfilling.

i want to be big in japan!

a key element.

this is a key. it seems like an ordinary key, and it works like one, too... but it is not just any ol' key. its the key to our new house. its a key to the future, and it is so exciting...
tomorrow i will start moving some stuff from my house to our new one.
meanwhile i went for neither of my aforementioned proposals, and i'm going to train on my own today. hmm.

in wine we trust!

i think my alcohol absorbency has sky rocketed or somthing of that sort, otherwise i can't explain how drinking alot does not effect me one bit. or maybe i'm too wasted to see just how drunk i am..?

its raining again, and i ponder the possibility of going down south for tomorrow's training session. be'eri seems like a great idea...

although i did promise the Shap i would train with him tomorrow... oh, the choices i have to make are killing me!

the daily grind..?

riding bikes and writing about bike related issues never really feel like a JOB, so the fact that every day of the week feels like the weekend, is a virtue i need to appreciate and savour...

the racing season is about to start, and i need to pick and choose my races. there will be some very long single speed races, some short xc races i will race with my ss, and a few geared xc races. if i'm fast enough, i might even make it to the national team again...

meanwhile, my readers from around the globe are emerging. this counter counts different IP's, so each and every reader is a new one. good. we'll see how far the things i write here actually reach. it made it all the way to thailand !!

out and about.

Moran and I went to a good friend's wedding last night. it was like a fricking reunion, with loads of people whom i hadn't seen in years. i ate so much meat...

so today, in order to burn all those nasty calories, we went riding in Horshim. the weather is great, and the trees are in bloom. in this case they grew a couple of trek bikes. an 8500 and a new 4500 WomenSpesificDesign bike...

It was just the right size for my baby ! so we picked it right from the tree, and went riding.

new bike. a great start for the weekend.

nature rules !

we can all be sarcastic and laugh at those toyota prius smug drivers, but truth is, its getting harder and harder to find true, open, natural spaces. the little we have is replaced by buildings and noisy roads...

the places we ride in, are the last open spaces in israel, and riding is by far the best way to explore each and every remote area of the country.

this flower (i'm really really bad with flower names, please help) grows in our new house's front yard. nice, eh?

election day.

somthing is definitely wrong with the israeli election process. i mean, how many parties does a country need? there is no way a government can actually rule and navigate when it needs to satisfy so many small groups.

so i voted. it was hard choosing the right card, and i got really confused. so i took all of them, and stuffed everything in the envelope. someone won.

and this is what my friend, Ben, thinks of the election process. yeah, i know he's hairy, but i forgot my camera at his place, and this was on it when i got it back. hairy bastard.

mud fest 09'

the weather in israel right now is not far off the political climate... its changing constantly. the heat and dust storms of the past few days, have been replaced by a nasty hail storm and very high winds.

time to go ride, then! it was awesome. the hail hit so hard, i had to hide under a tree, and the mud was so deep, that i actually waited for the sky to start pouring the rain.

i was singing out-loud between the drops. really. huh!

whats this?

i got my trek 8500 racing bike out of its winter sleep, and worked on it so it'll be ready for some racing. i love this bike's geometry and quick handling, and the color scheme is so "working class hero"...

but wait !! what are these little thingys hanging on the handlebars? they're so ugly looking... what are they for?

and there seem to be an awful lot of cogs in the back !! do you really need that many?

i only use one all the time... technology will kill us all some day, i tell ya'.

feel the heat.

i think its the hottest winter we have ever had in israel. the deserts are expanding, and the little green we have left, is about to be gone. the rain days are scattered, and water is running out. its like a bad action movie, without a good ending.
global warming sucks.

different views...

i finally got a visitor counter for my weblog. i've wanted one since day one, but my computer skills are extremely basic. so from now on you can all look at the right side of the blog, and see where my readers are from... there is at least one from hungary (!!?) how cool is that?

this week was all about mountain bikes. almost no road bikes in sight. it is very tiring, but its so much more rewarding than road biking, plus, it never feels like "training". its just riding really hard on your mt.bike.

my Hbar cow has the best seat in the house, no doubt, but its not honking as it used to, 'cause i crashed on it... cows, go figure...

trip retrospect.

i've been dreaming of my trips through the states, and there are a few things i miss the most. first of all- my moving house. its a state of the art "feel good" home. i must have spent more than a year of my life living in it.

second, the people i met, especially Ann and Jeff. some people just make you feel right at home. i met so many wonderful people throughout these trips, its amazing.

and the views... from the blistering heat of the deserts in nevada and utah, to the frezzing cold mountains of colorado and canada. i've loved them all.