13 and counting...

13 days to go, and my mind is only there at night, as i have too many other things to deal with on a daily basis. 2 new bikes, a whole lot of errands and the gaza strip. you heard it right.gaza strip. yesterday i watched the the pictures of dead children coming from gaza, and it ruined my day. what a sad scene.

nock nock...

i can fit a whole potato in there.
my mouth, i mean...
there is no way to make this thing sound non-sexual. sorry.

on guard.

road racing makes you grow eyes on your back. you never know where its going to come from... people jump, and you need to respond. you jump- and you try to do it silently, without making the whole frickin' peloton jump with you.
its a fine balance between being a police officer, and a thief. roadies- can't live with them, pass me the beer nuts.

its all a game...

today i was a rabbit. i helped pulling a race, riding at the front, making the first guys faster than they usually are. it was hard. my legs still have not recovered from the training camp, and the hard week i had since then. tomorrow i have a road race. a flat one, at that... i can choose- make it a hard one, by trying to escape, or an easy one, by laying low...
what will it be?

Food!

today i had a hard hard climbing session. it started out poorly, with a flat tire, and a totally useless tire. but it ended up as a great workout. 1700 meters of climbing in three 25 minute intervals. by the end i was so hungry... all i could think of was my cereals. hhmmmmm....
sweet sweet bran-flakes.

with these hands...

i don't miss a lot of people when i am away... i stay in touch with most of the important ones, so i get my weekly dosage of friend related topics.
the ones that i really miss, cannot talk.

guess who...

well, you write a description for this. i am lost.

on a horse with no name...

after three days in the desert sun- "working on my tan", got a whole new meaning. my body is covered in various colours, which represent different exposure time to our beloved "source of life"- the vicious sun. the training sessions were amazing, 465 kilometers of them. and this is the first of 3 weeks of hard work, coming my way!!!
better buy some sun screen...

time may change me...

but i can't change time. and the clocks are ticking away, with three and a half weeks to go. i have not managed to make all the arrangements yet, but one thing is already taken care of- the flight date. everything will revolve around it. i know, the clocks are showing different times...
still, theyr'e all ticking.

where i am.

this weekend i am off to another training camp\suicide attempt. the above picture represents the way i feel going into the event, all meaty and ripe, ready to go...
and this one is the way i look and feel, coming back from the 450 kilometers inferno, called: "elite training camp".
all things considered, i'd rather this over a lousy desk job.

mud issues...

took my single speed out for a mud ride. it was cold, wet and slippery, just the way it should be. the mud clearance is nothing to shout about, but nothing beats the hussle free chain line, and the quiet chutter of the drivetrain. the ride got better when the rain really started to pour, and amazingly, the mud does not stick when its too wet!!
singing in the rain. love it.

keep it simple.

its only bike racing. thats it. i have the tendency to complicate every little thing. my obsession with details is to blame. its almost like an OCD kind of thing. wake up, ride fast, go back home.
there is nothing simpler, really.

ouch!!

i forgot just how painful racing is. it is all about suffering, which is somthing i did not have enough of today. well, there are still 40-ish races awaiting me this year.
i will find my pain cave, and ride faster.
here comes the pain...

Race Ready.

the first race of the season is always an emotional one. the hard work is starting to come into play, and you don't know how your legs will feel with the rush of blood and lactic acid coming their way. my bike is definitely ready...
now its all me.bring it on...

leave a foot print...

some times i feel that one of my motivation incentives, is the will to be recognized. the will to be known. for who i am. for what i have done. the fact that i have accomplished somthing big, or the fact that i have stayed true to my way.
you do not need to change anything around you, just be sure you leave an impression on your way out...

NO DISC BRAKES..?

i know, i know...the seat does not look very comfortable, but hey, i got this bike as a present. and i love the color scheme.

if you are not a pro...

at least look like one. this amazing picture was taken yesterday, in manara, by one- lior dayan, our magazine photographer. it is for next month's piece, where i am to race amir caspi, israeli DH champ, on his own turf... i failed. DH is hard, and scary. by the fourth run, i felt more connected to the bike, and the steep-as-hell grade, and started to enjoy the first ride on a DH bike.
the hardest part? pushing the beast uphill. my body aches. ouch.

do it yourself...

last week, the magazine had a little race between the writers, photographers and a few friends. because it is our lunatic mag', the race was held within an ACE (do it yourself) store. needless to say, i used my "look fast" eye wear, and an ACE worker outfit. we raced between the departments, trying not to break anything. it was funny. i did not win, though..
better luck next time..(?)

a good workout!

you should try this at home... it is good for your heart rate, for your skills, and everything in between. or, you can get out, and join a 2 day training camp with the offroad national team- i chose the latter, for obvious reasons.
go israel! go, go, go.... or somthing like that.

ah la natural...

how many pills can you take, before turning green and glow in the dark? one can only take so many supplements... or can he? some people i know take so many, they do seem a little greenish. well, green is a pretty nice colour.
if your'e a frog.

choose your weapon!

'took it upon myself not to touch another weapon, till the day i die. it was pretty hard to get out of the reserves, as the army is reluctant to let go of trained human resources- yours truly. i am trained in the art of doing nothing, whilst watching T.V, and eating...
i already chose my weapon.

ALONE.

there is nothing quite like riding on your own. the kilometers add up, as you sink into your thoughts, no one to speak or share your pain with. i ride alone most of the time, and by now, I know exactly where the points of breaking are, and know how to leverage them into individual growing moments. after all, as the saying goes, there is no I in team.
and all the better for it...

THIS WAY?

every little thing we do leads us somewhere. we choose all the time, but all those paths we have taken, combine into one road. this road is who we are. its our life.
where do i go from here?

pics from the desert...

heading up to the biblical looking mountains. everything about the desert is so inspiring.
the southest border of israel, coming from egipt. no, we did not cross the border. nice pic, though.
ahhh... the feast! meat, meat, meat. i can hardly remember being a vegetarian for 15 years. it was all you can eat, 9 kinds of meat, load up my huge plate kind of place.
i am in love...

the desert? surely not...

four days in the desert sun, got me thinking... how vast the world we live in is. the desert impact was amazing, with towering mountains and roads that stretch as far as the eye can see. we put on some miles, and some crazy climbing sessions, but the highlight of the trip was on the way back north. coming from the Ramon crater, a white coat of snow covered the higher ground. it was so beautiful i had to lie on it. wwwrrrrrrr.
it was worth the soaky clothes, and freezing ass all the way back.

chasing the sun.

just got back from the desert, but the crappy weather in the north leaves me no choice, but going down south again. oh' well... i'll have to suck it up. 3 days in eilat, the southest place in israel will do the job. its always sunny in eilat... fingers crossed.
the little perks of being a pro rider #1- i have nothing else to do at home anyway.

FADE OUT...

what a weekend. a training camp in the desert. lots of wind, alot of climbs, and great friends. we headed out on friday morning for a 4 hour ride, with some good stretches of workout on the flats. saturday brought some more wind and cold, and two monsterous climbs. i felt great, both on the climbs and surprise, surprise: on the windy flats. this season is a turning point in that area. now i am tired, and all i can think of is that i have another 2 hard weeks ahead...
here comes the pain.

here we come...

7 weeks to go. i have started to store some extra gear for the trip. you can never take too much stuff- that is my moto. looking at some maps brought some old memories, and the sense of new adventures. this weekend i am at a training camp in the desert with my team (ccc). i love the desert, with its clean air, but i hate the high winds. well, what can i do?
bring it on.

the tree and the apple.

my father is an avid rider. he has been riding for years, but too much work and not enough time mean he only rides once in a while. he loves every minute of it, and does not stop smiling while riding the single tracks. riding helped him through his cancer, and riding with disabled people is his way of giving back to the community. somtimes i join him. we even have a hand bike at home, so we know how it feels to ride with your hands... its hard.
here's for you dad. never stop riding.

FAT.

i was a chubby little boy, when i was younger. it is still there in the back of my mind, as i look in the mirror every morning. do not let them fool you: there is no such thing as good fat. eat as little fat as you can. whatever your'e eating, it is more than enough. i love peanuts and such, but the problem with those is that you never seem to be able to stop. so i just don't start.
hhmmmm... brazil nuts....

the easy way down...

with so many things to do before the big trip, i just don't know where to start. so i leave it all behind, and go ride. this is from yesterday's session, a triple test for three very different bikes. we covered them with tin foil, so we wouldn't recognize them. another great idea, with so so results. the picture is good though, right?
let the good times jump over a rock. yeeeeeha!

life is good...

less than 8 weeks to go, and the preparation kicks into second gear. all the while the trainining is getting harder and even more time consuming. i tried to make the best of the easy trainining week, and stuff as much magazine work as i could. it included alot of translating from english, bike tests and stupid trips to stupid places. this is another cup of hot chocolate i did not have.
damn that self conscienceness!

speed kills?

we were in a bit of a hurry the other day, coming back from the northest bike shop in israel. no, this is not in miles per hour... i wish. but 190 kilometers an hour is twice the speed limit in israel, and it is more than enough for me, thank you very much. speaking of speed... 'been riding my race bike in the last few days, and i feel faster than ever in the technical sections.
i have been testing all sorts of bikes for the magazine lately. trail bikes and play bikes, but whenever i get back to my race bike, it just feels right.
love it!

have some faith.

my coach says that there is no such thing as faith. it is all about knowing. a person who is a man of god, does not "believe" that there is a god. he knows there is one. same thing goes for racing your bike, or anything else, for that matter... you have to know you are strong. you have to know you are a winner. you have to know.
belief? it is for the weak.

JUST BECAUSE WE CAN.

this is what i do for a living. today i drove, wearing a full on biking cloth, wearing a helmet and biking shoes, all the way to kiryat shmona, to buy a bicycle tube, and then came back. 400 kilometers round trip. it was, again, for a magazine piece we are doing for next month. we heard the tubes over there were cheaper, and we were given a car with free fuel for the day. so we drove all the way, to buy a tube, in the most northern bike shop in israel. we didn't even bring a bike. we ate in restaurants, walked around, drove back and forth wearing bike suits. it was stupid. and fun as hell.
they pay me for this... i can't believe it.

a dog's life.

my dog lives like a king. wakes up in the morning, and eats. then he rests, goes out to play, and comes back to eat some more. then he is tired, and rests again, and goes out to play in the afternoon.

come to think of it, he is no different than me...

bastard!!

...העברית

זה הפוסט הראשון בעברית. הוא נועד למאותגרי האנגלית, לאיטיים, וכדי להחזיק את גחלת השפה העתיקה הזו בוערת. אבל לא רק. ממה שהבנתי, יש כבר די הרבה אנשים אשר קוראים את השטויות שאני כותב. וזה נחמד. אממה, אף אחד לא מגיב!! חברות וחברים, זה לא קשה להגיב... ממש בגוף ההודעה, ובכל הודעה שאני מעלה יש אפשרות להגיב. כל שצריך לעשות הוא: ללחוץ על המלה " תגובות " באנגלית, ולכתוב מה חשבתם.ניתן לענות לי בעברית, ללא כל בעיה. אז יאללה. תתחילו
ויפה שעה אחת קודם. או שעתיים

FUCK the dishes.

well, its official: i am 27. how did i get here so fast? day by day, my friends... day by day. you know, it creeps up on you, and you do not notice it, being that your friends grow up exactly with you. it was a good year, i guess, and i feel that a better one is on the horizon... the coming trip, the new writing job, and the way i ride. i ride with love and passion, and it shows.
i had friends coming over to celebrate, and ended up with a shit load of dishes. i will go to sleep now, and maybe it will all be gone, comes morning time...
please mom..?

for your eyes only.

well, this is not a normal look for me, but then again, i don't live a normal life... another picture from wednesday's lunacy, for your viewing pleasure. the photographer went all austin powers on me, with shouts of "yeah baby, yeah..." and "give it to me, baby, your'e a tiger...". what can i say? a model's life is harder than one might think.
i will save you the rest of the session's pictures, as i don't want you to have any stomech aches...

phew..!

my kind'a woman...

you know that seinfeld episode, where he met the woman of his dreams, and she was just a female version of himself? this is almost the same. the picture was taken today. the "female" model: me! the reason for this stupidity? another piece i wrote for the israeli mountain bike action magazine. it is about, how original, bikes that were made for weman...
you know that if it involves cross dressing, i am there!! so, there you go...
at least i remembered to shave my legs. ahhamm.

it STINKS!!

yesterday i went to a friend's wedding, which was great, but not what i wanted to talk about... weddings are known for being the best place to meet the ladies, somthing to do with the excitment, the dancing, and the free booze, i guess. so here i am, a little drunk, a little excited, dancing my ass off, when i see this gorgeous brunette, glasses and all, librarian style, looking shy, just the way i like it. it took me the whole evening to get a little closer. we got talking, and she was smart as well as beautiful. she had to go, and i had not asked her for her number, still...she was already pulling out of the parking lot, when i ran outside, all knight in shining armor, and said: " i came out for you...". she blushed. i asked if she was seeing anyone, hoping for the best... she said: "ohh, your so cute. actually, i am. we live together, for a year now...".

i said: "well, he is a very lucky guy..." and she said:" if only he could see it...".

"he must be blind", i said, as my librarian drove away, out of my life.

its official- weddings suck!!!

same shit, different bike...

having multiple bikes is usually a good thing. you have the privilage of switching between them, according to the weather, the training session or your mood. the only down side is the fact that you have more bikes to clean and fix. i like switching back and forth between the 29er and the 9.9 race bike. i feel the difference in grip, and reaction to movements, and i love the feel of sitting in the bike, that you get, riding a 29er.

if i could race 29ers, i would go down that path, in a heart beat... now, if only TREK made a 29 inch 9.9...

ARE YOU SURE?

somtimes i feel as though i have been riding around in circles. each day feels the same. no vacation, everyday is a training day. wake up, eat, rest and ride, eat again, rest... ride again. i never know if its monday, wednesday, or friday. how many times has this happened to you? through rain and sun, scorching heat and freezing cold... i am there. soaking wet, of sweat or rain, i am there... up the hills and down again, feeling pleasure, full of pain, i am there. this is what i do. who i am.
who are you?

HIT IT!

my other big love, (and the first, by the way...) is drums. 'been playing them since i was 10, when my mother could not stand me using everything in the house, as drum kits. so i started playing with bands, and recorded in some studios. these days i am too tired most of the time, and doing shows is too late at night... i play with friends once in a while, and fall inlove each and every time.

i will never stop. i will play the drums with my grandchildren. how cool is that?

HOME.

every year i choose to buy a plane ticket, and spend my time riding around, racing and training in a foreign country. life in israel is so intense all the time, with bordering countries wishing we were gone, with israeli drivers, who seem to want you dead, or at least out of their faces, and with the general feeling of closness to other people around you. everyone knows everyone. six degrees doesn't work in israel... try three degrees. families are connected in a way, its hard to explain. news every half an hour, and on the hour.

so, i pack my bike cases and go. as far as i can. for as long as i can. but after a few months, that feeling of home creeps back up, and i find my self wishing i were there, in my old room, with my family. so i come back. stay a few months.

then i buy a plane ticket.

and pack my bags...

private parts....

its that time of the year, when i start picking the 2008 parts for my bike. some new pedals, a new suspension fork, a new frame... you know, the essentials. it is one more thing to get done before the season starts, and i will be deep into training and racing. 'been working on getting the new SID fork, from rockshox, but it looks like it'll take a while. check it out on http://www.sram.com/ .

it looks sweet! mine will be the worldcup, white coloured with silver crown. love it.

i've also been working on some details for my upcoming trip. passport, visa, driving license... it is much more tiring to deal with, than riding a bike, i'll tell you that. anyway, the rain is coming, time to ride!

10 WEEKS...

my body may still be here, aching after the last training session, but my mind is already a world away... passing through the colorado mountains, feeling the cold thin air on my face. driving the straight roads of the great plains, watching the clouds gather in the distance. crossing water streams, and climbing the single tracks of park city, utah.

i am there. already there.

filling gas in my motor home, reading car magazines in the afternoon. going to the movies, just because it is too hot to ride in moab, utah. riding the hills of L.A, watching rich people late for work. sleeping in the rest areas, and waiting for my next race. my body may still be here.

but i am already there.

tick, tack, tick, tack...