May is here!!!

i have not been updating much lately, and the only excuse i have is that i'm totally busy. working and writing and riding... but also because its not coming from within me. somtimes i just don't feel like sharing. but now i'm back.

'been testing this awesome Giant Trance X sl. a truly light and effective trail-bike. carbon bikes are spreading all over the biking world, from road to down-hill, and if you have the means, its a great way of spending your money.

it's been two weeks of riding this full-suspension bike, and i can totally understand why people are drawn to the comfort and security that this technology brings. especially when they're this light and nimble.

but you know what? i'll stick to my hard-tails.

i FEEL faster, riding them, and if not for the FEEL, what are we riding for?

random signs...

feeling a little fat lately, coming back from pizza country, gaining 5 pounds or so... i'll have to ride it off.

anyway, raced a little mini downhill race today. having no trail bikes nor down hill ones for magazine tests now, i took my good ol' gary fisher rig singlespeed 29er, and went racing. my setup was simple- 18 cog in the back, 80 mm out in front, and alot of nerve...

the course was fast, with lots of pedaling, so i was out of oomph rather fast. still, managed to squeeze myself into the top 5, finishing 4th, 4 seconds off the winner's time. next time i'll go geared. i might even win... i might be off the pace on the uphills, but at least i can still go downhill pretty fast.

it seems like its going to be a busy week. working, riding- both at the same time.

some more pics...

i did not know he was into all that facebook shit. whatever.

moran had a great time, taking some time off her studies. with all that passover holiday and the trip to italy, it's a little hard to get back to reality.

yes, somthing is definitely wrong in this picture, but its totally real. the house is really blue. and the tower is about to fall...

i was supposed to race the Dusk till Dawn race, tomorrow night, but not only am i out of shape, i'm also a little sick, so i'll have to pass this one. bummer.

its been a while...

well, back from beautiful Italy. it was so intense and romantic... the mountains were full of snow, still, and the weather was perfect. we had a great time together, driving our little car on the roads of northern italy, and even getting into switzerland... This is us in Venice...

we had some weird picnic in the middle of a snowy field. it wasn't too cold, and the scenery was amazing. i'll post some more pics soon.

we had ice creams of all kinds... this one wasn't on the ground for more than 5 seconds...

it was tasty...

honey mooning.

Moran and i are married for almost 6 months now, and its time for a little get-away together. so, we're packing our bags and heading to northern italy !!!!! wooooohooooo...

having never been there before, i can only imagine it looks a little like this- Mishmar ha'emek in the spring time. but i guess its a little more striking than this.

tuesday is our d-day, and then its 9 days around the lakes and towns of northern italy, including Venice and Milano... mmm... life is hard, i know.

the passover spirit...

spring is most definitely here, and there is no better way than passover Seder to celebrate the end of winter. you eat like there's no tomorrow, drink like crazy, and then eat (again)...
Matza with chocolate is like the food of the gods. really, it says so in the bible or somthing.

the desert weekend went great, and the weather was on our side, as just as we finished our beautiful ride, it started raining hard. in the desert. at the end of march.

it must be the passover spirit luck.

happy holy-days, and keep away from the Matzas... their full of calories.

out again.

well, i'm off for a few days, going upnorth for a kids training camp. i hope i can use these days to have a little diet going, as i need to lose a few pounds. 5 will do.

'been testing two bikes lately, for a magazine shootout- 2 different 120 mm bikes. two different approaches, two very different bikes. its a GT sensor against a Cannondale RZ one twenty.

these pictures were taken in Ma'anit forest, by the very gifted photographer Lior Dayan.

i'm off. peace.

its in our hands...

riding back to back rides in the northest part of israel and in the deep south, i can honestly say we have a beautiful country. being able to ride in the shade of old trees and lush green shrubbery, and enjoy the dramatic desert mountains in the same day, is a thing to appreciate.

the desert is all blooming these days, after the last few heavy rain showers.

and some trees upnorth are loosing their leaves, all yellow and brown...

beautiful.

it's a mag world...

'been working and writing a lot this month for the magazine and some other publications i work for. don't get me wrong, i love my job, but writing is somthing that comes from within, and writing that much takes a lot out of a person. you need to use words, you have to write an article, you have to beat the deadline. some times i'm too tired writing for my blog... this is why this month's crop is rather low. sorry.

anyway, its been a tired week, my body is recovering from the load i put it through last week. but next week is a nice one, coaching for 3 days in kids bike camp up north, and then, its straight down south for a 2 day technical riding course that i teach. a busy one, once again.

and now, for that short XX review.

the system works really well, even under heavy pedaling loads. having 10 cogs in the back, with a 36 tooth being the largest, and a 29\42 chainring setup at the front gives more than enough spread of gears for any situation. the shifting feels very positive, and the lever throw is shorter than it used to be on the X.O triggers. i use a grip-shift for the left hand (front mech) shifter- just because i like it that way. the front XX deraileur is a work of art, and shifts flawlessly at all times, right now, no questions asked. its the best i've ever used.

all in all, its a very nice setup, but if you ride a 29er and like to ride all over, and race somtimes, i'd go for a 26\39 chainring setup, and have all the gears i would ever need.

and suffer i did...

as much as i like to go out and watch other riders suffer as they battle it out on the race course, i like it even better when i go out and hurt a little.

today i raced my first XC race of 2010, the international race in ma'anit. it was sure crowded, with 30 fast europeans coming here to catch some sun tan, and some uci points.

all considered, i did rather well (having no training plan or a coach...), and managed to finish 5th or 6th fastest among the israeli riders. i even got to ride 3 laps with the Shap (as you can see in the great pictures of one, master Lior Dayan), who had a shity race. the guys are racing again tomorrow, but i'm taking a day off... maybe i'll go out and watch them suffer.

USA thoughts...

every March, for 4 consecutive years, i used to pack my bags and bikes, and go live and race all over the states in a beautiful RV. my home away from home...

so, its no wonder that every March i get that feeling. it might be somthing in the air, a scent of some sort, or maybe its the spring weather. whatever it is, it gets me thinking of the places i have been to, the open roads i passed through. my life is much different now, and i like it even better.

anyway, didn't race last weekend. i lost my racing permit, and can't seem to find it. maybe it was a sign, as i didn't feel like racing that much anyway.

this weekend i will race, though, and tomorrow i'll be on the race course, doing some hot laps.

a racing weekend.

on saturday i'm racing the international XC race in Misgav forest. the weather will be awesome, and the race course is wicked. i love that course, fast, technical and with lots of climbing.

i know my form is not what it used to be, but i'm truly at peace with it. that's life... not being a full time pro makes you a little slower, but then, you can only surprise your self.

fingers crossed.

not feeling it.

it might be that road tour two weeks ago, or it might be somthing else, but i'm just not feeling it. in the past year i've been right on the fence, somewhere between a coach and a rider. every once in a while i feel like a racer- just let me train as hard as i can...

but most of the time i'm just working on the bike. i used to go out and ride- no matter the conditions... it was for a reason- getting faster. these days, when its cold or wet, i don't feel like riding.

i prefer staying home, sleeping or cooking or writing.

instead of getting faster, i'm getting fatter.

i hate sitting on the fence.

an eating machine.

ever since coming back from the road tour in eilat, i've been eating non stop. my legs are still hurting from the weekend's efforts, and i couldn't even put a good hard workout since saturday.

i eat whatever is in the way. i mix sweet and salty, cold and hot. just bring it on... i actually think i'm losing weight in the process of eating.

the weather has been nice, so i wish i felt better, and could put some nice long rides in, but i'm just too tired. next week. maybe.

why?

why do my legs look so skinny, and other's look like this?

the eilat inferno...

so... another weekend of racing. i'm so glad its behind me, as it was a hard one. taking the bus to eilat proved to be a good decision, and i spent the 6 and a half hours on the bus reading two "EVO" magazines. its a car thing i have...

the bike, meanwhile, made some friends in the trunk.

the race was a three stage, two day event. a 10 km uphill individual TT, with 620 meters of elevation gain (around 2000 feet) on friday morning. and then, a 70 km criterium race at 2 in the afternoon.

the next morning it was a 120 km road stage, which took everything i had out of me.

the hotel was great, and i love the way they arrange their soaps...

anyway, if i was out of shape before the race, there is no doubt i'm on my way back into it after this weekend. i did rather fine in the uphill, finishing 14th overall. i was ranked 18th by the end of day. giving it all i had on the road stage saw me dwindeling down to 33rd by the end of the whole thing.

still, it was a great weekend, and some good workout.

the Shap finished 2nd in the uphill race, and 5th overall. the guy learned from the best, what can i say... good job, kid.

a long story short...

i'm off to Eilat for the weekend. a road stage race. taking the bus. TREK madone in the trunk.
see you on sunday.

life.

in the past two years i've turned from a fully dedicated mountain bike racer, into a bike person. i live and breath bikes for a living. being a racer, and only a racer, seems a little one dimensional to me now, looking back... these days i'm expanding my interests in the biking industry, working every day with bike related issues and people.

writing about bikes, coaching kids groups and working as a private technical riding coach to some of the best riders in israel. i'm all over the place. if you asked me 5 years ago what would i be doing for a living as i approached my 30's, i would never think this would be it.

tell you what, i'm as happy and complete as i can be.

being in a position where i can also race, and be good at it, is just the icing on the cake.

mmmmmm.... cake.

triping.

moran and i took a few days off, and went for a trip through the old streets of jerusalem. this city is a magnificent mixture of old and new, ancient and modern, jewish, arabic and christian.

the nerrow streets, the 2000 year old bricks and the religious atmosphere get in to you, and make you wonder how life looked in this town thousends of years ago, and what these walls have seen through those times. amazing stuff.

a remake of an old photo i took 2 years ago.

this weekend i'm off for a stage road race in eilat. i really feel that my body is not ready for these kinds of loads, and saturday's race was a true mirror of that, but i'll wing it. its for the team, and i think we've got some really good riders in contention...

road racing... can't live with it, pass me the beer nuts.