OK, so i know alot of people are really interested in this blog, or at least have a glimpse every once in a while. i will just ask you to leave a comment some times...
that way i'll know who's watching this life on the net. its easy- just click on "comment" and add, well, a comment. see ya'.
it's been raining like crazy. i like to wait at home 'till it rains really hard, and then i go out, and get wet to my bones. i mean, you can't get wetter (is that a word?) than soaking wet.
went to the go karts today with shap (that's shapira for you), tal and ido. it was awesome. i think i might be pretty good at this thing. ido was faster, though. next time, then...
some people just have too much time on their hands.
its an israeli winter, this. 18 degrees, and raining. non-stop. i have been caughing for the past 3 weeks, and it's been getting on my nerves. time to enter a crowded, smoke filled and remote pub in haifa, then.
i went out to meet roy, a good friend of mine, whom i hadn't seen in a while. the guy is really into music these days. awesome dude. a great rider, too. a roadie, but still a great guy.
and- i have started liking beers (!?). not heineken, but leff braun, or something like that. i'm still a pussy, and i add a little sprite to the thing, but it does grow on me, this beer drinking, belly growing, head spinning thing. cheeeeeeeers.
even if the passanger doesn't seem to mind/care/notice/understand. i tell ya', the kids these days...
cyclocross season. rabbit season. duck season.
as part of my father's ongoing 60th birthday, the whole family went on a trip to jerusalem. we went to the hertzl meuseum, which he built, and then went to the west wall. it was very inspiring going through the old city. i haven't been there in years.
from there we went to visit a monestry in abu-gosh, not skipping the whole humus experience on our way there. then we went to the desert, where 150 of my father's closest friends waited and surprised the birthday boy.
he was surprised, alright... it was an awesome evening, seeing how many good friends my father has collected during the years. ofcourse i wrote somthing. ofcourse i cried like a little girl while reading it. yes, i'm sensitive like that. shoot me.
after Shap (that'll be short for shapira from now on...) and i rode our singlespeeds for 4 hours yesterday (the guy just broke up with his girlfriend and wanted to hurt himself some more) i woke up early this morning, and took my rigid out for a technical spin.
i may ride as fast on the rigid as i do on my suspension 29er, but i make awfully different sounds while riding rigid. this thing is h-a-r-d. anyway, i'm off to a family weekend down south. i know, i spend too much time in the desert. i'll go north next time, i promise.
mornings are my favorite time of the day. i wake up early, even if i went to sleep really late. i'm like an old dude... of course it helps that my sister comes to feed our horses each morning at 5:30. see, i like horses, i just don't think they like the idea of us sitting on them.
they are very noble, i'll give them credit for that... and they do seem to eat alot, just like me.
the israeli mtb championship took place the day after my 100 mile race. it was a good excuse to sit back and relax, while every elite rider in the country was busy changing bottles each lap. it was the first time in 6 years, that i did not take part in the race. it felt good... beside, they do not have a single speed category. lame.
since i don't have a TV in my house (by choice...), i find myself sitting alot infront of the computer. i have time to explore all those facebook things- and i love it. this internet thing, i am telling you, they're onto somthing.
i can't stop. 
because its pure fun. its pure pain. its pure. it is simple- you ride your bike for a long long long time. you climb alot. you descend. you're hot, and you cramp. you can only go as fast as you can stop, or as hard as you can push. i love it.
it was the toughest race i have ever done. choosing the single speed proved to be even more painful than i thought. good. erez was an awesome match, what with all those extra 26 gears on his "top fuel" race bike.
and this is how you prove you've finished- by taking a picture of a clock, sitting on a parked car's dash board, at the finish line. the time shown, is the time we finished. some 8 and a half grueling hours after we started. great pictures are still to come- stay tuned...
in a few hours i'll be down south, in the desert. erez- my racing partner, ziv- my editor, and lior- our photographer will all be there with me. i am trying to drink alot, as i need my body fluid filled, and i pee every 15 minutes.
knowing you're about to race for 8-9 hours in the middle of no-where' is a good excuse to eat like a hungry hippo. i love hippos- they have funny little tails, and they're fat. just like oogi. the bastard!
neil, my singlespeed racing partner is sick... so i found a new partner for friday's race- erez- who is using a geared bike. i hope i won't slow him down too much.
this friday i am racing a hundred miler. in the desert. off-road. it will be my first 100 miler, and i chose to do it on a singlespeed, of course... its a couple's race, so i chose the right guy for the task at hand- neil o'brian. why mess with success?
the weather is strange- hot and humid, and about to rain... whats the deal with the winter? i saw that in crested butte, colorado, its already snowing!! i say- bring on the rain!
went riding with some friends today. it was one of those easy rides, just to say you did somthing today.... this is how it looks when you have nothing better to do.
i am testing a bike for the magazine. i tell you, some bikes are like cable fest or somthing. i could shave 2 pounds just by cutting those shorter. whatever, i'll hang my wet clothes on these, or maybe i'll cut them and switch between them, see what happens. i might ride backwards.
my father was 32 when i was born. it seems odd, now that 32 is just four years away from me. i actually remember him at 35 or so, and it seems as though it was a few days ago...
well, today we celebrated his 60th birthday, and he seemed to be proud and setisfied of where he is, and of the way he got here. the family he and my mom built around them is really somthing to be proud of.
and again, here's for you, dad. 60 is the new 35. can you buy me some ice cream?
ahh... helmets. they come in every concievable shape and size. my friend Tal is a big "spaceball" fan. this is lord helmet, if you may.
nothing like a helmet that weighs more than your head. keep it safe.
the trip through the desert was great, and my father and i have found the time to get stuck, ruin 2 car tires, fu%# the car brakes and brake the front bumper. it was awesome. the car did not seem to like it, though...
its all open, open, open roads. up you go and down you ride. nothing beats the desert for some meditation time. it wasn't too hot, and i could work on my rider's tan.
my father and i share a passion. the desert is our favourite place, and it does not get any desertier (i made up a word, kill me!) than the israeli desert. sweeeet!
i have been riding alot aboard my single speed bikes, and i feel a little tired. its a good thing "yom kipur" is here, then... i do not ride on yom kipur, because... well, because everybody else does, and i like to be different.
my father and i are going to the desert for some quality time together. i will gather some strength from the scenery, and from the desert quietness- i hope- and by friday's race i will feel better. 9 laps, with a mother fu$%er of a climb. single speed all the way baby!!!
'been thinking of kids lately. no, not in that way... it might have somthing to do with my age, but i see my brothers and sisters and their kids, and i could see myself as a parent.
ofcourse i need to meet someone first. if only it were that easy...
on jewish new years day i went to a memorial ride, remembering 2 friends who went on a road ride and were killed by a drunk driver. i go to this ride every year, and it was sad to see there weren't alot of people. these guys were there, though.
yes, it looks like dog's poo, but its humus, and i like it. it smells nothing like dog's poo, and it tastes much better.
what can i say. its a dog's world.
i am going up north, to help a friend get ready for the upcoming mtb championship. its a great little getaway for a few days, riding on a new course, and getting some more riding hours.
3 weeks from now i am racing a 100 miler in the desert, on a singlespeed, so i better be ready by then... i guess riding hard for a few days can't do no harm...
you can sense it as the light is more scattered, and your eyes hurt less from squinching all the time. its not hot early in the morning, and the wind picks up in the after noon, making the rides even better. its the end of the racing season.
i have been racing every weekend in the past few weeks. even though racing on a singlespeed takes all the excitement out of the loop, as the playing field is not even- i love the feeling on the start line, and the challange of racing "regular" guys on a one speed bike. there is a big marathon coming, and i think i might race it with gears... any thoughts?
