back for good...

welcome back, dear readers, to the re-opening of Hanoch redlich's blog- this time, the real deal. no, really, i'm serious. it's been such a long time that there is just too much to say and share. i'll give it to you slowly, then.

this beautiful baby has changed my life. everything i do surrounds her. work, sleep, mornings, noons and nights. and i love her like i've never loved before.

and throughout it all i am happy to say that i've actually managed to train, at least in the past month or so. and its about time, too, because today is exactly 5 weeks to Single Speed WorldChampionship in Ireland.

i've been riding singlespeed bikes for the past 6 years or so, and raced all kinds of races with only one cog and one chainring, be it epic or super short. but there is no doubt that this is the pinnacle of my singlespeed career.

Moran and Ori are coming with me, ofcourse, and so are my parents.

anyway- welcome back, dear readers...

stay tuned.

H

a lame blogger...

i know i don't blog as much as i used to, but hey, i'm a great father...

Elmo is alive and kicking, thanx for asking. he is still in hibernation, but its spring time, and i think he's about to wake up. the guy in a hungry bastard once woken up from winter sleep... he eats cookies, ofcourse...

this little guy needs a nose job.

technophobia! ...sent from my cell phone...

out and about...

i want to get back into shape again, and race a few big races on my single-speed. i have not registered to the israeli cycling union yet, but the coming international races will be a good incentive, i guess.

the days have started to get longer again, and one can actually ride till 17:40 in the afternoon. still, for some reason, people i train prefer to ride at 6am in the morning... i hate getting up at

5am. damn.

daddy is getting back into shape as well, and here he is, taking a time out during a ride in Horshim. love you, dad.

just look at her...

LionOfZion after thoughts...

the perfect picture was taken by Yael Rechter...

with the 2012 Tour Divide dream firmly on my mind, my eyes are now set on the 2011 single speed world championship in Ireland. the training will include some stupid power intervals, some crazy rpm intervals, a few cross-country races and a lot of beer drinking. the LOZ race in eilat was a nice preview of the real thing, albeit without the rain, shrubery, green fields, hundreds of competitors, mud and crazy irish single speeders... hmmm. a little different, then.
what the LOZ did have, though, was my favourite scenery- the deep israeli desert. thats me right there, the little black spot at the front of the singletrack.
the SS world championship will, some day, take place right on this single track- mark my word.

Oriki...

enjoying a winter's sunny day...

on a winning streak?

this beautiful picture was taken by the one and only- lior dayan

i guess the taper training sessions have paid off... i won the Lion Of Zion single speed race in eilat last weekend, by a nice margin. every race i enter is an unknown adventure of pain and suffer, with a good dose of fun. some times it ends up with a win, and some times all i'm left with is the pain. the greatest races leave me with both- and the Lion Of Zion was one of the greatest. ouch.

blood, sweat and tears.

being a full time dad is playing havoc with my training plans, so i have to take a different approach. i train according to the races i plan on racing. i just do a taper before every race...

lets say i have a race in Eilat next weekend (which is exactly the case). 2 weeks ago, i did 2 interval sessions- the first on sunday- a 4 time 3 minutes uphill gig. it killed me for 3 days...

and then, on thursday- 3 times 6 minutes of climbing. i was flat till the next monday.

this week i did another two interval sessions. the first was on monday- 3 times 6 minutes intervals uphill, and on thursday- 5 times 3 minutes and 2x5 minutes. now i'm dead.

this week i'll just do 4x5 minutes of very high RPM intervals (around 125-140 rpm), and rest till race day. job done.

by the way- this is my new superfly frame. its stiffer than before, but, in my eyes, lacks a little in the visual department. its mighty fast, though...

600 and counting...

this here, is the very first picture i posted on the blog, more than 2 years ago. so many things have changed since... i posted it again for a few reasons. first- this is the 600th post, which is alot of posts. yes.

another reason i posted that picture is, in fact, a promise to myself- i will, again, start posting more- a kind of rebirth, if you want...

sooo..... what did we have here lately? mmm... so much, actually. our little Ori is growing so fast- she's 4 months now, and already grew 2 teeth!! she's the cutest thing.

i won the Red Rain Allmountain Series, a three race series on various trails around the country, using my old Gary-Fisher rig singlespeed 29er. those downhillers didn't know what hit them. ha!

oh, and i'm going to the single-speed world championship !!! its in Ireland this year, and we'll make it into a family trip... Moran, Ori and i will have fun in Ireland at the end of August. what a rush.

and last, but not least- i turned 30 two weeks ago. now i'm old enough to ride a little slower. not.

promise to blog more. word.

life...

there is life beyond biking. it includes spending time with my new family, playing the drums with my new band and reading... usually you'll find me going through car magazines, but i actually started a new book- the new edition of old Sherlock Holmes stories. its awesome.

i also had the time to visit the national bike show, and it was truly eye opening. the whole industry put on the best possible show they could master, and it showed. the israeli bike industry is probably the fastest growing in the western world, and its an honor to be a part of it these days.

the weather is finally about to match the date on the calender, and i hear the sky will open on sunday and monday... time to ride some singlespeed in the mud. pictures will follow, ofcourse.

have a good weekend, everybody.

racing...

in the past year i havn't really had a lot of time on my hands, training wise, so i had to work with what i had. gone are the days of 5-6 hours in the saddle (for the meanwhile...), and a 2 hour ride is all i have. so racing has come down to short mini downhill races, all mountain races and the odd singlespeed race. that's why i decided to skip this year's 100 mile race...
i'll be back next year, i guess.

god, i miss blogging !!!

well, again, it's been a while, and so much has been going on since i last blogged. so here i am, back in the saddle, so to speak. i hope there are still people reading this blog...

winter, so it seems, will never come back to israel, which sucks as hell. i really miss riding in the rain in Horshin, slipping all over the place, clogging my knobies with mud, getting dirty, tired and cold. winter- if you hear me, we get it, now its time to come back.

anyway... lots of great bike racing since last time. first, it was an all mountain race, sort of a super-D, during the only rainy day we had this winter. it was muddy and wet- and i won, riding my 29 inch singlespeed. you know it works awesome in the mud, right?

after that- the 24 hour race, in which i rsced as a member of a 4 man team. we did not win, but it was lots of fun, and i actually recorded the fastest lap of the weekend- on my 29 inch singlepeed...

and then- the singlespeed race in ben shemen, to which people refered to as "the israeli singlespeed championship". the field was packed, and it was an event to remember. going into the 5th and last lap, leading by about 3 minutes, a CAR ran into me (!!), as i was going at about 35 km an hour, throwing me to the ground. i got up, looked to see if there was anything broken in my body (there wasn't), jumped on my bike, and won anothr singlespped race !! wwwooohhhoooo. except, there was somthing broken... my beautiful Superfly hardtail. fuck.

i'll see what'll happen with that insurance claim.

and last, but not least- today i finished third, in anothr super-D race, on my singlespeed...

i think i see a pattern here.

i don't like gears.

who's your daddy?

so... here we are, three weeks since birth, and as our Ori grows rapidly with every passing day- so are we, as parents.

baths, diapers, poo poo, wee wee, crying and relaxing. we have it all here... the only thing that's really lacking is sleeping hours. well, who cares? sleeping is for the weak.

once again, i've been asked to be the host of a major biking event- the israeli XC marathon championship. being out of shape as i am at the moment, i agreed to host instead of race. it was a nice little gig.

and speaking of getting into shape... there are 3 races on the horizon: two weeks away is the 24 hour race in ben shemen, and i'm taking it easy, being a part of a 4 men group. two weeks after that- the greatest ever SingleSpeed event, again, in ben shemen, and i intend to give it all i've got. and december- the annual 100 mile desert race. i think i'll go, once again, singlespeed. desired finishing time- 7 hours and 25 minutes.

time to get into shape, then.

she's here...

our beutiful daughter- Ori, was born 3 days ago, healthy and sound, weighing 3 kg and looking like a princess...

i have to say it was the most powerful experience i had ever had, looking at my new baby coming into this world from within the womb, after waiting for so long.

Moran and Ori are home now, and wer'e getting used to waking up at night, talking poo poo talks and enjoying watching her different baby faces.

it's been a long journey, and its the beginning of a new and bold one.

let's go.

and now we wait...

its been a loooooooong time since i last updated the blog. i just did not feel like it...
i think i'm back now, but you never know, do you?

moran and i are awaiting our first child, a baby girl, who's supposed to come any day now, as moran is well into her 39th week. its the month of the jewish holidays, so it'll be the greatest present, to meet our baby right about now.

i've been trying to ride a little more in the past week, cause i plan on racing the 24 hour race, october 22nd, but if i'm not in shape by then, i'll do it as a couple's race with the shap. time will tell.

see ya soon? maybe.

another week, another bike test...

just got this niner carbon single speed for a magazine test. it must be one of the most beautiful bikes i've ever ridden, with special thanks to this gorgeous rigid fork...

mind you, the frame accepts gears, so you do not have to be a sadistic ass to ride this piece of art. truly amazing...

moran and i managed to squeeze a short visit to the old city of Jaffa, before i went to play the drums with a new band i'm starting to work with.

after years of training so hard on my bike, when music has been side-lined for so long, its time for it to come back.

ah.... its music to my ears.

my secret project...

this is my 9th and last bike (so far)... not sure about the year, but i reckon somtime around 93\94, and its TREK's first full carbon bike. got it from my brother in law, and i'm about to turn it into a city single-speed, messenger style.

i already started stripping it of any noticable gearing paraphernalia, and i'll equip it with v-brake handles and flat bar. any gearing suggestions? i want it to be a magic gear- no tensioners on this bike. would like to hear your thoughts...

a working man.

after settling in in our new house, i can actually start working again. so, its an early morning session with new riders, working on technical stuff, and i mean REALLY early, because i found that people like riding at 5:30 am... and then i just chill at home till afternoon.

and then its time for a ride with a kids group or another technical lesson, and i call it a day.

somtimes i even manage to write in the evenings. oh, and what about training for my self, you ask? training is for the weak.

anyway, its almost august, and every year, around this time, i get these flashes of memories from the years i've spent racing and living in the states. the long looooong drives across the plains, riding through the rockies, racing with the TREK VW team... good times.

i wish that one day i would take Moran and the kid(s), and go for a long RV trip around the US of A. someday soon, i hope.

'been testing this UNIVEGA trailbike, and i rather like it. its an FSR suspension design, and other than the constant bobbing in the open position- its a very good package with excellent value for money. a full test- on the september issue of MountainBikeAction israel.

oh, and wer'e pitching it against a 120 mm 29er... hmmm.

see ya'.