Boy, It's Hot Out Here

This morning I landed in Israel after a 4 1/2 hour flight from London. I slept fitfully most of the way. My trip did not start off particularly well. I lost my Blackberry at the airport. I'm hoping it will turn up at the lost and found when I return to New York on Sunday night but I'm not particularly hopeful.

But, I digress.

After dropping off my bags, Zev and I started out for Nes Harim at 8 a.m. He graciously let me use his new carbon fiber Giant while he rode his old (and my old) aluminum Trek 1500. Not that it mattered. He still makes me look like I'm going in slow motion.

This was the first ride since last summer that I've done in the heat. And it WAS hot. (They don't call it Beit Shemesh (House of the Sun) for nothing.

I made it up to Bar B'Har (The Bar on the Mountain) in pretty decent shape. Zev's bike is not only lighter than my Lightspeed, it also has a triple crank so I could put the bike in some pretty low gears. The heat was brutal and there is absolutely no shade.

At Bar B'Har I ran into Saul Singer, who is a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, co-author of the bestseller "Start Up Nation" and, more importantly, a veteran of four Alyn Challenge Rides. He, like I, missed last year's ride but will be doing this year's ride. I had a Coke, got back on the bike and started back for home.

Feeling strong, I decided to go down and up the road to the Stalactite Caves. It is not as long nor as steep as the climb up Nes Harim but it isn't Feeks Lane either. (I recall it being at least a mile and a half but I could be wrong. I will look it up later).

I then flew down the Nes Harim climb, always a hair-raising event. The ride back to Ramat Shiloh was uneventful but I was completely cooked by the time I got back. Now, 5 hours later, my face is still burning.

A small reminder of what five days in the Negev are like.