Wednesday, November 17, 2004
The Last Day II - Entering Jerusalem
After the seven mile climb from Adumim Junction to the foot of Jerusalem I arrived at the second rest stop. I was a bit exhausted and extremely hot. I took off my helmet and bandana and poured water over my head to cool down. I grabbed some snacks (they were giving out M&Ms!) and ate about four tangerines.
Again, I was among the first 15 to 20% of the riders to make it up the hill. The organizers were not going to let anyone continue until the last rider made it up the hill. That ended up taking about an hour. I sat on a curb and rested. I was suddenly overtaken with a great sense of sadness. The ride that I had been looking forward to for months and which I had absolutely loved for the past 5 days was just about over. I wasn't ready for that.
Finally, the next stage began. We rode to and through the tunnel that goes underneath Har Hatzofim. Traffic had been stopped so it was very cool. Unfortunately, the approach to the tunnel and the tunnel itself was totally uphill at a very nasty grade. The good news is that it wasn't too long. (Nevertheless, at least a dozen riders boinked and had to be picked up by the SAG van).
After going through the tunnel and a few dangerous streets, we headed straight for Givat Hatachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) where we stopped for lunch. Bagels!! Real bagels! And soda! And ice! We all scarfed down our lunch and hung out. Hundreds of pictures were taken and a feeling of accomplishment permeated.
I found a nice patch of grass and tried to catch a nap while we waited for the next, and final stage to commence.
We finally started out at about 2 p.m. Unexpectedly, this stage would be one of the funnest parts of the ride. We took a left out of Givat Hatachmoshet and rode a couple of blocks to Ramat Eshkol. The police were blocking traffic for well over a mile. The ride was completely straight and completely downhill. I got into a tuck, put the bike in the highest gear and pedaled. I was going almost 40 miles and hour!! I started screaming, wu wu!!! (I know that's not becoming of a man who is nearing his 50th birthday but I didn't care; I guess I'm still a child at heart). All good things must come to an end and this surge ended when we got to the Begin Highway. That was back up a hill until we reached Kiryat Hayovel, up to Har Hertzl.
We all gathered there and waited for the stragglers.
It was at this point that I fell on my butt in front of about 200 people.
I went to the bathroom at Har Hertzl and washed my glasses. They had become impossibly dirty from all the sweat and grime of the day's ride. Unfortunately, there were no paper towels in the bathroom. So, I walked out, looking for something to wipe my glasses on. As I walked down the steps in my biking cleats, I slipped and landed hard on my tusch. A bunch of people came over to see if I was ok, which I was other than my pride. I couldn't help but think that I had just completed 310 miles without incident, without even a flat, and here, literally 2 minutes from the end, I almost killed myself walking down steps.
Unfortunately, my glasses were in my right hand when I fell and got crushed. Luckily they are unbreakable but they were mushed into a shape that would do me no good. I spent the next five minutes trying to rearrange the glasses into some semblance of a shape that would fit around my ears. (It wasn't until I got home that I was able to really fix them).
After a few minutes we all got back on our bikes and the 235 person Yellow Swarm rode together to Alyn Hospital for the very moving closing ceremonies.
Again, I was among the first 15 to 20% of the riders to make it up the hill. The organizers were not going to let anyone continue until the last rider made it up the hill. That ended up taking about an hour. I sat on a curb and rested. I was suddenly overtaken with a great sense of sadness. The ride that I had been looking forward to for months and which I had absolutely loved for the past 5 days was just about over. I wasn't ready for that.
Finally, the next stage began. We rode to and through the tunnel that goes underneath Har Hatzofim. Traffic had been stopped so it was very cool. Unfortunately, the approach to the tunnel and the tunnel itself was totally uphill at a very nasty grade. The good news is that it wasn't too long. (Nevertheless, at least a dozen riders boinked and had to be picked up by the SAG van).
After going through the tunnel and a few dangerous streets, we headed straight for Givat Hatachmoshet (Ammunition Hill) where we stopped for lunch. Bagels!! Real bagels! And soda! And ice! We all scarfed down our lunch and hung out. Hundreds of pictures were taken and a feeling of accomplishment permeated.
I found a nice patch of grass and tried to catch a nap while we waited for the next, and final stage to commence.
We finally started out at about 2 p.m. Unexpectedly, this stage would be one of the funnest parts of the ride. We took a left out of Givat Hatachmoshet and rode a couple of blocks to Ramat Eshkol. The police were blocking traffic for well over a mile. The ride was completely straight and completely downhill. I got into a tuck, put the bike in the highest gear and pedaled. I was going almost 40 miles and hour!! I started screaming, wu wu!!! (I know that's not becoming of a man who is nearing his 50th birthday but I didn't care; I guess I'm still a child at heart). All good things must come to an end and this surge ended when we got to the Begin Highway. That was back up a hill until we reached Kiryat Hayovel, up to Har Hertzl.
We all gathered there and waited for the stragglers.
It was at this point that I fell on my butt in front of about 200 people.
I went to the bathroom at Har Hertzl and washed my glasses. They had become impossibly dirty from all the sweat and grime of the day's ride. Unfortunately, there were no paper towels in the bathroom. So, I walked out, looking for something to wipe my glasses on. As I walked down the steps in my biking cleats, I slipped and landed hard on my tusch. A bunch of people came over to see if I was ok, which I was other than my pride. I couldn't help but think that I had just completed 310 miles without incident, without even a flat, and here, literally 2 minutes from the end, I almost killed myself walking down steps.
Unfortunately, my glasses were in my right hand when I fell and got crushed. Luckily they are unbreakable but they were mushed into a shape that would do me no good. I spent the next five minutes trying to rearrange the glasses into some semblance of a shape that would fit around my ears. (It wasn't until I got home that I was able to really fix them).
After a few minutes we all got back on our bikes and the 235 person Yellow Swarm rode together to Alyn Hospital for the very moving closing ceremonies.
