To the Israel Ride Crew: THANK YOU!

We are at a meeting of the Arava alumni. What a fascinating bunch of folk.

They are Jewish, Christian, Muslim. They are Israeli and Palestinian.

They are from Britain, Vancouver, Israel, Jordan, the United States and more.

They are in their 20s and 30s. They came for a short time and many never left.

They are parents, students & teachers. They have Masters degrees and PhDs.

They are no different from us.

They study a wide range of physical sciences and their applicability, environmental technologies and their application, government policies and their sustainability, current conditions and their future impact.

This extremely well rounded and committed bunch helped us with planes, buses and vans; breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and road food; hotels, kibbutzim, bags and keys; tubes, tires, wheels, chains and seats.

And throughout all the support, all the hard work, all the schlepping, all the fixing, the very few hours of sleep … they have smiled, laughed, listened and been genuine and unreservedly friendly.

Without these angels, our wheels would have ground to a halt and the fundraising efforts of their alma mater would have been severely compromised. Their effort and hard work has made the Israel Ride much smoother than many of the roads we have ridden together.

From all of us on Team Atlanta, from the bottom of our hearts (and the bottom of our seats):

TODA RABA!