Ashqelon to Nitzana

5:30am Roll-out (argh!). Nuts, fruit & coffee/tea for 'pre-ride-snack." 93.5 miles total. VERY close to Gaza for much of the morning (as close as < 1 km). We could see Gaza clearly from the road (see the sign above my head? Yes, we did turn right). Breakfast 30 miles into the ride – GREAT music with the crew.

Lunch was at 66 miles into the ride at Golda Meir park. It is an oasis in the middle of the Negev Desert. The food was great, the sun was high, we had a cool breeze and plenty of "seam creme."

From lunch to the end of the ride, we had a headwind. When the ride organizers told us “the last 20 miles tends to have a large headwind” we (a) didn’t believe them and (b) didn’t know that it was actually 27 miles!

I blew tire at 68 into the ride. it was my first flat tire ... ever ... The mechanics rolled up just as I had the bike flipped over and they had me ready to roll in 6 minutes. It took 19 miles (10 in paceline and 9 solo) to get back up to the front of the pack. OUCH!

I had 6:14 in the saddle. With breakfast, lunch, pit stops and almost 3000 feet of aggregate climbing, it took us until 3:30 to arrive. Oy.

The "hotel" in Nitzana is basically a kibbutz-gone-hostel. Simple rooms. Great showers (if you get in early enough), a bar with 5 shekel ($1.50) double-shots of vodka, a killer sunset and a great moon.

After a very locally-grown dinner, a quick blog, and then bed.

David Taylor-Klaus
Team Atlanta