Day One of the Israel Ride

A snap from just before Rideout—the start

Hillel texted me at the end of today’s trek—9AM Boston time/3PM Israel time. He allowed that, in point of fact, he is still alive. Hillel and his cycling crew peddled 57 miles from Jerusalem to just south of Ashdod.

I have a question (don't I always?)—what’s the proper term for a bunch of bicyclers? Ya know, a flock of crows is a murder—a murder of crows. Ten tells me that just a few crows (three to be all precise and shit) constitutes a crowd of crows. An assload of parrots is a pandemonium. A few parrots? That’s, obviously, a paucity of parrots. A magnitude of plumbers would be a flood of plumbers, right?

So, what would an Israel Ride worth of cyclists be? Possibly a cyclone—a cyclone of cyclists? Would a small number be a scintilla of cyclists?

Just FYI—I totally blame Ten for taking me down this rabbit hole. And yes, he’s accepted full responsibility.

The Israel Ride is a fundraiser for the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Hazon.

Located on Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel, the Arava Institute is dedicated to training the next generation of environmental leaders—Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, and students from around the world. By studying cutting-edge approaches to water resource management, ecology, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy, students at the Arava Institute learn to collaborate around their shared environmental concerns.

Know what's really cool? Hillel can text and send me pics from 5,504 miles away. I can follow along as though I'm actually there...sort of.