Day Two of the Israel Ride

I’m pretty sure that Hillel is NOT, in fact, in Israel. Instead, I'm fairly certain he's on Tatooine. Yes, THAT Tatooine! Just look at these pics, fer fuck's sake—it’s totally obvious. N'est-ce pas? I expect young Skywalker photo bombed a bunch of shots which Hillel discreetly chose not to send.

I'm on to you, man!
Without further adieu, here’s the day two Israel Ride report from our man on the road:

"…coming into the northern Arava. We rode gently uphill much of the day, but not really. In fact, this is a kind of riding that I like the least: looong stretches of pretty dead flatland, which means it's all pedal, pedal, pedal with no break. Parts were breezy but not as bad as yesterday.

The first 15 miles or so were along a four lane highway, so that was not much fun, but the next stretch was through agricultural land with untrafficked and pretty good roads (except for the gravelly bits). In fact, almost all of the roads here have been quite good.

The first rest stop overlooked Gaza with a view toward Gaza City. We heard from a woman who has lived nearby for much of her life and she talked about what it's like to always be under threat of rocket fire. I would have liked to hear from the ones firing those rockets.

Our last stop was atop a bit of a plateau and my phone pics can't do justice to the vast spaces. For you bibliophiles, this week we read לך לכה. The land we were looking at is exactly where Avraham wandered when he left Haran.

Now we rest at this lovely kibbutz and tomorrow we climb. I'll definitely be ready for a day off after that. Shabbat at Mitspe Ramon will be a welcome break."

Watch out for the Jawas and Tusken Raiders, Hillel!