Photoblog
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Eilat is a beach resort city with lots of hotels, shopping right on the beautiful Red Sea.
Down into the machtesh (it's not a crater!). This was a hot and sunny day!
Distance: 60 miles
Last day before the ride starts!
The first thing we did today was set our bikes up. Most people brought their bikes in shipping containers on the plane. I have a pretty crappy bike back at home so I opted to use one of their bikes - a brand new Fuji road bike.
After setting our bikes up and a picnic lunch we got a tour of the Old City again. You might recognize a few views from our first day in Jerusalem we entered a different gate and saw a few different things.
Tommorrow we'll be waking up at 4:45 to begin our jouney!
More photos!
Today we went to Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust museum and memorial.
We also went to the Jerusalem Mall, a mall very similar to any in the US. A perfect place to pick up some extra socks and t-shirts I neglected to pack.
Just two more days until we begin our 300 mile ride!
By the way - I am still accepting donations! Donations go to two institutes that promote peace and better treatment and awareness of the environment in the middle east. I've raised over $3000 so far and I'd like to try to get to $4000 by the end of the ride next week.
Donate Here!
All credit cards accepted, tax deductible, etc etc.
Photos from Day 1 are here!
- 10 hour flight from Newark, NJ to Tel Aviv, Israel. I caught up on Lost and started watching V for Vendetta.
- Arrive at our hotel - Mount Zion Hotel, a converted Turkish mansion.
- Explore the Old City - the ancient part of Jerusalem.
- Walk around Jerusalem, Ben Yehuda street, and other surrounding areas.
It's been two days and I'm still recovering from this incredible party. We smashed all previous party records with well over 100 people in attendance, and just about everybody in costume. We throughly trashed just about every room on the first floor. We knocked back over 100 extra strong jello shots. We finished the beer, the mixers, wine, much of the liquor. And we managed to rock the neighborhood without having the cops called on us.
Thanks to everyone who helped set up for the party, and everybody helped clean up after the party, letting me sleep in a little late on my 30th birthday. Thanks to everyone who brought food, drink, and other surprises. And a special thanks to Mike Reyes for purchasing the outdoor heater, without that it would have been impossible to fit everybody inside the house.
It's a down right luau at Tom (Hoss!) and Mike's house in Tampa, and we all got leid. A couple people even jumped in the pool.
The weekend of September 11th, 2005, my dad and I drove up to New York City for a memorable weekend of sight seeing and biking.
The bike ride was the NYC Century Bike Tour, presented by Transportation Alternatives, an advocate for safety in bike riding. There were four tours available: 100 miles, 75 miles, 55 miles, and 35 miles. The tours all started in Central Park.
We did the 55 mile tour, which took us through New York City, over the Brooklyn Bridge, around Brooklyn, past Cony Island, up through Queens, over the Triborough Bridge, and back to Central Park.
This was my first time in most of these parts of New York. Riding over the Brooklyn Bridge was absolutely spectacular, especially with perfect weather and thousands of other bike riders on the bridge around us. My favorite part of the ride was through and around traffic in the city, passing familiar landmarks like the Lincoln Center, and cautiously zooming through traffic lights in packs of 15 or so riders.
My dad has a rule about going to New York - he can't leave without seeing a show. We saw two excellent shows - The Pillowman, staring Billy Crudup and Jeff Goldbum, and The Great American Trailer Park Musical.
We stayed in Jersey City and took the train in each day, which dropped us off at the makeshift World Trade Center station. On September 11th, it was powerful and emotional to be at the footsteps of the remains of the rubble as hundreds of people had gathered to lay flowers, cry, and pray for their missing loved ones.
Chris and I went to the Maryland Renassance Festival in Crownsvile, Maryland. It was my first time and Chris' first time in many years, and was a lot of fun.
RennFest is every weekend until the end of October.
More about the festival: http://www.rennfest.com/
I co-hosted a going away for Mike Reyes, who left us all for sunny Tampa, Florida.
He has pictures of his dramatic move on his blog and links to more party pictures at parties.dabu.com, which he helps keep up to date.
BrickFest photos from 2004!
BrickFest is a convention for adult fans of Lego that happens every year in Arlington, Virgina, just outside of DC.
This year's BrickFest is August 12-14. On Sunday is an open house where the public is invited in to check out the incredible creations people have on display.
More info: http://www.Brickfest.com