Not what you had planned as the year's bike tour?
Israel's Gran Fondo at the Dead Sea offers unique nature, good racing and a lot of pioneer spirit.
Text: Christian Jessen photo: Gran Fondo Dead Sea
No matter how you prepare, so it's just a shock to the body, especially the legs and lower back to
get the first 15 percent increase kicked to the head on a Saturday in mid-March.
Everyone in Israel has heard of the Scorpions Pass, a small narrow road straight up into the sky,
which played a role in the War of Independence in 1948. Five kilometers from the Dead Sea to the
Judean Desert with about 16 hairpins. The road seems definitely steeper than the regular 8percent increase, the French have been so good at building in the Alps, and in some places it
seems vertical. Rough tarmac makes it even harder.
There is a monument on the top look for. However as the torment seems to end, around the
corner three more hairpins and another 100 vertical comes up. Now I start swearing loudly.
One should be very careful with excuses and curses while racing, for they make it harder, not
easier, to turn the pedals. Still they come. How did it go with losing 3 kg during the winter? Well
guessed they came on instead. Why did much of the training go down the drain? You guessed, it
seems difficult to find time and motivation in the cold and rainy January and February in Denmark.
Why did I not bring my own bike to Israel instead of the excellent but slightly antiquated speed
monster the organizers kindly lent me? It runs fine, but my position is less than perfect, of course.
There are limits to what you can do with an Allen key the day before. It was too tempting to
accept the offer and avoid all the trouble of packing and lugging a bicycle suitcase to the Holy
Land. And why do I always begin disproportionately fast in these bike races, only to become very
tired half way through, although I am 47 years old and far from peak form? The old racing instinct
from years of elite racing in Denmark and Belgium tells me that you hang on in the peloton, no
matter how fast. How can it be that there are 22 gears on the bike, but only one of them works?
The Scorpions Pass is very steep.
I should stop for a moment and enjoy the fantastic views towards the Dead Sea, but then I'm not
going again. The last five minutes up the mountain are terrible.
So how did I end up here? We turn time back a day.
A weird world
Friday morning at 4:37 am at Copenhagen airport, going to Tel Aviv. Waiting for five of my friends
who are in the process of checking bikes in. I am arguing with my nutritional conscience if it is too
paltry to begin the day by eating a donut and I philosophize about how the world has become a
strange place.
The first time I went to Israel with a racing bike in a big soft bag was in 1987. The journey had to
be planned months in advance. Enhanced security ahead of the flight took an hour at the airport
and the ticket cost were actually ten times as much as today. The airline El Al considered to split
my racing bike into bits and pieces to check the contents of the tubes, but common senses
prevailed.
Now it is quite easy to take the journey. It has become normal to travel thousands of kilometers
for a long weekend in a foreign country. Norwegian Airlines flies directly to Tel Aviv.
Environmentally thinking it’s really strange to make CO2 heavy airlifts so cheap that the airspace
resembles a German autobahn in high summer, but now we are a going to race in the Israeli heat.
Persistent conflict
Dead Sea Gran Fondo is 155 km by the Dead Sea, 380 meters below sea level to climb into Judea
Desert. It’s full of pioneer atmosphere, volunteer work and enthusiasm, joy and pride. With the
challenges it also provide, when a few enthusiasts have embarked on a major project. It has been
a long beginning. Originally, the race was scheduled mid-January, but a week before it had to be
postponed because of continuous rains, flooded roads in the valley and freezing temperatures in
the desert.
I philosophize further about whether to inform our readers about the persisting Israeli-Arab
conflict, but they can easily find this information elsewhere. I remember my aforementioned long
bike tours in Israel in 1987. I met no other on a racing bike during my stay in the Israel, although I
cycled all around the country including in the territories on the West Bank. Back then a Danish flag
was sufficient to be welcomed in all camps, now Islamic terror and conflict has also reached
Denmark.
Friends travelling
Israel is a microcosm, a mini version of the whole world. With a ski mountain in the north, fertile
valleys, elongated coasts, a worldly, wild metropole Tel Aviv by the sea, and a religious and
cultural world center in Jerusalem, 800 meters above sea level. Large agricultural areas around Tel
Aviv, extensive stone desert, the Negev, and the absolute lowest point on earth, the Dead Sea 380
meters below sea level. An impressive bike terrain.
A journey alone for a cycle race could be sad. Therefore, I invite members of my Saturday morning
training gang called H17 to join, and before long, we are six people going the Holy Land. Michael,
Henrik, Aino, John, Bo and myself. Michael was a strong A-rider and semiprofessional in France. I
also rode elite, while the rest of the group has another good sporting background. Today we are
all aged 40 years, we ride to keep fit and have fun, and we look forward to our journey.
Practical seaside resort
Roads in Israel have come to a completely different standard than in the eighties. The Israelis has
managed to build a relatively affluent society, although the military budget is huge. From mid
eighties and ten years on the country welcomed about half a million immigrants from Russia.
Many of those super educated with excellent skills in mathematics and other useful disciplines.
They have participated strongly in a thriving IT industry with a global reach. However, wealth is
unequally distributed. A small group of people is extremely successful and owns a large part of
assets. It is beginning to give rise to political tensions.
We will stay in the resort Ein Bokek at the Dead Sea, where the race starts and ends. In practical
terms, it is easy and cheap to get from the airport to the race in a rented car. All of us are looking
forward to complete the journey, assemble the bikes and go to the beach. Followed by a good
dinner, for if there is one thing that is certain in life, it is that middle-aged cyclists with relatively
good jobs do not pass an excellent dinner table.
Practical challenges
The number of participants in the race by the Dead Sea grows, first year there were 300
participants, now two years later 800. It seems like every ambitious cyclists in Israel have shown
up for the race in the desert. But there is certainly room for more foreigners on the start line, we
are no more than about 50. Our small six-player team meets genuine goodwill from the
organizers.
Road cycling is a challenging affair in Israel. In any case, to arrange. There are a few very specific
reasons: The road network goes directly from city to city, hence it is difficult to make round
stretches without hitting much traffic on the road. Organizers must pay for all public service
related to the race. The mountain bike offers better opportunities in Israel, but Israelis will not
give up on road cycling.
Impressive backdrop
Grand Fondo in Israel starting in groups. It seems sensible enough. Our starting numbers are
different. Michael and Henrik gets first departure, while the rest of us starts in a subsequent
group. However, it seems a bit random who starts where, so there will also be strong riders in the
rest of the pelotons.
The route gives us some 45 km to the south on fine roads, followed by the Scorpions Pass, which
according to the website climbbybike.com grow by 8.6 percent on average over 3.51 kilometers.
Then there are approximately 50 km left, small hilly roads followed by long straights. If you bother
looking up along the way, sharp mountains of stone along the road provide an impressive
backdrop. In the beginning and the end of the race, there are some 45 kilometers of neutralized
transport stretches. It is a nice way to organize a Grand Fondo.
The temperature is ideal for cycling in mid-March, from 15 degrees in the morning to 25 degrees
by day. There is no shade, so it is important to remember sunscreen, because pale Danish skin is
vulnerable.
Expensive equipment addicts
The first part of the race is not too difficult, or so it seems. We find shelter in a large peloton at
reasonable speed. It is much like what we find in a ordinary Danish Grand Fondo. It is a large group
of men aged 40-50 years on expensive bikes, a few young hotheads and initially a few well trained
girls / women who are helped by their eager boyfriends.
I do not see anyone with a rear view mirror on the handlebar and large panniers. On the contrary,
it seems that there a not only tourists but also real riders in the race. There are expensive
equipment addicts, nervous cyclists, strong guys with their helmet hold high on the forehead,
teams that try in vain to keep together, someone who knows how to position themselves and
others who are flapping in the wind.
Organized echolons in the wind and rolling around each other in smaller groups to increase speed
is not seen, and most riders expect you to drive straight ahead all the time instead of moving
around and exploiting gaps and shelter in the peloton, like you would do in a top level field. But
never mind, it is no different to our Grand Fondos in Denmark. And there are strong men
searching for a good finishing time, willing to do some massive turns in the front with 50 riders
sitting idle behind. Finally the Israelis do not mind, that some are riding time trial bikes.
Known brands
There is a lot of talk in the peloton. Riding bikes seems to fit the Israeli mentality very well.. When
they discuss something, it sounds like an argument. And when they actually end up arguing - it
also happens in the open spaces - there will be screaming!
I try to look on the bikes, and it is the same brand as in the rest of the world. Specialized, Trek,
Cannondale, BMC, Colnago, Pinarello, Focus, Canyon and also part Lapierre bikes - the exclusive
French brand. There are no older steel bikes on the road, and nine out of ten carbon fiber; may
also be any titanium and aluminum.
Does it go wrong? We see some battered riders on the roadside waiting for help, but apparently
nothing serious. In my group, the inevitable happens with some inexperienced riders in the pack:
one ambitious rider gets his front wheel on the wrong side. Fortunately, it is on a low speed hill.
First man to hit the deck rides a brand new Lapierre, a fantastic bike and he swears even before he
hits the asphalt. He is run over by a new Pinarello Dogma, who also begins to quarrel before he lies
on the asphalt. Since they shout so much, they seem unscathed. No stops and waits.
So why isn’t it faster in the peloton? Everyone are waiting for the scorpion. Twenty minutes where
it is inevitable to work at very intensity.
Blew fields
Afterwards it begins to look like pure survival for most. In any case, my silk is worn off and the last
hours passes mostly on routine and will. The mountain sits firmly in my legs, and the heat begins
to take its toll. The pelotons were blown to smithereens on the mountain, and all riders are alone
or in small groups. Buy by the end of the day there will be created new larger groups when the few
remaining fresh guys drags trains of exhausted riders behind them on the long straight roads.
It is fortunately flat or slightly downhill towards the Dead Sea most of the time, and so it is
possible to hang on to a group of tired riders. But six kilometers from the finishing the organizers
admitted some small tough climbs for good measure. I can feel where this is going, greets my
fellow Danish rider Bo, and has to deal with cramps in four different places of my legs. But I'm
certainly not the only one to end being completely used. People's faces shows it.
Something special
So why ride hard while being in rather bad shape? It is clearly more fun to drive the Grand Fondo
as a race, instead of as a picnic with a camera for long breaks and lots of companionship. It is also
in line with the Israeli spirit. With that said, you should not despair that your physical condition is
not that good in the middle of March, because it takes nothing away from the experience of the
day to ride a little slower than you might have.
There is agreement in our group that it has been something special. Unique nature, a physical
challenge and a different mood and mentality. Something we can recommend, especially as a
complement to the annual pilgrimage to the Alps in the summer months.
The date in the middle of March works well as a motivating factor when the hard winter training
seems difficult, especially if you want to ride real races during the summer. Finally, it goes without
saying a week's Mallorca training camp in the spring could move to the Holy Land, especially if you
also have an appetite for mountain biking in the desert.
Did we get some prices? We actually did. Aino was second in the group of women over 40, and
received a bottle of wine and a fine medal. Much to the delight of the rest of the team.
We use Sunday to drive to Jerusalem to visit the old city with the Western Wall and Al-aqsa
mosque. I am happily visiting friends I have known for 28 years, and the rest of the group throws a
mighty evening party in Tel Aviv before heading to Denmark.
Try the desert race next year if you are ready for a very special experience on two wheels. In the
Alps there's no signs which warns against camels, right?