Day one of Epic Israel

29 Sep Day one of Epic Israel

So, understandably, I am pooped after climbing almost 1,500 meters in one day, riding over babyhead rocks in dried out riverbeds (many we walked over), squinting at the blinding dust of the start, hoping I wouldn’t fall off the super fast flowing downhill singletrack into a canyon and my inevitable death and drafting behind my courageous and caring partner, Karen.

We finished 98 kms in five and a half hours. I feel pretty chuffed. We also came in second in our small category (four women’s only teams). But hell. It feels pretty amazing to be clean (we were drenched in dust), and fed — yummy chow mien noodles for lunch and one beer that had me loopetity-doo!

This is a video that sums it all up. We were giddy, tired, and happy. Loved it.

Now, the real test is day two. The idea of putting my raw butt onto that saddle again makes me shudder. Tomorrow is also 6,000 feet of climbing. Ok, don’t overthink it. Just ride. Oh, and I did sing in my head today. But sadly it wasn’t either of the songs I mentioned in my last post (Witchcraft or Some Kind of Wonderful). It was AC/DC’s She shook me all night long? Weird.

That’s all I can muster for now. Pictures and all that jazz later!