ALYN 2018, Day 2 – What Goes Down …

October 29, 2018
The Zohar Ascent
79.2 miles, vertical climb + 4,934 feet

So what goes down, must come up.  Today, after a 15-mile wake up call along the shores of the Dead Sea, we hit the Zohar Junction.  Remember how excited I was about our exhilarating descent yesterday?  Over 3,000 feet from the high desert to the lowest place on earth?  Well, today we had to climb back up.  Yeah, I know … whine, whine, whine.  Anyway, once we got back on the climb, it was more like grind, grind, grind.  The first 8k were pretty steep (8-10% gradient), but then it moderated somewhat.

I think we were all feeling a little stronger today and the wind subsided a bit so all in all not so bad.  Everybody’s a bit nervous and anxious the first day, so it’s usually better as the week goes on and as we get to know each other’s riding abilities better.

After biking around the Judean Desert, over “rolling hills” (translation:  long ups and downs), we had a quick pit stop at the top of another descent – this one on Route #25.  From 400 meters above to 400 meters below, this again was a spectacular and exhilarating descent.  (Oh yeah, there’s a catch – we’re climbing back up here tomorrow!)

Our final 30 mile slog back north to Masada was spent huddled together in a double paceline to help fight the headwind.  It worked, but we also realized that the group needed a little refresher on paceline techniques (which we got at our after-dinner lecture.)  We’ll try again tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is our biggest challenge ever at ALYN – a brutal day at 200km.  That’s 125 miles!!  So, I better get some sleep.

Please enjoy these photos from the day.  To see a neat 3D replay of the ride (don’t worry, it’s a lot quicker!) click here:

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To all of my generous supporters – past, present and future – I thank you so very very much.

…Jeff
Wheels of Love Challenge Rider
2007-2018