Editor’s Note: AFS Senior Louis Platt has set off on a 300-mile bike ride for charity in Israel with his dad, Jack. Louis also is researching Israeli water policies for his National History Day project. The ride is a fund-raiser for the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Hazon, a Jewish environmental organization. Here are his dispatches:
Wednesday, November 9, 2016:
What a day it has been here in Israel! Last night, my dad and I turned off CNN’s election coverage, which was really a cliffhanger because we are seven hours ahead of the East Coast. When we walked to breakfast this morning, the cafe area was filled with riders getting a last look at the election results before we had to board the buses to go to our starting point. That morning, the election was the only thing on my mind.
The 2016 Israel Ride started in Tsur Hadasa, a small town 25 minutes from Jerusalem. On our way there we drove through the West Bank, though we didn’t go dangerously deep into the territory, to avoid Jerusalem’s congested traffic. At the start of the bike ride, the “Traveler’s Prayer” for a safe journey was read in English, Arabic and Hebrew and the shofar (a ram’s horn blown before special Jewish events) was blown. The moment was very special for my father because I am his second son to do this bike ride with him.
Part of today’s route included going through the valley where it is said that David fought Goliath. The route finished with a police escort for the last two miles, to the Mediterranean Sea, in the city of Ashkelon. We rode 57 miles to the southwest, covering the entire width of the country!
At lunch, I met Olly who is also 18 years old and grew up in New Jersey and New York. This year, Olly is taking a gap year in Israel and Chile before he starts college. It was really exciting to meet someone my age whom I can bike with, hang out with, and get to know because most of the riders are adults. After the long day, I quickly changed into my swimsuit, watched a sunset over the Mediterranean Sea and cooled down with a swim in the pool with fellow riders.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
This morning, we set off from the Mediterranean coastal city Ashkelon on a 70-mile bike ride southeast into the Negev Desert. I am happily writing this knowing that I accomplished the longest one-day distance of the trip, and now I feel confident I can manage any of the next three days of riding.
The transition from the fertile city of Ashkelon into the Negev Desert was subtle. I noticed a declining number of trees, then smooth stretches of brown sand that stretched for miles in all directions. There was also an abundance of 18 wheelers zooming by, and almost knocking us off our bikes.
Midway through the morning, we had a special rest stop at a park that overlooks the Gaza Strip. We stood roughly 500 yards from the Gaza-Israel border!
Louis with dad and Yaara, a medical student from Tel Aviv, who is helping to transport equipment for the ride.
Many riders, including myself, reflected in this special moment because normally we would be standing in a war zone. A man who lives on a settlement 300 yards from the border spoke to us about the actions that non-governmental organizations have taken to create relationships with Palestinians living in Gaza and help with cleaner environmental strategies.
Today’s ride took a hard toll on my body. The longer distance, exposure to the super-arid environment and lack of shade caused me to dehydrate faster and have leg and thigh muscle cramps that lasted from lunch to the end of the day. The combination of water and electrolyte-filled sports drinks played a key role in helping me to push through the cramps and finish. This evening, I made sure to drink multiple bottles of water to prevent more cramps as we will continue traveling through the desert tomorrow.
Friday November 11, 2016
Today we rode 50 miles completely through the Negev Desert, which meant two things — tons of sun and long rolling hills. Most of the hills we rode on during the morning were tightly packed together. I used the technique of pedaling down the hill to pick up speed, and then continued to pedal fast up the next hill. This made getting up the hills so much easier.
However, it would not be a complete day of riding through Israel if we did not encounter a couple large climbs. The most difficult hill we have ridden today, and so far this week, came in the early afternoon when the sun beat down on us the hardest. The hill gradually rose for three quarters of a mile to a mile. And there was a turn at the top that I thought was the climax, but it kept going for another quarter mile. Even though we rode for 20 fewer miles today, the hills we had to climb made up for the shorter distance and it was a challenging day.
At lunchtime, we stopped at Sde Boker, the burial site of the first Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and his wife, Paula. We were led through Sde Boker by a tour guide who told us that many of Ben-Gurion’s domestic policies were environmentally driven. He wanted wanted to find a way to make the super arid Negev Desert fertile.
We were told that Ben-Gurion’s love for the environment is what prompted his resignation as prime minister in 1954 and his enrollment immediately thereafter at the kibbutz at Sde Boker, which surprised everyone.
The view of the light-brown and white mountains in the background of the tomb for David and Paula Ben-Gurion is breathtaking. I now understand why Ben-Gurion advocated for making the best use of the Negev Desert. It beautiful and should not go to waste.
Sunday, November 13, 2016
After starting off in Mitzpe Ramon, today went downhill quickly. Literally, we started the ride on a 600-foot descent into the Makhtesh Ramon. A makhtesh is a crater with one entry/exit. The ride into the makhtesh included switchbacks, which were very dangerous if you did not slow down heading into the curves. Police blocked off the road’s right lane, giving us plenty of room to spread out and pass other riders.
I made sure to turn on my GoPro as I flew down the hill because I wanted to be able to look back at the beauty of the mountains. Today’s ride was a lot of fun because there were two more large descents, a lot of flat roads and only one challenging uphill. These elements boosted my energy and helped me finish today strong and positive.
When we arrived at Kibbutz Ketura, my dad and I toured a huge solar field on the property. The tour leader, Yosef Abramowitz,the founder of the Arava Power Company, explained that there were enough solar panels at Ketura to power three kibbutzim. There are about 20 to 30 rows of solar panels that stretch the length of a football field.
To get a better look at the solar panels, and another solar-panel farm across the street, Yosef sent us up 50 feet in a date-tree picker. Not only did we see both enormous solar panel fields, but we also saw the entire date tree farm and the an almost full and super Moon rise over the Jordanian mountains to the west. It was incredible to see the isolated green patch of trees in the middle of the desert valley. The picker operator assured me that it was not easy to maintain the trees in such an arid environment.
Today was very uplifting because the sights in the makhtesh were stunning and I learned how Yosef Abramowitz is looking to create more solar fields in Israel and in African countries. He said that it would allow them to become more environmentally friendly and they will have more energy to grow businesses, give to their citizens and save money.
Monday, November 14, 2016
When I woke up this morning, I knew I needed to make a change. The evening before, I signed up to start today biking up a mountain with a 1,000-foot climb over five miles. In other words, that same mountain was the ending highlight from the day before whenI reached speeds of up to 40 to 50 mph going downhill. I knew this would be a challenge I wanted to take on, but I did not want to exhaust my thighs and overall energy before the remaining 46 miles to Eilat. Since I decided to change groups in the morning, I had to sprint out of my room to a crew member and ask them to put my bike of the truck that was going to my new group’s starting point. If I had slept an extra 10 minutes I would have missed my chance to change groups and would have been stuck with what seemed like the one millionth mountain we biked, and easily the most difficult.
Today’s ride was not as difficult as ones before, and the highlight of the day came during the last seven miles. Our final destination, Eilat, is on the coast of the Red Sea and therefore is at sea level. However, almost all of inland Israel is made up of rolling hills, which meant we had to descend 2,000 feet over those seven miles.
At the top of the mountain, where we would descend 1,800 feet, I waited for my dad to catch up to me so we both would go down at the same time. Since my dad does dialysis, his blood is not constantly cleaned and on a daily basis he does not feel as healthy as he used to before he lost function of his kidneys. Waiting for my dad to roll down the hill with me was special and meaningful because we did not get to ride a lot together since he had to leave the ride at lunch everyday to go to hotel and undergo his dialysis treatments. Today, he decided to do his treatment in the morning so we could go through the finish together.
Biking to the Red Sea with my dad capped an unbelievable two weeks of traveling to every corner of Israel. This trip helped me see the perseverance and courage my dad has because his daily dialysis treatments did not stop us from visiting a nature preserve two and a half hours from Jerusalem early in our trip, or biking an average of 20 to 25 miles a day during the bike ride. On Sunday, my dad felt the best he has in a while on a bike and completed 50 miles! It was only right that we entered the Red Sea together, holding my bike over our heads for a photo that put the cherry on top of the mountain- sized pile of whipped cream, which has been our trip.
P.S. After about 10 seconds of riding down the hill together my dad gave me the green light to fly down the mountain, whizzing by him and capturing this downhill on my GoPro.
P.P.S. We could see three countries from Israel today: Jordan (can be seen from the beaches in Eilat), Egypt (we rode along their border today, very cool to be casually riding next to another country), and Saudi Arabia (also can be seen from the beaches of Eilat and as we rode downhill to into Eilat).