Galilee Revisited

I returned to the Sea of Galilee this past weekend for another adventure, this time with some other fellows from the Albright. One of them, Chad, is an avid cyclist and planned for us to rent bikes and ride around the entire sea. This prospect was at once exciting and horrifying: it's 40 miles all the way around, but Chad assured us that it would be mostly flat. So after renting bicycles from Hooha Hostel (what a great name!) in nearby Kefar Tavor, which sits at the base of Mt. Tabor (supposedly the site of the Transfiguration), we mounted up.

Here's a picture of me (representing UNC's Fetzer Gym):

I was later told that few cyclists wear dark socks and sneakers when they ride, but if I'm going to bike 40 miles, I'm gonna do it my way. As you can also see, I couldn't really gets the helmet straps to cooperate. It rested so far on the back of my head, I thought of it as a helmet/yamulka, which seemed appropriate since it was Shabbat.

Here's the rest of the crew (from left: Chad, Erin and John):

Trust me: such smiles were few and far between for the rest of the ride. Fortunately, the beautiful scenery distracted me from my huffing, puffing and wheezing. Here's a few shots:

And here is the mighty Jordan. Even though this section looks all right, I've been told that the water is pretty nasty, even this close to its source. Obviously, no one informed the guys flyfishing downriver -- you can just make them out. I think I'd eat Baltimore lake trout before I'd eat any fish out of the Jordan, holy though it may be.

This last picture was taken about 2/3 through the ride. Don't be fooled: that smile is all for show.

But we made it. Altogether I think it took about 6 hrs. with lots of breaks and a pretty long stop for lunch. I think I rode a bike farther on Saturday than I have in the last ten years combined, and this ride has likely scratched my biking itch for another ten years. But it was a great time and a fun way to take in the Galilee region.