WHEELS OF LOVE DAY 3
MAMSHIT TO MITZPEH RAMON "CRATERS AND CLIMBING"
Last night we slept in the Bedouin tents in Mamshit. If I had to rate Alyn on a scale of 1-10 on various aspects of the ride it would be as follows. Cycling=8. Mechanical support=9. Food=4.5. Accommodations=0.5. Personally, after an incredibly difficult day of cycling I can’t deal with a night in a tent with 60 other guys sleeping on a chewed up one-inch thick mattress. There is also the discrepancy between what is promised and what is delivered. We were told that accommodations would be in 3-5 star facilities. In reality we slept 3 nights in hostels and 2 nights in tents. I was emailed that the mattresses in Mamshit would be above ground on cots and that we would have plenty of room since we were a small group. In reality we slept on the ground and were crammed together in a small tent with inches between each mattress.
Needless to say it wasn’t one of my most restful nights. MoChassid was a great help in finding a prime location – on the periphery and close to the tent opening. This would minimize my chances of being trampled by a tired cyclist on a 3am bathroom run. I managed to obtain 2 more mattresses from a nearby tent and an extra sleeping bag, which I used as a pillow. Two earplugs and one sleeping pill later, I managed to pass out at 9:30pm. I awoke at 2am and remained awake until 4am. During that time I managed to hear the cacophony of snoring occasionally interrupted by the mad screaming of a guy who seemed to be having nightmares. Add to that the #@%$& who needed to speak on his cell phone at 3am and the guy with the anti snore machine which made me feel like I was sleeping next to Darth Vader. I managed to fall back asleep at 4am until the 5am wake up.
Morning was a bit chilly in the desert but I knew that it would get warmer quickly as the sun rose so I didn’t bother adding any layers. The day would be a continuation of mild climbing in the high desert as we moved south towards Eilat. We descended into the "Big Crater" – not an impact crater but a mountainous area which collapsed due to rainfall and erosion. The bizarre multicolored moonlike landscape was beautiful. The climb out of the crater was significant – 4.5 miles at 4% followed by 2.5 miles at 6.5% as we cleared the lip. The rest of the day was a long gradual climb to Mitzpeh Ramon at the rim of the huge Ramon Crater (nearly 3000 feet above sea level).
Aside from being the midpoint of the trip, day 3 marked a turning point for an issue that was smoldering since early in the ride. There was a vocal minority of powerful cyclists who wanted to ride as fast as possible with minimal stopping. The silent majority wanted a mellower ride (as if averaging 75 miles and 4000 ft of climbing per day can be considered mellow) with stops for sightseeing and picture taking. The reason why both couldn’t be accommodated was that the police couldn’t manage having our group stretched out over too long a distance due to occasional dangerous intersections and road closures. Also, it would take the support vehicles and accompanying ambulance longer to reach us in the event of problems.
The stronger riders won out, and we were warned that stragglers would be picked up and bussed back to the group. The riding turned into four major groups of pacelines, with minor groups and individual riders scattered between them. The trick was to find the right group and try to stick with it. If your ego pushed you to a group moving at a pace that you couldn’t sustain, you would eventually be dropped off the back and may be too tired to rejoin one of the slower groups. That would leave you alone fighting the wind (more on that later), using more energy and becoming more and more fatigued, eventually being picked up by the dreaded bus. (To those unfamiliar, a paceline works by riders continuously rotating positions and taking turns "pulling" at the front and shielding other riders from the slowing effects of the wind. In this way riders working as a group can ride at a faster pace using up to 30% less energy than a lone rider).
The wind really began to pick up towards afternoon, which meant that cycling in a disciplined paceline was the only way to keep up. One particularly serious rider used to bark out orders to the other riders, threatening that if they didn’t comply they wouldn’t be allowed to ride in "his" paceline. We dubbed him the "Paceline Nazi" after the "soup nazi" in a Seinfeld episode. He actually was very efficient, but the pressure to perform was somewhat disconcerting. I tended to fall into group 3 on the flats and headwinds and wound up in group 2 on the long climbs which is my strong point.
The last 30 miles were ridden on a long gradual uphill against a howling headwind. At a rest stop I hooked up with a large (over 6 foot – perfect to block the wind) rider wearing a Michigan cycling jersey. He laughed and told me that suddenly he was in high demand to draft behind but gave me priority since we were both Michigan graduates. We rode in a double paceline for several miles until there was a crash in our group and it fell apart. I didn’t see group 4 behind me but group 2 was not too far up ahead. I worked like a dog alone in the wind for about 15 minutes until I bridged the gap. Much to my dismay this was the group led by the Paceline Nazi! As tired as I was I stuck with them and made great time into Mitzpeh Ramon.
Distance: 65 miles
Ascent: 4,200 feet
Cumulative: 197 miles/11,300 feet of elevation