Ride with Zvika Cohen from his house in Giva'at Brener, starting early in the morning on Rosh Hashanah eve. We headed out the 411, generally heading uphill through Hulda and past the Barkan winery. We turned onto the 44 and headed east, again mostly uphill with a couple of steeper sections until we had a short break before turning onto the 38. Then we turned onto the 3855 to get over to the 3866. This was the start of an uphill climb of >5 miles, the last 3 miles or so being really steep, at least for me. I hadn't put any significant climbing miles in for quite a while, and it showed. I was struggling to keep any kind of cadence at all on this climb, and most of it was just survival. I started out stronger than Zvika but he caught and passed me with about half a mile to go to the top. We could have continued riding up, at a more moderate grade, but thankfully he said it would be better to turn around there. We retraced our route for the most part. My legs held out reasonably well, although Zvika was riding a fast pace on the flats and downhills, and I had to push to keep up with him. All in all, it was a good ride, weather was cooperative, and I was tired at the end but legs not overly sore.
Avg speed = 15.0 mph. Total mileage = 43.8 mi
Avg heartrate = 148 bpm
Total elevation gain = 3650'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2474890526
