11-25-2017 Ride

Ride with Oren, Slavik, and, later, Rotem, from Netanya, and the route made a general "P" shape.  We stopped for a coffee in Karkur, the community where Rotem lives, before the three of us headed back.  Oren was feeling tired, and he was slower on the return trip.  I was anxious to be done to try and get to church on time, so it was a little frustrating.  But the coffee was good!

Avg speed = 16.9 mph. Total mileage = 40 mi
Avg heartrate = 135 bpm
Total elevation gain = 1000'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2599547626

11-24-2017 Ride

Solo ride in the morning, riding out Derekh Ben Zvi to the 44 and out past Hwy 3, climbing this little climb after that intersection before turning around.  Then I retraced my route.  Going out, I was generally climbing and going up against a headwind, so the return trip was pretty fast.  The roads were a little wet and quite muddy in places, so it was a dirty ride in the foothill section.

Avg speed = 18.5 mph. Total mileage = 43.8 mph.
Total elevation gain = 1690'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2589800113

11-18-2017 Ride

Posted long after this ride.  Rode on my birthday by the stadium to Shlabim and then to Ben Zvi.  Out the 44 to the 412, through Rishon LeTsiyon and Nes Ziona, taking the back way in to ride by HP Indigo and beyond, then got over to HaMada St and Derech Menachem Begin, by the outskirts of Rehovot to get over to the 40.  Headed north back to the 44, and then home in a straight shot from there.

Avg speed = 17.4 mph. Total mileage = 32.3 mi

Total elevation gain = 990'

https://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2581149199

11-17-2017 Ride

Well, this was a signature day.  I met up with Zvika and Yossi at the same gas station off the 44 past Highway 3. I had my jacket on and wore it for the first part of the ride.  We headed up to the 38 and turned left this time, riding for a short distance before turning onto the 395.  This is where it got challenging.  This road is really steep.  It starts out steep and climbs for about 7 miles without many breaks and including some very sharp pitches.  I was worn out on this climb.  It was about 1600' of climb, but it really challenged me in places.  Then there was a steady descent for quite a while before we tackled another shorter, less steep climb,  During the descent we got close to Ein Kerem, meaning close to Jerusalem.  The second climb had another 1000' of climbing, on tired legs for me.  I did a little better, staying with Zvika on this second pitch.  Then we rode down the steep grade we had ridden up two weeks ago on the way back to Nes Harim.  At the bottom of the hill we split from Yossi and continued further, and this turned out to be a mistake for me.  Zvika was still feeling good, but I was worn out from the two climbs and kept falling back, even though the grade was generally downhill.  On the uphill sections back to our starting point, I was super slow, and my quads were telling me it was time to be done. They didn't quite cramp up, but I couldn't put any push into them. Short story is that I need to be in a lot better shape to tackle rides like this one.  Probably also need to stay better hydrated and eat more on such rides.

Avg speed = 13.5 mph. Total mileage = 47.6 mi

Avg heartrate = 152 bpm

Total elevation gain = 6290'!

http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2579842396

11/11/2017 Ride

Another solo ride, again taking Kibbutz Galuyot Rd east to the 40 but this time turning left and heading out on the same route as about a month ago.  It was a little chilly at the start but quite manageable, and it warmed up enough to be a good day for riding.  Not much wind to speak of, and my legs generally felt good, particularly at the start.  Riding on flats at speed doesn't leave any time for heartrate recovery, so it is more of a sustained cardio workout at usually high output.  I rode out 25 miles, then turned around and retraced my route to get in the planned 50.  On the way back, after turning off the 40, I felt myself slowing down until I got something of a second wind, helped by the slight downhill nature of the road back.  Felt fine at the end.

Avg speed = 18.8 mph. Total mileage = 51.3 mi
Avg heartrate = 147 bpm
Total elevation gain = 990'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2570181769

11/10/2017 Ride

Solo ride from home, heading out Kibbutz Galuyot until it turned into the 461,  It was chilly enough at the start that I wore my light long-sleeve jersey.  Traffic light early on, which was good.  I headed out to the 40 and turned right, kept on it until I turned west onto the 44 near Ramla.  Then it was back home following this road, which turns into Derekh Ben Zvi.  It's a flat route, and other than some mild headwinds at times I kept up a decent steady pace, had my heart going steadily all the time I was in motion.  Finished earlier than expected, need to figure out a wrinkle in this route that brings it up to about 30 miles.

Avg speed = 19.2 mph. Total mileage = 29.3 mi
Avg heartrate = 149 bpm
Total elevation gain = 660'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2568792952

11-04-2017 Ride

Ride with Oren and Slavik from Netanya, a smaller ride due to my time constraints and the others' readiness to keep it easier.  Through the farmlands north and east, and we stopped back in Netanya for a coffee and conversation.  Good ride and distance for me, my legs were still recovering from the effort on the previous day.

Avg speed = 16.6 mph. Total mileage = 29.5 mi
Avg heartrate = 130 bpm
Total elevation gain = 870'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2558661160

11-03-2017 Ride

Ride with Zvika Cohen and Yossi Shitrit from a service station on the 44 just beyond the Hwy 3 intersection.  We headed over to the 38 and headed a short way down it before turning on the 3855 to head toward the climb up to Nes Harim on the 3866.  The climb seemed maybe a little less difficult than the last time I did it, and I finished before the others.  Then we rode down to where Yossi was and rode back up to the top with him.  Continued this time toward Nes Harim, road turns at some point into the 386, which doesn't the have steep sections.  Right onto the 375 and down this long grade, which has a combination of flat and steeper parts.  During one of the steep drops I hit almost 50 mph.  At the bottom, we turned around and headed back the way we came, and the steep sections were a real challenge.  Made it up okay, feeling good on this day.  The others followed a little while after, then we continued retracing our route, with a thrilling couple of downhills on this ride that offset the tough climbs.  Yossi was slowing down, so to a lesser extent was Zvika.  I still felt pretty good, no real troubles on the last little climb before we descended to the gas station.  Road on new Hutchison Atom tires, which were tough to put on the rims, caused me to ruin a couple of inner tubes, and had a bead separation from the rim that I noticed just before starting this ride.  Still, it was all good.

Avg speed = 13.9 mph. Total mileage = 41.1 mi
Avg heartrate = 150 bpm
Total elevation gain = 5080'
http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/2557155043