Standing by my bike on the slopes of Mount Hermon, I felt the sweat freezing to my body. I think it was at that time I decided that no way would I ever ride the Alyn 5 day charity ride again. Not a chance. Don’t even ask. After all, biking is a recreational hobby, right?

Why on Earth should one’s hobby make one miserable. As I tried to clean the mud out of my nose later that night, I felt comfortable that after riding Alyn for four years and raising over ten thousand dollars for the children’s hospital, I had done my share. Let someone else take over.

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Me and CD Zlotnick after the race

This morning I found myself in the Alon Shevut pool getting ready for the start of my first triathlon. Triathlon? Oh yeah, that’s the crazy sport where lunatics swim, bike, and run because they can’t kill themselves by just doing one of them. Of course, this is not the ultra crazy Iron Man. Just a little Friday morning fun.

My original plan was to train like crazy and hope that everyone else who showed up were fat guys from Queens. (I think this is actually Lance Armstrong’s Tour De France plan.) The first part of the plan worked out.

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My ride number

I just spent a week riding through mud.

Not the kind of nice warm Dead Sea mud that tourists buy. I’m talking about freezing cold mud. It gets on your arms, your legs, in your nose, and between your teeth. Every day after the ride you take a shower wearing your riding gear to try and get some of it off. But it’s just not possible.

The mud gets on your bike chain and in your gears. It gets in your brakes and clogs your pedals. Your bike weighs a ton no matter how often you try and clean some muck off.

What an amazing week.

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Finally.

Team Neve Daniel has trained as much as we can and raised the money for our sponsorships for Alyn. For everyone who sponsored us, thank you.

The weather report for the next week is grim. The Golan is expected to be cold, rainy, and muddy. Now anyone who seriously rides a bike has gotten caught in the rain more than once. A cold rain can make a ride quite difficult and uncomfortable. Basically, when it starts to come down and the trails turn to mud, there are only two ways to look at the situation:

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Chaya Bailey Bat Kelev

Last week, my family had a bit of a crisis. Our beloved dog Bailey swallowed something that was never meant to be swallowed, and it tore up her belly and intestines.

She spent a week and a half in the vet clinic in Maale Adumim where she underwent two major operations. At one point, the vet told us that the odds were heavily against her making it home.

Those who are not pet owners are forgiven for not comprehending how torn apart a family can be when a pet is near death’s door. All of us went to bed on Rosh Hashana crying, wondering if we would see our Bailey again.

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