[Israel ride] The crazy mechanics
Jun. 11th, 2008 09:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidTwo of the mechanics biked the whole way with us (there were others who were driving), and they were somewhat crazy. Fun, good conversationalists, and crazy (are all dedicated mountain cyclists like this?). The downhills mostly included switchbacks (we were in the mountains, after all), and they'd always be passing me. Not only passing me (a number of people did; even in lowest gear I needed brakes to make sure I made the turns), but pedaling, zooming past with enormous grins on their faces. (Sort of like this or this, but on bikes :-).
Towards the end of the first day's riding, I was chatting with them as we rode, until one of them decided to jump the curb just before getting to the beach in Ashkelon. He landed fine, except that the chain fell off. The other stopped to help, while I rode on. Even I can get a chain on fairly quickly (plus it was already a long day's ride for me, they still had tons of energy, and they were mechanics!), so I assumed they'd catch up soon. And they did.... but the chain hadn't just slipped, it had broken, so one was riding, holding one end of the chain, while towing his friend. I couldn't help but laugh in astonishment, as the towed one grinned and waved.
The morning of the second day, as we cycled south from Ashkelon, we passed some fields. One of them said that they were hummus fields (which is to say, chickpeas), which I'd never seen growing before. They both ended up jumping their bikes into the field, and at the next rest stop, I was offered a fresh chickpea in the pod. It was exciting to open the pod and see a chickpea inside. I tasted it, and they're definitely edible fresh :-).
Later that day, at the last rest stop with the Chalutzim before they went to the Egyptian border at Nizzana, there was the first watermelon. Which sounded glorious, the cool wet sweetness of it after riding in the sun. But there weren't any long knives to cut it. I don't know how someone cut it in half, but the next thing I knew I saw each of the mechanics hacking out pieces of watermelon for people, one using a pair of what looked like surgical scissors, the other using a wrench. I wish I'd taken a picture!
One of the days the shorter of the two sported a wonderful bike jersey: Grover in a cape! I couldn't help but call him "Super Grover" the rest of the ride (and I'm sending him my spare copy of The Monster at the End of This Book :-).
I don't remember when (other than sometime in the desert, so not the first day, nor the beginning of the second), Super Grover asked if I'd like to see him change shorts while riding. Um, what?! So I followed as he managed to take off a baggy pair of shorts while riding (his biking shorts were underneath). Unfortunately, his friend's camera ran out of juice during the performance, so I heard there would have to be a repeat performance.
Oh, and yeah, they helped me with my second flat (which was more of a steady leak than an obvious flat (unlike the first one, which was a definite flat... discovered after I'd made it up a fairly long hill. *sigh*)).
Towards the end of the first day's riding, I was chatting with them as we rode, until one of them decided to jump the curb just before getting to the beach in Ashkelon. He landed fine, except that the chain fell off. The other stopped to help, while I rode on. Even I can get a chain on fairly quickly (plus it was already a long day's ride for me, they still had tons of energy, and they were mechanics!), so I assumed they'd catch up soon. And they did.... but the chain hadn't just slipped, it had broken, so one was riding, holding one end of the chain, while towing his friend. I couldn't help but laugh in astonishment, as the towed one grinned and waved.
The morning of the second day, as we cycled south from Ashkelon, we passed some fields. One of them said that they were hummus fields (which is to say, chickpeas), which I'd never seen growing before. They both ended up jumping their bikes into the field, and at the next rest stop, I was offered a fresh chickpea in the pod. It was exciting to open the pod and see a chickpea inside. I tasted it, and they're definitely edible fresh :-).
Later that day, at the last rest stop with the Chalutzim before they went to the Egyptian border at Nizzana, there was the first watermelon. Which sounded glorious, the cool wet sweetness of it after riding in the sun. But there weren't any long knives to cut it. I don't know how someone cut it in half, but the next thing I knew I saw each of the mechanics hacking out pieces of watermelon for people, one using a pair of what looked like surgical scissors, the other using a wrench. I wish I'd taken a picture!
One of the days the shorter of the two sported a wonderful bike jersey: Grover in a cape! I couldn't help but call him "Super Grover" the rest of the ride (and I'm sending him my spare copy of The Monster at the End of This Book :-).
I don't remember when (other than sometime in the desert, so not the first day, nor the beginning of the second), Super Grover asked if I'd like to see him change shorts while riding. Um, what?! So I followed as he managed to take off a baggy pair of shorts while riding (his biking shorts were underneath). Unfortunately, his friend's camera ran out of juice during the performance, so I heard there would have to be a repeat performance.
Oh, and yeah, they helped me with my second flat (which was more of a steady leak than an obvious flat (unlike the first one, which was a definite flat... discovered after I'd made it up a fairly long hill. *sigh*)).
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Date: 2008-06-11 04:07 pm (UTC)Such great adventures -- so very Israeli too -- and such great telling of them.
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Date: 2008-06-12 02:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-12 02:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-12 02:49 am (UTC)I was fascinated that one of them is in college studying transportation design; it seemed apt. His school's in Italy, so he's at least trilingual (I'm always impressed by linguistically talented people). Interestingly, while his family is "traditional" in Israel (the shul they don't go to is Orthodox kind of thing), he finds he does more of the traditional things in Italy, where he's not in the majority.