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Israel ride jersey
Aug. 28th, 2008 10:23 am( backstory )
Yesterday, I wore the new jersey for the first time, and was surprised that it sparked not just one but two conversations with total strangers. One guy at the CSA said that he'd thought about doing the ride, but never managed to. I described it a bit and encouraged him to go. And in Harvest, an older guy asked me about the ride, and the route: he'd lived in Israel for a couple of years in the early 70s, and helped build the army base we rode by near Shizafon. We talked about the route, and how we didn't go by many of the kibbutzim near Ketura, because we took the mountain road, rather than the valley road. He's also a long-time Cantabridgian, and remembers when there were lots of shuls, many more Jews. He seemed a bit surprised that I'd be comfortable walking around in a shirt that so clearly identifies me as supporting Israel: he sees Cambridge as having a lot of anti-Israel sentiment these days. And I felt surprised he felt that way. I suppose I keep myself in circles where that's less likely to be an acceptable opinion.
And the jersey was fine for my mostly-night ride, though I didn't try to use the pockets in back, which people had said were too shallow.
Yesterday, I wore the new jersey for the first time, and was surprised that it sparked not just one but two conversations with total strangers. One guy at the CSA said that he'd thought about doing the ride, but never managed to. I described it a bit and encouraged him to go. And in Harvest, an older guy asked me about the ride, and the route: he'd lived in Israel for a couple of years in the early 70s, and helped build the army base we rode by near Shizafon. We talked about the route, and how we didn't go by many of the kibbutzim near Ketura, because we took the mountain road, rather than the valley road. He's also a long-time Cantabridgian, and remembers when there were lots of shuls, many more Jews. He seemed a bit surprised that I'd be comfortable walking around in a shirt that so clearly identifies me as supporting Israel: he sees Cambridge as having a lot of anti-Israel sentiment these days. And I felt surprised he felt that way. I suppose I keep myself in circles where that's less likely to be an acceptable opinion.
And the jersey was fine for my mostly-night ride, though I didn't try to use the pockets in back, which people had said were too shallow.