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: Jim Dellavalle Survives Israel!!!
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Entry Date: 12/27/2005
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Hey everyone, Israel was great.
Awesome hospitality and great riding. the Zion crew from Telaviv are a
bunch of great riders and have some awesome trail riding. There will be a
few magazines that will be covering the trip in upcoming issues. Some of
the places wew rode were really fun and full of history and new types of
terrain .
There were steep chutes, technical drops, amazing single track, hair
razing rock garden , and high speed doubletrack runs. We even got in a few
moonlight shuttle runs near the Dead Sea.
The racing scene in Israel is growing with various age groups and lots
of family support. We rode a race course in the northern part of Israel
near the lebanon border . There was a large turn out for the opening
practice days despite the downpour and unreal muddy terrain. It was the
thickest mud I ever rode in, it was more difficult than a hard rain at
Snowshoe. Good thing I had enough experience with it. many of the riders
werent so lucky.
The trails in Israel range from high speed traverses to tough 90 degree
turns into rock garden style chutes ... This type of riding is way out of
the league for beginner level riders, but if your into a challenge it's al
of that and more. After riding twenty minutes into the southern part of
arad in the desert I spotted a nice drop about 18 feet. After we sessioned
it, I came across a python snake it was weird I never would of thought of
keeping my guard up for snakes in the desolate area we were in.
We rode full circle around the country in less than ten days. We
packed in a few days sight seeing some of the biblical areas of the country
, some of the spots were so good we went back and sessioned them again
before we came home. Manara Cliff is there only chairlift accessible
mountain range. It is super tech, and really fast when it's dry. we got a
chance to ride there with many locals. Who showed us around the old
RedBull race course and the local runs made by the Zion crew. It was great.
The street riding scene is growing with telaviv being the center stop
for most of it. There are a few really good riders and street riding is on
the up and up in Israel. My favorite street spot we rode was called Jaffa,
an old port near Telaviv with lots of stairs and gaps to ride...
There is a mountain cross track south of Telaviv in Jerusalem called
Tzubike. The course is short but it has alot of flow. Most of the riders
meet there on the weekends which is friday and saturday. there is no lift
access but the course is short enough to hike.
My favorite freeriding we had was in the south. An area called Elat
near the Egypt and Jordan borders. there were rocket launchers and military
nearby the entrance to the trailhead. It made me feel really secure, but at
the same time wondering what goes down around there. But the trail is
located in an area that has opened up and the ground level is almost 130
million years old. the cost for riding off the trail is $500.00 US dollars,
and man there were so many cool freestyle spots to ride it was so tempting
to just go off the trail and sneak around. The guide Dror knew that I had
skills and brought me to a few spots that were hidden out of sight that I
could get the taste I waslooking for. I would defintely go back to Elat and
ride there again. It was the best trail I rode in the trip.
I'm glad to be back even though it is the middle of winter and me and
the Mountain cycle shockwave stare at each other and beg for more. It'll
just have to wait.
I want to thank all of my sponsors you know who you are for all the
support for the trip ....
If ever you want to go out of the wrold we live in to ride I suggest
trying Israel it is packed with different terrains and lots of really great
riderswith tons of hospitality.
"fall Down Seven, Stand up Eight"
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