Mountainbiking in the Israeli Desert - A weekend in Kibutz Samar - Part II

For Part I of this post click here.

Over dinner we were told that we had two options for tomorrow's ride. The first would be to ride the course of the Long Samarthon which is about 100 km (62 miles) or the Medium Samarathon which is "only" 75 km (about 47 miles) and skips the first climb. Ignoring the growing pain in my thigh, the result of a close encounter with a rock and the ground, I committed to ride the former (after making sure that some of the guys were planning on an easy ride and not racing it). We would have an early wake up to be followed by an early start and we was time to get some sleep.

The new BikePanel kit in it's virgin ride

Friday

Luckily when I got up my leg was just a little sore and very black and blue, but I was able to ride. We started riding north in a big group on a wide flatish gravel road. A nice warm-up for the long day ahead of us.  

Flatish warm up start (Photo: Guy Halamish)

After about 10 km (6 miles) we entered into Shacharot stream heading toward the notorious Shacharot climb. It's a long and steep climb with lots of hike-a-bike sections, and thanks to the recent flooding in the area, those hike-a-bike sections were longer and harder than before.

Shacharot Climb - hike-a-bike with a view

The plus side of the climb is the magnificent view.

At the top of the climb is where the fun starts. The single track section begins.

Like everywhere in Israel, the desert is full of history and special and unique views, so I was happy we had time to stop and sample those as well.

An old well from the days of the British 

Following the first single track section and some flat terrain (and a quick bike change. Yes, I got to ride the new Niner RKT9 RDO), we entered in to Matak Stream (all the steams in the desert are dried up, unless they are flooded, and then you really don't want to be in the area). The riding in a dried up steam is a unique experience as it is a mix of surfaces from rocks to sandy gravel (Dashdash as it's called in Hebrew slang) that is at times deep. Due to the recent flooding in the area those sections were especially challenging for me.

Nahal (stream in Hebrew) Matak - rocks and sandy gravel

Enjoying the view

After this section we were back to single track land and for a change some long and technical descents. But by then my mountain biking skills were showing signs of making a come back and were penetrating the think layer of rust surrounding them; I was not only enjoying them but also starting to ride them faster (well not as fast as the guys but still).

Long descends full of rocky switchbacks 

At the end of the downhill section with a huge smile on my face we entered another dried up stream with more of that mix of rocks and sandy gravel. I was enjoying a conversation with Yarnin and all of a sudden we could not see the others. We must have missed a turn or something. Not knowing where we missed the turn and with no cell reception we decided to head back to the main road and go back to Kibutz Samar on the road. I have to admit that by then at least part of me was happy as I was getting tired and the bruises on my leg started to hurt. Once on the main road we let the others know we were OK and headed north back to Samar. We got back to the Kibutz and were welcomed by fresh squeezed recovery drink with lots of ginger. Yummy.

It ended up being 56 miles day with about 3,700 feet of climbing.

We did not get to ride the fun part of the Samarathon Day 1 course as it was closed due to flood damage. The single track section of Park Timna. My friend Nimi, who is one of the organizers of the Samarathon, calls this section "little Moab". I can't wait to go back there and ride this section.

Saturday

Ride starts here

After the previous 2 days of hard riding, the jet leg and just plain fatigue, I opted for riding the Medium Samarathon course (and I was not the only one). We loaded our bikes on the car and were dropped off a 15 min drive up the road (cutting some flat junk miles). 

From there we got a short warm up before we started climbing the main climb of the day - Ktora. 

Can you see the trail? the essence of desert riding

Heading towards Ktora climb

After a short section of nicely built single track, we got to the beast, Ktora climb. Less than 1 min into the climb I realized that the gearing on my bike combined with the tired legs would equal a long hike-a-bike. This was my first time riding a bike with a 1x11 and I realized that the front ring was too big for this terrain (advice to you who are considering a 1-by system, if you are planning on a hilly terrain a 30 or even 28 tooth ring is the way to go, especially if you are a woman, the 34 tooth that was on my bike was too much for this gal). 

So, ego to the side I was walking this climb, although on some sections everybody walked (as you can see below). Well, other than Nimi the cycling god, who shot the video below of me struggling with even walking my bike. 

Challenging but beautiful climb 

The reward 

Yaron from Samar Bike Hotel the master mind behind the trails

At the top, after a quick stop to enjoy the view and a look at what we just climbed and of course some refreshments, it was time to head to the next section. I was having second thoughts about continuing to ride but Nimi's smile and statement that the next section is freakin' insane, "you'll be smiling the whole time", convinced me to jump back on the bike. I am so happy I did so. 

Fast and sweet section of man made single track came up next. Switchbacks going up and down, rocks and sand combined perfectly together in a roller coaster ride. Nimi was right, the smile did not come off my face for hours.

Incredible effort and vision created this desert playground

I got the chance to ride with Yaron Deri, the guy who created this awesome playground. Hearing the explanation of how it was all created and came together, the work that was put in, how they had to work with the materials the environment had to offer and to deal with the drifting sand dunes to create a rideable trail made me appreciate this section even more.

Going through the drifting sand dunes

 Some more of the play ground

Sad to see this section end we met with the car for our last refreshment brake of the day. The next challenge was descending Shacharot climb that we climbed the previous day. Knowing what to expect I have to admit that I was nervous but decided to go anyway. I tried to follow Yaron's lines (well after all he is the local) and was happy that other than one short section that I had to walk, in this direction I rode it all. 

Shacharot gnarly descend

The End 

OK, I survived the descent and from there a fun fast and flat ride back to the Kibutz, where a warm and delicious lunch awaited us. 
    

It has been almost 3 weeks now since that weekend and I still go back to the photos and wish I was there. I wish I could make it to Samarathon 2016 (maybe, I'm still trying to figure it out) but I am going to be there for the extended 4 days version of 2017. I am however planning on organizing a ride in the early spring of 2016 in the Israeli desert, so if any of you reading this want to join send me a message via this blog. 

All the photos that were not taken by me where taken by Guy Halamish, Tsur Halamish and Michelle Handren.

Thank you Guy Halamish for letting my ride your bike and the test bike this weekend. 

Thanks for reading