Waking up after a long day at the airport and a tough day of cycling was harder than normal. The terrain of Palestine is beautiful but challenging for any cyclists. At least my bike was ready so I needed to pray, get changed, eat breakfast and jump on the bike.
My room mate is Graeme, a very pleasant man of 72 years old. We have had a few interesting conversations and I’m conscious about disturbing him when I wake up for prayer in the morning. There are quite a few riders who are much older than me who have literally been inspiring to watch as they cycle through Palestine on their rented bikes with determination, always smiling and never complaining. Life is full of different people and if there is one thing I have learnt from Palestine is that people of different faiths and beliefs can live together. Where it goes wrong is when people think they are superior to others and discriminate based on colour, skin, faith or ethnicity, often for a very political goal. I pray peace returns to Palestine as I firmly believe it is the key to peace in the world.
The ride was very tough indeed. We cycled approximately 30 miles again but today was hotter and more sapping. After the first hour, I felt like all the energy had escaped from me although my legs felt reasonably strong. The first hill was another long hill, not as dramatic or painful as the first day, but ended being a real slog. I managed to get to the team with Alex, Bidwell and Kevin waiting for me. I’ve never been great participating in any heat so I knew I had to dig deep. We waited for the rest of the group who cycled, walked or jumped into the van.
The lunchtime spot was a village called Dhuma, a place where a Palestinian Family were burned alive, a story well documented across the world but sadly no justice prevailed. The route to Dhuma was tricky to say the least. We faced two very different challenges.
In the West Bank, the areas and roads are split into three areas which I believe were defined by the Oslo Agreement. Zone A – Palestinian, Zone B – shared, Zone C – Settlers. We were riding on Zone B and as we turned off to take a road towards Taybeh, there was a massive hole in the road. It looked very fresh and stopped vehicles from using the road sadly. We were set back by this and didn’t quite know what to do. The group leaders confirred and during that time an army vehicle pulled up asking about us. They rang their superiors and allowed us to use the road as we were ‘tourists’. We carried our bikes around and got ready to cycle. But then another army vehicle came and asked the same question. It delayed things slightly but after answering some questions we went on our way. This was a small glimpse of some of the challenges the Palestinians face on a daily basis. Freedom of movement is something we should all be grateful for.
I brought my own bike on the trip, a road bike with 28″ tyres, disc brakes and flexibility in the frame and seat post to take away the impact of the road. It was actually built to tackle the cobbles in the tour de France. Well in front of me was a long hill full of gravel and stones. If there was ever a test for the bike and I, it was today.
Both riding up the hill and down was challenging and required a lot of skill, bravery and good fortune. It made me realise the skill of mountain bikers as they often descend down hair raising tracks. The bike absorbed a lot of the road and had I taken an out and out road bike with skinner tyres, I would have been in the van myself. There were two times on the climb where I walked briefly as there was no traction on the wheels, so I went to find some flat ground. I did it with biking scars and made me realise why I am a ‘roadie’.
We eventually arrived in Taybeh, a beautiful town with stunning scenery. The Golden Wall Hotel is stunning and situated in the most beautiful location overseeing the mountains. I needed some rest, a shower and some food. Today was one of those hard, difficult, strenuous, sapping days.
We went to eat dinner at a local family home. The food was delicious, the hospitality second to none and my table had lots of fascinating, winding and emotive conversations. We agreed to meet up after the trip to do a 50 mile ride. The day ended on a high… Time to pray and sleep
