Riding around Tel Aviv

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prebsy
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by prebsy

Looks like I'll be headed to the holy land for a family vacation in March. Does anyone have experience riding out of Tel Aviv? All my relatives tell me the drivers in the area are insane and going too far east into the mountains is too dangerous. Should I just leave my bike at home? Any WW members willing to be my riding guide :mrgreen: :mrgreen: ???

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Rodrego Hernandez
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by Rodrego Hernandez

Post deleted: Stick to the topic. WW is not for expressing your political beliefs.

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prebsy
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by prebsy

well that answer was completely worthless, thanks

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Rick
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by Rick

As a foreign tourist, noticing how bike-friendly it might be, my impression was that Tel Aviv would probably be too crazy.
But I spent some time in Haifa, and it seemed like it would be pretty reasonable in that area.
It is probably just a matter of getting away from high population density.

...bomb anyone who was living there if they complain...

Ironically, Haifa is the world headquarters of the Bahá'í faith, which is a minority sect of Islam that was severely persecuted and kicked out of Iran for not being "pure enough".

They have a huge Temple there with incredible gardens that are a big tourist attraction.
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prebsy
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by prebsy

I certainly agree with your sentiments regarding location Rick but unfortunately I will be in Tel Aviv since I don't get to call the shots.

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Rick
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by Rick

FWIW: Driving distance from Tel Aviv to Haifa is only 60 miles. And I know the pop density falls off pretty quickly in that direction. Maybe contact a local bike club. I saw guys training near Haifa that were obviously very fit and serious.

11.4
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by 11.4

I spent a couple months in Tel Aviv -- with a bike -- and probably wouldn't take one again. The drivers are crazy, yes, but no different from Italy or a lot of other places we'd happily go ride. I'd agree that you don't really want to go up into the mountains, but that's more because the roads deteriorate and you get stopped a lot by military checkpoints or by traffic standstills, not because you'll get kidnapped or anything. Understand that this country is really very small.

The real issue is the lack of routes. They don't have the network of small side roads that other places do. You can ride around a small community, but to go any distance you have to hop on one of a very few highways, which are busy, have poor shoulders, and are fast. I've ridden worse, but really, why ride them? A development may be only a mile or so wide and have plenty of roads; the roads connecting them are pretty crazy. And a very high percentage of the traffic is big trucks, so it isn't even like riding regional highways in the US.

If you take a bike, it tends to get rural pretty quickly heading south, and side roads tend to disappear quickly. If you get on smaller roads, they tend to dump you back on a highway pretty quickly. And the coastline is beautiful but there aren't many roads. (I was at the Weizmann Institute, closer to the south side of town.) Towards the north it's more populated so there are more side streets, but you still find yourself on highways a bit. There's more agriculture heading north (hence more service roads) and there are more accessible roads into the foothills, but I'd consider a gravel bike for a lot of them because you can end up on crushed rock composition in a lot of places. This stuff can be two to three inch rocks, made for truck tires, but a bit rough for 23-25 mm road tires.

There are also some desert thorns that make goatheads look like ladybugs, and they dry out and die during the summer but the thorns fall off and lie in the roads. Even if driven over a bit, the points still are a problem on tires. Sealants don't really do the trick on them, at least not in my experience, so use clinchers and bring tubes.

Haifa and farther north is much more like San Diego -- more casual, more athletics, juice bars, you name it. There's more riding up there, the daily rides aren't that long because you run out of country and roads pretty quickly, but they are fast. Cycling is something of a cult in Haifa, similar to San Diego. But anyone from Haifa who's been to the United States tends not to be happy on Israeli roads when they return.

This is a beautiful country in many ways but it wasn't planned around cycling. If you can get out, I'd suggest bringing boots and hiking gear and and explore all the ruins. You can get maps and with them pretty much walk in any direction and find ruins. There are old fortresses in the foothills and you'll pass soldiers, students, and others that are hiking the trails as well, so you won't be isolated. And when you put on a broad brimmed hat and hiking boots, you fit right in and everyone is friendly. You haven't seen history til you've seen Israel. You can climb quite a bit of steep elevation in a day and really get to experience what the eastern Mediterranean was like in the days of Mohammed and Jesus.

junchen
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by junchen

Thanks for sharing 11.4.

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dmp
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by dmp

I've ridden the Alyn Hospital charity ride a couple of times (5 days, about 5-600km, lots of climbing; it raises money for Alyn Children's Hospital in Jerusalem, which is dedicated to rehabilitation of serious pediatric injuries, complex congenital defects, brain injury, etc.). The routes are really well planned, and although they generally have a pace car and rolling road closures I'll bet you can use some of them safely. Their website is alynride.org- look at the maps for the challenge ride, although some of the regular road routes are challenging, too. I think that you can go back at previous years and look through the routes. They alternate going north and south each year, but always end at the hospital in Jerusalem.

There are a bunch of strava routes in Israel, too, and lots of road riders in recent years. Look there- there are lots of routes (some are labeled in Hebrew, but maps are maps). Expect steep climbs, especially in the Galil, Golan and the Jerusalem hills. There is great riding in the south, too, especially near Mitzpe Ramon and through the Machtesh Hagadol.

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