I Smoked A Pack Of Camels

An adventure in Israel

By Azriel Ganz

Issue of Dec. 26, 2008 / 29 Kislev 5769

Last month, I completed my fifth straight Alyn Hospital Charity Bike Ride. This year’s five-day ride started and ended in Jerusalem, traversing over 350 miles and more than 25,000 vertical feet of climbing in the southern part of the country. Leaving common sense behind, I, along with 35 other loonies, did the “challenge” ride this time. The pace was extremely fast and the terrain brutally difficult. It was all I could do to keep up with the group and get to the top of some of the very hardest climbs. As usual, the ride was a wonderful experience, combining a very challenging athletic task with a chance to make (and reunite with) good friends, and, most importantly, an opportunity to raise money for an important organization. The highlight of my ride came on the fourth day, the hardest day of riding I’ve ever experienced. In all, we did 90 miles that included two insane climbs to Arad and one hair-raising 12 mile descent from Arad to the Dead Sea. But the highlight came early in the day. The challenge group started out from Dimona, an old development town in the Negev where Israel’s nuclear plants don’t exist. We set off on a 45 minute sprint, this time averaging over 21.5 miles per hour. We would have been somewhat faster but we had to stop for camels crossing the highway. I’ve seen many “Beware Camels Crossing” signs over my two earlier Alyn rides in the south of Israel, but I’d never actually seen the real thing until that day. I had no idea how fast they move. They were galloping on the side of the road as if they were part of the challenge group. Suddenly, two of them turned sharply left (without looking both ways) and stopped in the middle of the road. I slammed on my brakes and waited for them to decide what to do. After a few seconds, they moved to the other side. I decided I had had enough of camels and pounded the pedals to get past them. I am happy to report that I am officially faster than a pack of camels. I smoked them. The best part is that one of my fellow riders took some pictures so I can prove that I’m not making this up. Azriel Ganz lives in Woodmere but rides his bike on the North Shore where there are some hills.

Photos by Dan Barron