The Midsummer Night's Dream Ride

If you are reading this, it means that I am (hopefully) on my way.  You can follow my progress in real time by clicking on this link.  As previously noted,  the regular map view has been disabled by Israel for security reasons... but you can use the satellite view to see my progress markers as they dot the landscape.

If you want the written blow-by-blow, here's how things are supposed to unfold:

Starting a few hours before sunset on today, I left home and headed to Jerusalem before getting on highway 443.  443 loops around to intersect Route 6 near Judah Maccabees's old stomping grounds of Modi'in.

From there I will be riding south for the long stretch towards Israel's southernmost spot; the Red Sea port of Eilat.

Once I reach Eilat I'll turn around and head back north again, this time following the spectacular desert road along the dead sea, and up through the Jordan river valley.

When I reach the Sea of Galilee, I'll loop around to the east of this shining jewel of a lake, through the foothills of the Golan Heights... and ending up in Metulla at the Lebanese border.

From Metulla, I'll head south-west towards Haifa on the Mediterranean Sea; from there picking up Route 6 at it's northernmost point... riding south again, past Tel Aviv... Beer Sheva... all the way down to Eilat once more.

With the home-stretch now in sight, I'll ride back north through the Arava and Negev Desert towards the fertile Elah Valley, where David defeated Goliath... and finally, home to Efrat in the beautiful Judean hills sometime mid-to-late afternoon on my birthday.

If you'd like to keep me company and offer moral support during the ride (or wish me a happy birthday anytime after midnight), you can call me on my cell phone. Don't worry if we haven't met.  I promise, while riding alone through the israeli landscape for 24 hours, I'll be happy to make your acquaintance!  :-)

If you don't already have my number, email me (treppenwitz at gmail dot com) and on one of my rest/fuel stops I'll try to email you back with my phone number.  Alternately, you can email my lovely wife (zahava at zatar dot co dot il), and if you can convince her that you aren't a terrorist or an axe murderer... she'll be happy to give you my phone number as well.  :-)

As always, if you haven't yet donated, I can't think of a nice surprise (or birthday present) than to come back and find we've met our goal. You know you want to. 

Happy Trails!