Two Routes – New This Year

The route will be a mix of on- and off-road riding - some relatively easy trails, but also some steep ascents. Those in the tour group must be capable of riding 250 kilometers/160 miles over five days. The challenge riders will be expected to ride up to 500 kilometers/300 miles on their way from Tel Aviv to Eilat. Why not start training now?!

CHALLENGE RIDE | TOURING RIDE

CHALLENGE RIDE

Day 1

From Mishkenot Ruth in Jaffa, the ride is mostly flat and on-road to Beer Sheva. The transition from the lush green center of the country to the drier Negev Desert will be gradually apparent.

 

 

Distance: 100 kilometers/62.5 miles
Aggregate Ascent: 500 meters/ 315 feet

Day 2

Day two is a relatively easy on-road ascent from Beer Sheva to Mitzpe Ramon located on the edge of the Ramon Crater. Some undulating hills and one or two steeper climbs characterize the ride which passes army outposts, Bedouin encampments, farms and (mostly) dry riverbeds of the Negev Desert.

Distance: 80 kilometers/50 miles
Ascent: 1200 meters/ 750 feet

 

Day 3

A day of mostly descents, the route is off-road and through the heart of the Ramon Crater. It follows the Neqarot and Katzra riverbeds to Mo’a on the Nabatean Spice route. From there the trail parallels the Jordanian border as the riders head to Paran where we overnight in a Bedouin-type encampment at the Aviran Inn.

Distance: 75 kilometers/47 miles
Ascent: 450 meters/ 280 feet

Day 4

Probably the most challenging day, we will be joined by members of the Yahel and Lotan kibbutzim for a group happening as we ride together off-road along the border with Jordan. The touring group will overnight at Kibbutz Yahel while the challenge riders will continue on-road for a further 6 kilometers / 3.75 miles in a steep ascent to Shizafon junction which is 500 meters / 315 feet above sea level. The route flattens out and parallels the Uvda Valley before the final ascent to Shaharut. For the challenge riders the overnight is in a primitive Bedouin-style encampment, but the view is worth it!

Distance: 75 kilometers/ 47 miles
Ascent: 945 meters/ 590 feet

Day 5

Leaving Shaharut, the trail is off-road along the Egyptian border. The route descends from the Sayyarim heights to the Atek riverbed and the stunning Atek Canyon; then along the length and atop the Atek and Raham riverbeds to Beer Ora (Ora’s well.) From there it’s on-road and downhill with northerly winds literally whisking us into Eilat.

Distance: 75 kilometers/ 47 miles
Ascent: 550 meters/ 344 feet

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TOURING RIDE

Day 1

Fifty kilometers of relatively flat and easy on-road riding from the Mishkenot Ruth Center in Jaffa, where the opening ceremony will take place, to the Sde Yoav area of the northern Negev – the scene of heavy fighting against the Egyptians during the 1948 War of Independence. We will visit either the Metzudat Yoav Museum commemorating the fighters of the 1948 campaign or the Ruhama Badlands to take in some of Israel’s most beautiful wild flowers in a unique ecological setting, if they are still in bloom. The tour will overnight in Beer Sheva.

Distance: 50 kilometers/31 miles
Ascent: 250 meters/ 156 feet

Day 2

Riding ever southward, we head to Sde Boker, the desert home of David Ben Gurion, where we will tour his hut and grave. A day of moderately rolling hills – all on-road riding. Overnight in Mitzpe Ramon on the edge of the Ramon Crater.

Distance: 45 kilometers/28 miles
Ascent: 600 meters/ 375 feet

Day 3

We bike off-road along the Nabatean Spice route to Mo’a in the eastern Negev. The trail descends into the heart of the Ramon Crater. Overnight in a Bedouin-type encampment at Paran in the Arava Valley.

Distance: 35 kilometers/22 miles
Ascent: 200 meters/ 125 feet

Day 4

Ride off-road from Paran to Kibbutz Yahel and then spend the afternoon relaxing at the Watsu pools of Kibbutz Lotan. See first-hand how it is possible to live in the desert in a compatible and responsible way – both agriculturally and ecologically. Lotan and Yahel are two Reform kibbutzim with two very different and fascinating stories to tell about Reform life in Israel.

Distance: 50 kilometers/31 miles
Ascent: 400 meters/ 250 feet

Day 5

Mostly off-road downhill riding from the Shaharut heights to Eilat along the Egyptian border. This area has some of the most fabulous sights in Israel – breathtaking canyons and gorges – ending in a moderate on-road descent into Eilat with the wind, literally, at your back. Joined by friends, family and supporters we will hold a festive closing dinner at a delightful Eilat hotel, where you will overnight as the guest of the IMPJ, before returning by bus to Jerusalem / Tel Aviv on Friday, March 28th. Riders are invited to extend their stay in Eilat as an optional add-on to the bike ride. Prices and reservation information will be available shortly.

Distance: 45 kilometers/28 miles
Ascent: 150 meters/ 94 feet