This story is primarily focused on pictures and video — to show you some of the amazing and unique things you can do in Israel, while also describing what it’s like to ride a motorcycle across a country.
I remember thinking a motorcycle was a stupid idea… Growing up, I wasn’t really attracted to adventure. I had minimal interest in a motorcycle and thought it was a dangerous and stupid thing to try = My Dad always said there was NO WAY he would support me riding a bike when I was in high school. I viewed it as something stupid — and didn’t think about it much after that. However, around two years ago my viewpoint changed — I think I initially signed up for a weekend course to get my license because I thought it was “cool”, as opposed to actually wanting to ride a bike.
My first experiences on the road were pretty minimal — I would go to Guelph and spend a few days riding my Uncle’s old Harley through the countryside once or twice a summer. He has a massive scotch collection, so afterwards he would teach me about scotch — which I had previously hated. I literally thought it tasted/smelled like an old man. Although I don’t drink much, scotch and whiskey easily became my go-to, largely due to the fond memories of these motorcycle trips. I would say overall before Israel, I had about three full days on the motorcycle with him, 2 thirty minute evening rides on a friends sport-bike in Toronto, and a two day learners course in a parking lot. One of the days with my uncle was the ride to Port Colborne on Friday the 13th = a tradition where more than 100K bikers from all across Ontario converge. This was the first time I had rode a bike outside of a parking lot and it was a really cold October day. It was raining and the bike I had was about 15 years old and it had no front windshield — when I was riding on the highway I could feel the draft from passing trucks pushing me around…. and I was terrified. Literally imagining what would happen if I fell off the bike and hit the ground. I was in a constant state of fear throughout the few hour trip. Combined with the cold, it was a pretty miserable first ride…. lol. The other rides were much better (ie. as most were in the sunshine), but I hadn’t yet been fully comfortable on a bike = Enter Israel.
When I came to Israel, I immediately looked for a number of activities I could do that revolved more around adventure, and a motorcycle tour seemed perfect — while it seemed awesome in my head, I don’t think I was mentally prepared for 3 days and over 1,000km at pretty high speeds. I found a website in Israel that did guided motor tours and emailed the owner. I quickly found out that they had brand new bikes coming in (BMW 800’s and Kawasaki Versys 650’s) and they needed to put 1,000km on the bikes before they could be used for tours. If I would help him get 1,000km on one of the bikes, he would give me a free guided tour over the three days.
I would just have to cover the rental cost of the bike which was about $150 per day. Sounded perfect.. I booked immediately asking for the fastest bike (BMW 800) and complaining about the apparent max speed we would be able to travel (110km — 120km). Keep in mind I had minimal experience, so I am not sure why I was so geared up to go fast. In reality… I was as beginner as they come. When I signed up for the course I wasn’t even sure if my M2 license was suitable — he asked if I had experience and of course I told him I owned a 2010 Fat Boy Harley = I didn’t even know the name or brand of an actual bike so I did a quick google search for a Harley Davidson make and model just incase I was asked any questions (ie. you know how you sometimes hear those annoying guys talking about Horsepower, and Torque and so on..). Not sure why I chose to say 2010 or Fat Boy = it just seemed more believable I guess and I really wanted to go. Everything seemed to work out and the trip was booked for Friday February 26 — Sunday February 28th. I think I was more pumped about the fact that I was doing something adventurous rather than the actual motorcycle ride. Just like every new activity, it never really hits me that this will be a crazy thing to do until I actually get there and start = and then, it’s like “Oh Fuck”. Funny enough, this would happen almost immediately.
Day 1 — Getting Comfortable
I woke up early Friday morning, meditated and started driving out to Petah Tikva, about 10 minutes outside of Tel Aviv. It was sunny — like a pure summer day. The morning sunshine had a really friendly vibe and I was blasting old Oasis and the new Foals album. Something about sunshine, the desert and rock and roll felt right together. When I pulled up, I saw the set of bikes lined up and the first thing I thought was that I didn’t really remember the controls to work the bike. Also the BMW looked enormous. I spent a few minutes signing safety papers and talking with the other guys in the group. One other thing to note — I had to put down a $5,000 deposit on the bike to cover damages as insurance would not cover damages to the actual bike, so that immediately started to freak me out. The guys all told me not to worry and we would take it slow and warm-up. As I walked over to the BMW and sat on it, I realized my feet barely touched the ground — only when I was on my tip toes.. and it was really heavy. With the side luggage cases attached, it looked like a truck. I was starting to get a bit overwhelmed — so I pussied out a bit and asked to start on the Kawasaki which I thought I would be able to better maneuver. I quickly played with the controls and worked to adjust the new helmet and mirrors, kicked it into first gear and saddled up to the parking lot exit.
For some reason, I had figured there would be like a warm-up or refresher, but immediately the guys formed a line and it was out into traffic to start the journey.. I was a bit shocked, immediately kicking the bike up to 60km — 80km, which when you’re on a bike for the first few minutes seems fucking fast. I was just getting the hang of the indicators, the mirror position, my visor and helmet and the gear sensitivity and boom… already on the highway… I was super nervous. We were driving through a city with a lot of traffic. I consciously made an effort to stop worrying and started to get into it.
Our first stop was in a national park on the way to Jerusalem. We stopped in a small alcove on the side of the road with picnic tables and a small barbeque. The guys brought out this little torch and bowl which they used to start a fire and brew some hot water for fresh coffee and tea (ie. I’ve seen this a number of times now in Israel, it’s super cool). There was a lady cooking food at the bbq — freshly peeled oranges, and BBQ pita stuffed with Labaneh cheese, parsley, olive oil and Za’Atar which is an amazing middle eastern spice. As we ate, I learned that I was legitimately the first person to ever go on a tour with the Company. Ultra safe, right.. The bikes were brand new and the whole purpose of the tour was to get pictures and GoPro footage to put on the website. Surprise, Surprise, I probably could’ve negotiated a better deal — which slightly irritated me, however I realized I was about to have an amazing experience for what really wasn’t a lot of money, so I should focus on that instead.
As we left the tea station, I tried turning the bike slowly in a 180 degree angle to face the road while my feet were on the ground… Welcome to the first embarrassment of the day. I lost control — the bike is heavy and as it started to tip, it was really tough to hold the weight.. With my right hand I revved the accelerator as I tried to fight the bike falling — which caused everybody in the area to look at me as I tumbled to the ground along with the bike and a super loud “FUCK”. I was RATTLED. When I looked up the Guide was there to help lift the “Brand new bike” off me. They all asked if I was okay and chuckled a bit. From the tea station, we went into the old city in Jerusalem and the drive was amazing…
All the buildings in Jerusalem by law must be built with “Jerusalem Stone” creating an amazing atmosphere. It really feels like a time warp and stirs something mystical inside of you. This was my first experience driving up and down really steep hills, and it was strange to gear down and let the lower gears control the speed of the bike instead of the brake/accelerator. Once we got into the city, it was chaos.
Driving down tiny streets, weaving in between cars, riding through the center of two lanes at lights to get to the front, driving in the opposite lane to pass cars in traffic jams… having to stop and move into gear on steep hills. It took all of my concentration not to freak out here as it was really tough driving. While the scenery was amazing, this part of the journey was really stressful, especially because I couldn’t read the street signs or understand what people were saying when cruising slowly through the packed city streets.
We drove through Jerusalem and parked in the old city. Walking through the old city is an incredible experience. It’s so hard to imagine that people live there full time and really makes you think about the significance of time and how different life was on earth for humans at one point.
I really found it strange to see small hair salons and pizza shops in the thousand year old buildings. We walked down to the Western Wall and the inner caverns to touch the wall and watch people pray. This is an amazingly unique experience and fills you with a lot of emotion. It reminded me of the first time I was in Israel (ie. at the wall exactly two years ago).
I got extremely nostalgic for that point of my life and couldn’t believe how much my life has changed and how fast time goes by as you get older. It’s really crazy how a specific location, smell or song can unlock those feelings and remind you of a point in your life so vividly.. as if it’s happening right then.
Especially because I hadn’t thought about a lot of those feelings/memories in a while. It also got me thinking about how strange problems are — everything always seems so intense during your day to day life — dire even and when reviewed from afar — big problems seem trivial. I was thinking about the problems I had two years ago, and how none of those things matter anymore. This was a powerful feeling and interesting revelation.. Next time you feel really stressed, think about yourself 4 years ago, picture your problems + stresses and think about how silly those seem now.. Now think about your life, your daily tasks and the stress relating to them.. As you think about these as they relate to a longer time period, they seem to melt away. I find the same thing tends to happen when a friend comes to me with a problem — the answer always seems so simple in my mind.. It’s like, there is obviously no reason to be worried — the problems often seem small. Next time this happens, I need to remember how easy it is to get consumed with my own problems and really aim for more empathy.
After a solid tour of the old city, we headed back out. I was at the back of the pack. Again my bike was positioned on a steep hill and as I started to walk it around I lost my balance and tipped it over. FUCK, FUCK, FUCK.. This was brutal because I couldn’t lift the bike by myself. I was trying to lift it while an entire field trip was looking at me. Like 3 full school buses that were loading with what looked like high school kids. I could swear they were laughing at me and started sweating. I wasn’t sure what to do… No joke a few high school aged army girls came to help me lift the bike. At this point I rode off as quickly as possible, ego shattered… and rejoined the group pretending nothing happened.
From here we continued our trip through the city going through some massive tunnels which gave me the first feeling I was in a video game. It reminded me of the old arcades you would go to as a kid where you would lean on the bikes to turn them in a specific direction. The slope of the tunnel was really steep and I would lean my body a little aggressively to the side to head in a specific direction which felt amazing — like you are defying gravity. You can play with the angle putting your body and the machine into a strange balance. I had my visor open with the cold air hitting my face, and heard whirring sounds as I zipped through the tunnel. I could see the street lights flickering off the metallic walls — FULL VIDEO GAME STATUS. It was amazing. From here, we went to a one of Jerusalem’s peaks where I looked down on the old city. This was amazing and strange. There was a group of about 100 brazilians dancing and singing songs in Portuguese and a camel walking the streets.
It was a really strange afternoon mentally, combining these amazing moments of tranquility and scenery with the immense stress of riding the bike in the city. I kept thinking, somebody is going to open a car door and knock me off the bike. Not like I would be injured or when we were moving fast — most of the stress was sneaking through small areas between cars at traffic lights = guess I should’ve told them I didn’t have experience!! Finally though, it was time to leave the city.
Our next stop was an old monastery. It was over 200 years old and part of a greek orthodox church carved directly into the mountain. To get there we had to scale a mountain on the bikes. Picture thin winding roads with the sunshine blazing down. This was awesome and nerve racking. Your scope of vision is so large at each turn, with a huge valley looming down below.
Again, VIDEO GAME STATUS. I wasn’t going fast, but would speed up coming out of turns and really lean into them. The roads wound deep into the mountain to a small winding path all the way down to a secret river and the monastery. We parked and walked for about ten minutes to the mountain peak to look down at the river and monastery. It was crazy to think something like this could be built over 200 years ago — what tools did they even use? It blows me away to think of these types of things. While the motorcycle trip was with a guide, he wasn’t really a tour guide, so he wasn’t able to explain historical facts to me and a lot of the discussion the others had was in Hebrew.
I am starting to get used to not understanding — it’s kind’ve nice because I don’t feel the need to speak or think of something to say or any pressure to join in the conversation. It allows me to “be” more easily. After we spent some time at the monastery we drove about an hour to our hotel at the dead sea. The rest of the drive was primarily on a highway at higher speeds than we had hit up to that point.
I was starting to get used to the motorcycle and the speed and feel comfortable maneuvering. There were still moments of fear, but I looked at it as a good challenge. Seeing if I could feel the fear and break through it — notice it and just let it go. The feeling of fear, stress, anxiety is often physical and in this situation it was possible to control it. The motorcycle generates an artificial state of fear (ie. it’s not likely you’re going to get injured, but you know there is a possibility) so you are able to practice what it feels like to be afraid in a safe environment. You become familiar with your body’s reactions and let them go. I find that putting yourself into a controlled situation of fear is very good practice for coping with daily life situations where the same response is felt (ie. work situation, fear of rejection, fear of failure). These feelings often seem to happen unconsciously in response to certain situations and practicing letting them go in a controlled situation helps you with real-life day-to-day fears.
We drove from the monastery all the way to the Dead Sea/Ein Gedi. At this point I was starving. We stopped at a small gas station to eat. I had a breaded schnitzel sandwich and a fresh falafel inside a pita with veggies and tahini. I didn’t realize how hungry / tired the motorcycle can make you. It’s like the intense focus over a 4–5 period draws the energy out of your body and leaves you feeling weary but relaxed. Almost like you have an excited after glow.
After the snack, we drove the final 20 minutes to our hotel. The sun was setting at this point over the desert mountains creating a kaleidoscope of colours. It was amazing and I really didn’t know where to look. The ride at this point was slow and relaxed… I didn’t have to spend too much time concentrating at the slower pace and was mentally burnt out from the long day.
We checked into a very strange hotel with a large number of cabins that backed onto the Dead Sea. We split one cabin between the 4 of us. I wish I had a picture. It was really weird — two single beds + two cots with four grown men — which I had just met. However, I was too tired to care. I spent a half hour walking along the dead sea in the evening and calling a few friends and then passed out.
Day 2 — MINDBLOWN
I woke up and immediately went down to the dead sea just post sunrise to start my day with a float. The Dead Sea is incredible — You start by putting the soft clay on the banks all over your skin. It’s filled with natural nutrients and is great for your skin and hair. The water was a little cold, but it was very refreshing.
When you get in, you relax and your body floats effortlessly — you can almost feel the thickness of the water — it’s like a syrup. At the same time, you can feel the intensity of the salt. I always find that cuts/scrapes can start to burn. You also need to be careful — if you get the water in your eyes, it’s game over. You’ll know when it’s time to get out… After awhile, I find my scalp starts to get irritated. On coming out, there is usually an outdoor shower near the water to wash off your skin as it can start to burn at this point. After a shower, it feels like you slept for 12 hours. Your body feels refreshed and your skin feels ultra soft — like a babies.
From the Dead Sea, we quickly ate breakfast and started the ride. Immediately we were blasting down the highway with the sea on one side and a desert mountain range on the other. The road again wound around the coast and up through these mountains. It was tough to decide where to look and I felt like I was on Mars with all the sweeping views.
Today I felt more comfortable on the bike, so I had music playing in my helmet (connected through my mobile). I started with a rock and roll playlist — mostly with Oasis. I was blasting along, singing the songs. As we rode, for the first time we were passing cars on a two lane road (one going in our direction and one against). While this is an easy task mechanically, moving the bike into potential oncoming traffic and hitting the throttle to gear up quickly provides a certain rush. You’re concentrated and calm, but your body is moving so fast providing your brain with a huge contrast and adrenaline boost.
We drove about thirty minutes to get to Masada, which was breathtaking. Masada is a palace built by King Harrod on the top of a huge peak in the middle of the desert. We parked the bikes and took the cable car to the top (about 900m). Most people hike (its about an hour and half up and down), but we were in heavy motorcycle gear and the sun was blazing. At the top there is a desert palace broken into sections.
The place has a crazy history that was actually made into a Hollywood movie — once upon a time, a large Roman army travelled to the mountain to enslave the jews living there. After days of battle, the Roman army finally broke the fortifications (this was difficult because of the Jewish position on the top of the mountain).
That evening the Romans retreated to camp for the night with plans to come back the following day to enslave the people and loot the city/palace. In the eveing, in an act of defiance and to avoid slavery the Jewish community committed mass suicide, with each man killing his family and children, and then drawing lots to kill each other. Finally a single man had to fall on his own sword. They actually have the tiles they used to draw for order of death. A few women and children were spared to tell the story. Imagine how crazy that would be? Standing there, I could picture it and it was terrifying that people have lived these types of lives.
I never had a traditional guide to ask questions, but I kept wondering why somebody would choose that place to build a palace/city. My mind couldn’t imagine how food was grown, where they got water, the effort required to build everything with minimal tools and coordination = in basically the hottest most arid and unforgiving environment. For that matter, why would the Romans have even made the march deep into the desert? Think about how difficult it would be to feed their own army during the siege. I wonder how they communicated? How would the army in Israel know what to do with their resources and then how would somebody communicate this to Rome? It baffled me how anything was planned.
It also baffled me how people survived back then. It seemed like basic concepts of science hadn’t even been discovered — if you could go back in time, how would you even explain what was actually possible today?? Things as simple as an automobile and electricity would literally seem like magic, not to mention solar power, instant communication, smartphones and fighter jets. I started thinking that what he have been able to create really is magic, and it’s likely that there is no such thing as impossible. Legitimately, whatever your mind can dream up will likely be built sometime within the next 100–200 years. How great of a thought is that — there is no such thing as impossible. All of the worlds problems potentially have a solution given enough time. This really gave me motivation to recommit to what I am doing and to drive towards a purpose to solve big problems — I want to make that my main goal and focus on it everyday in my meditation to drive my efforts at work.
I felt like I was having a ton of clarity while walking around Masada and my mind was thinking deeply. The environment is very powerful — the bold history signifying an event of such strength, the amazing fact something of that scale was built in such an unforgiving place so long ago, and also the expanse and scope. Everywhere you look your vision extends as far as the eye can see. I would imagine, it would be similar to looking over the entire planet of Mars from above.
It is very rare to be able to see in all directions as far as you can — especially to see such different terrain — the spots of the desert are all different colours, shapes and sizes. This is combined with the Dead Sea in the distance creating an amazing visual platform. It makes the world feel large as it becomes difficult to focus on a single item in the distance — there is literally 1000x more to look at than would normally be in your field of vision. I found the sheer size and scale of the backdrop messes with your spatial senses and as a result, encourages different thought patterns. I was totally blown away by this experience. I really want to go back and take a guided tour to understand more about how Masada was built, how the people lived and to actually complete the hike.
After a few hours we got back on the bike and continued on our journey to Eilat — a tourist city in the southern most point of Israel with a more tropical/resort vibe. There are a ton of activities there (amazing diving, kiteboarding, a great boardwalk, etc.). As we were again ripping through the desert I started to get overwhelmed by the gravity of the past few days. I kept thinking about how lucky I was to experience something so different and powerful. I was on a legitimate adventure and it just felt right. The combination of the music, the sunshine, the beautiful backdrop and the speed made me feel extremely grateful and noticeably happy. I couldn’t stop smiling under the helmet and signing along to the songs (which I never do.. lol). I was trying to think about what really makes people happy and what was the happiest I had been in my life. I realized that despite this amazing adventure, I was generally happiest when
- Achieving a goal I had worked for — this was more a feeling of accomplishment, pride and contentment — This could be related to work, school, exercise, diet, being a good friend/family member — whatever.. as long as it was a difficult, something I had worked towards and beat my initial expectations. It wasn’t the end result that was the happiest either, it was often having a path to follow that provides purpose. Setting and achieving goals has clearly been important in my life, but I am not sure it’s what leads to the specific strong feeling of “this is amazing” or “this is so much fun” or “I am so happy”, but I think it really provides a base or mindset through which those feelings can be achieved.
2. Being around friends, family and significant others that you truly love — I realized this was much more important, and no matter what activity you do, sharing it with others is where I often get the most value (hence the long journal articles..lol). I have spent so much time alone in the past year which has been amazing for learning about myself, finding adventure and focusing solely on conquering professional and health goals — but in the end, it’s more important to be able to share your moments. And I really miss this. It’s made me realize I want to be closer to my family and in the next five years, no matter where my career takes me, I am going to force a setup where I can spend the majority of time with my sisters and parents. My family has lived long distance over the past ten years (ie. Los Angeles, London England, Toronto, Guelph, Texas, Vancouver) and we are lucky to see each other as a group more than a few times a year. I realized I am finished with this. Also, as happy as I felt at the moment — it took a strong focus on myself, a lot of effort and an amazing activity to bring it out — when you are around people you love, you don’t need any of that. You can literally be having a shitty work day in a dark cold winter watching a boring TV show with somebody you love and it can be amazing. I was really vibing with the feeling of how nice it is to have somebody and what a great thing a stable committed relationship is. Everyday you wake up, you are immediately excited to see this person, no matter what. It’s an instant smile on your face.. your relationship gives you strength when things are going poorly.
The ride continued all the way into the evening again with the sun setting across the mountains. I watched the sunset in wonder in complete relaxation. We had travelled about 600km’s at this point and I felt completely comfortable on the bike. The bike is so responsive and agile — it honestly felt like I was part of the machine and had some type of super powers. There was nobody in the desert, a beautiful setting and complete freedom. It’s hard to explain the significance and the power of the feeling — I would say it was one of the most content I have been in my entire life. All of my stresses melted away in a zen like focus with pleasurable physical sensations from the speed. There was a point here where one of the guys ahead took a wrong turn and the guide had to go after him. For the first time on the trip, I was completely alone with the bike — nobody was on the road in either direction and I had complete freedom to do what I wanted.
I felt like this was something I wouldn’t experience again — like real magic. The sun painting these amazing shadows and images as it set, complete emptiness, aside from my mechanical/human combination dominating the landscape in a manner the human body never could. I hit the throttle hard and focused deeply as the bike opened up. There was a straight road ahead as far as I could see and it was perfect for launching. I would look between the speedometer and the landscape, seeing it quickly hit 130km, 140km, 150km and finally 170km (which isn’t that fast compared to people I know who push their sport bikes over 200km), but it felt like I was in space.. Like in a scene in Star Wars or a space movie where they hit the hyper drive and everything starts zipping by. While I could sense this was fast, the scenery sat there not budging, like a colossal painting and I felt in control and calm. It again was a meditative moment, as I was moving fast but thinking slow. It reminded me of skydiving — when things are happening so fast, but your mind needs to be focused and move slowly. There are very few times this happens in life and it’s something to be cherished. For example, most of the time your mind is racing (ie. when working, walking around, looking at your phone, etc.) it always wants to move.. so you’re in a state of moving slow and thinking fast. When meditating, you slow your thoughts and become hyper aware but there isn’t much to focus on because you are still. I guess when exercising you are moving fast but generally also thinking fast. This was different... On the motorcycle you are moving fast, but the adrenaline boosts your focus to such a detailed level (I would imagine because of the fear of death) that the amount of clarity you can experience is amazing — it really was like a new form of meditation. I only pushed it to this speed a couple of times over a five minute period and then slowed down to wait for the rest of the crew.
We sped into Eilat in the evening and it was amazing to see all the lights. I had my visor up and could feel the hot tropical air on my face. Tonight’s hotel was much better. It was a really cool group of villas (this time we had our own) with an awesome pool. We quickly checked in, showered, cruised the boardwalk and had dinner. There was certainly a lot to do there, however we were too exhausted and passed out right after dinner.
Day 3 — Ultimate Adrenaline
When I woke, I was surprised to find how windy it was. The first thing I wanted to do was go the gym. This is a bit off topic, but I have been doing a specific weight lifting program over the past twelve weeks specifically targeted at building strength. Growing up I was always average size and never really focused on strength — more on sports, crosstraining and cardio type exercises. For some reason over the past few months I’ve had the desire to get really strong — to accomplish this I have been doing a specific exercise routine that focuses on full body complex lifts like the squat, deadlift, bench press, shoulder press and row among a few others. I’ve also been eating around 3,500 calories per day and since January have been able to gain about 12 pounds (from 181 to 193). My goal is to hit 200 pounds by June with a 225 pound bench press for 8 reps and 300 squat for 10 reps. Anyways, this type of exercise really maximizes your bodie’s production of growth hormone/testosterone and it feels amazing. I really get pumped up to challenge my previous lifts each workout.
So when I woke up, I took the motorcycle, pumped the music and headed to the gym. Again the feeling of freedom ripping through the city in the tropical sunshine on the way to something I was super pumped up for was awesome. Although it was very “Woodbridge/King Street cheeseball”, rolling up to the gym on a motorcycle with the music blasting in my helmet with a set of running shoes and a tank top on felt really cool and I was super pumped. The workout was amazing and I was super happy I took the time to do it early in the morning. On the way back to our hotel, I was surprised to see kites on the water (ie. kiteboarders) as I was told there wouldn’t be any wind earlier in the week.
I immediately called an audible and pulled into the marina and kitesurfing school. It was my lucky day — within 15 minutes I was able to organize a rental, gear up (wetsuit, board, kite, etc.), tell our crew where to meet me in two hours and get on the water. From the motorcycle to the water just like that.. Fucking unreal.
The kiting spot was pretty challenging — the wind wasn’t very strong by kiteboarding standards and I only had an 11m kite. I was also a bit rusty as I hadn’t been this season. The spot sits between the Jordan, Israel and Egypt border and the wind blows towards Egypt, so if you don’t have enough experience it’s difficult to stay “upwind” and you eventually make your way towards Egypt. And need to be rescued by a rescue boat (ie. both embarrassing in-front of the pro kiters and costly = like $50 per rescue). Now at every kite school, there are always a few pro kiters = we call them “Johnny Pro’s”. Usually the kite school owner and a couple of his buddies = maybe a nose ring or two, definitely long hair, super tanned with some type of oil, everything is followed by a “bruh” or “sweet as”. They may have showed up on a skateboard and probably brought a fishing line to catch lunch while surfing.. You know the type I am talking about. So, I kind’ve tried to look like a “Johnny Pro” myself = strolled in on the motorcycle, long hair blowing in the wind, talking the proper lingo… I started organizing my rental gear, and of course I told them I can easily stay “upwind” talked a bit about some jumps and threw in a couple “bro’s” of my own. I was sure to talk about kiting in a few “exotic” spots I’d been to, to further build up my street cred. I was ready.. But also super nervous.
There is something about being attached to a giant kite in the water that really builds the adrenaline. I had a tough time learning this sport as I only go 2–3 times per year and never really feel comfortable the first time out in a season. I’ve also crashed so many times, tried to launch my kite In a tornado, got stung by a stingray, tangled my kite with another JP while riding and got lifted like 20ft off the ground… some serious traumas.. so as I said, I was a bit nervous. Everything started out well though. The skills came back — I was able to dive the kite and start cruising away from the beach.. Fuck it felt amazing. Wind blowing in your hair, sun in your face, the kite just chilling in the air pulling you.. More freedom than the motorcycle. At least until my first transition. “Transition” means turn from one direction to another. When I started heading back to the beach I was having trouble getting enough power and momentum.. As I was focusing on building up speed the wind literally stopped (this rarely happens but conditions weren’t great) and the kite fell out of the sky with a crack. FUUUUCCCCCKKKKKK. I’d been kiting for maybe 5 minutes. Not only that, the kite had inverted and I hadn’t had to relaunch from the water in that position in like 2 years.
Obviously I started doing the wrong thing and just freaking out. I was slowly floating towards Egypt scrambling… I tried pulling on the side lines (ie. you’re supposed to pull the middle lines to flip the kite), I tried grabbing two lines to go closer to the kite.. then I just started slapping the water and screaming “Fuck!!!!”. I was so pissed… This couldn’t be my experience — 5 minutes and $150 and a rescue boat!! I ended up waiting in the water drifting for about thirty minutes while the rescue “dinghy” was fired up. It was a huge dingy fishing boat — even more embarrassing. I was honestly ready to quit.
Nobody was out kiting and I was on my way back to face the JP squad of instructors in shame. In most cases I would’ve said that was enough.. taking a fall, getting dragged for 30 minutes, needing the boat rescue, and I was supposed to leave on the motorcycle in around 30 minutes. However, one of my core values is perseverance. It was one I had a special focus on just last month, and I knew I couldn’t end it like that. I sucked up my pride and went to the school and asked for a kite that could handle the conditions (keep in mind there was nobody out on the water at this point because of the low wind). Luckily, they had an old dusty 17m laying in the back. I could tell they were hesitant to get it out, but I was super forceful. I needed redemption. A 17m kite (which is basically the size of three basketball nets) is like a tractor-trailer. It’s not as fun and not as precise, but you can just pop it up in the sky and cruise. This time, luck was on my side and I was able to cruise for around 45 minutes with a massive smile. TRIUMPH.
Sure there were a ton of falls on transitions, I was using a monster kite and a huge board (which is also not “JP” = they call it a barn door = so super low coolness points… infact, my whole outfit was really low coolness points in general, not even sure why I got them to take a picture). The falls were brutal with such salty water shooting up my nose, but I got what I wanted out of it. The feeling of speed, the power of the kite, gliding across the flat water, almost like you’re one with nature. TRIUMPH. (Secret Note: I actually still couldn’t stay upwind and needed to be picked up by the rescue boat after about 50 minutes, but I didn’t give a shit = luckily not as far as Egypt this time).
When I got back from the surf session the guys were waiting for me on the beach. It was literally five minutes — shower off the salt, wetsuit off, jacket and gear on, quick thanks to the school and BAM.. On the bike again at high speeds. This day was out of hand. I had already been on the bike twice, hit a crazy power weight lift and now a full kite session… Now back on the bike for a 4hour 400km ride home… That’s like 10 hours of adrenaline. The road out of Eilat was epic with the mountains and sea in the background. Our guide was hilarious — the guy is taking one handed selfies at like 80km on the bike. I guess it was worth it though as the pictures were awesome. I think this stretch of the drive was the most beautiful. It was more of that MARS, Total Recall, Lord of the Rings, Prince of Persia vibe.
I literally felt like I was driving through a new painting that was the size of my entire vision every 3 minutes. I constantly had the feeling — this can’t be real, this can’t exist. It’s so hard to describe how awesome this was. We went through mountains, across vast plains, through desert like terrain, across thin roads that overlooked massive valleys. I weaved through mountains, leaning into turns and again feeling like I was in an amazing real life video game for adults. This part of the ride, just like the others led to some pretty crazy contemplation. Because the ride is so long, so empty and so fast, you have a long time to continuously think you’re doing something crazy. I kept imagining what it would be like if somebody could casually experience this — like you’re sitting for your morning coffee and scrolling through instagram and then boom for thirty seconds your travelling at 140km in the desert.
It was so offputting and it made me think what are the other things that crazy people are doing out there right now at this very moment…. And wouldn’t it be cool if you could sample lives like that for a few minutes at a time. I kept thinking how badly I wanted to share this with my friends and family. It was a really special experience that I think people will enjoy, however I started thinking about the need to share. There is always a certain excitement to share with friends and strangers. It happens when you go on vacation, try a new activity, have a new achievement. Is this a weakness? Is it a need to validate yourself through others opinions or is do you want to give people the chance to know you better? I have no idea. I think there is a bit of a weakness for me in the validation part, but I love writing about my thoughts. I find it gives me a way to remember great experiences, analyze my thoughts and allows others to get a look at how I think. I try to be super honest because most of the time people don’t share those types of feelings, so I think it’s cool to hear about what excites, scares, drives others.
In addition to these thoughts, I would sometimes think about falling. This could go down a bad path. There was no exit button — you had to make it home 400km. It was a bit windier today, so through the vast flat terrain the wind was whipping. It was tough to look backwards or sideways because you could feel the wind blowing against your neck providing a strong resistance. You could feel the wind push against you on the bike. This was a bit unsettling and would cause me to look down and notice how fast the ground was moving…. Shit — now my brain is thinking about what would happen if I was to tip the bike. It’s not terror, but the notion is there and you can really feel the speed (not like when you’re in a car) so you can imagine what would happen very vividly.
I used this situation to go deep into the fear. To really explore it… How did it feel physically, what was I afraid of. Was it the pain of the initial fall, the fear of what would happen to me, the fear of death? When you go deep and focus your awareness on your fear you tend to realize you are not specficially afraid of any of those things in the actual moment — it’s just fear in a physical form. When you notice it, it often disappears. So much so, to the point that I was able to consciously imagine crashing without it bothering me. Crazy! Like stepping outside your body for a bit.
For the third day in a row, I watched the sunset while riding, however this time it was a bit unsettling because we still had about 200km to go and it was getting dark. To paint the picture — there are absolutely no lights in the desert and it was getting cold. We had been riding for about two hours so decided to stop at the last check-point — an Aroma in the middle of nowhere. I had a quick chicken sandwich, put on three layers of shirts under my jacket and adjusted all my gear. I was determined to make it home as quickly as possible — 170Km left. This part of the trip was tough but also cool. I kept thinking of it as a night run in my mind. The visibility was crazy. We weren’t going too fast but it was really eerie. There were hardly any cars, any lights or any sound. It felt like being on the moon. Completely empty. The nerves of riding at night combined with the cold made it unpleasant overall. I would look at the speedometer and count KM’s past in blocks of 10 (there were 17 blocks in total).
It was crazy because below 70Km the wind wasn’t so high and the temperature was manageable. Above 110km it wasn’t so bad either because the adrenaline would kick in along with a level of focus on the task at hand that minimized the cold. This was really cool and I tested a number of times the speed that made me forget about the cold and engrossed my attention. Between 80–100km was brutal because all you would think about was the cold. One of my fingers started to go numb, it wasn’t painful but it was irritating. After a bit, I got used to riding in the dark and actually started to enjoy it (outside of the cold temperature). I felt like I was an alien mechanical body moving at high speeds and my head was the only part of me alive but it felt like the helmet was a fishball — super weird right! After about an hour and a half we reached the highway in a more populated area and the temperature was much better. Also, I was completely comfortable following the guide as he weaved through traffic. This was the end of the trip and I was going to enjoy the last few minutes!
Finally, we ended back in Petah Tikva. An extremely successful adventure. I was proud of myself for seeking out the adventure and committing to something relatively new on my own. Thinking back, I was able to go kiting, see Masada, float in the dead sea, trek the old city in Jerusalem, get my first real night time ride, push top speed on the motorcycle, see Eilat, and cover 1,000km of the Israeli desert. To do all that in three days was amazing and one of the best experiences of my life. Especially considering the thought patterns and realizations the trip brought up. I was very happy to have such strong feelings towards my family and friends and be able to contemplate a bit more around what really brings happiness. All I can say is WOW!
THANK YOU for reading. The goal of the article is to provide a look at how beautiful Israel is and and some insight into Motorcycle life..
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