Day 2 - HaGoshrim to Beit Shean

HaGoshrim Hotel definitely spoiled us. What a beautiful place in the Dan area of the upper Galillee. And the food....OMG!! In general, this being a Jewish bike ride, we are not only well fed but almost overfed. Every pit stop has healthy and salty snacks - nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, pretzels, drinks. Very rest stop has the same, but on steroids. And then comes lunch, with salads and humus and peanut butter and vegetables and sometimes sandwiches. And then came HaGoshrim.  I am quite accustomed to Israeli breakfast and dinner spreads - the assortment and abundance of colorful salads, meat offerings, fruits piled high - I have come to expect that. But this was beyond all expectations. My fellow riders actually walked around the buffet tables photographing the food offerings. I'm sorry I didn't. It was unbelievable!

Maybe in keeping with the theme of abundance, our route on day 2 was also abundant in the elevation gained at the start of the day. Our route yesterday had taken us along the Lebanese border (which in the agony of my climb I had hardly noticed!) and today we rode along the Jordanian border. We rode under the wonderful shade of huge eucalyptus trees which had been planted post 1948 and pre-1967 to offer protection to the road. Not necessarily from the sun, but from enemy fire from the hills to the east. The hills are no longer a strategic problem, but the shade and beauty they offered were greatly appreciated. We rested on the banks of the rather small and surprisingly unimpressive Jordan river, and local honey (produced on kibbutz Shamir where I was a volunteer a lifetime ago) was added to our snack table.  And then began the climb.....

We climbed about 1000 ft.  The climb was about 3 miles long. I wasn't sure I was even going to attempt it after yesterday's experience, but fellow riders gave me the courage to try. So I huffed, and I puffed, and I stopped a few times to bring my heart rate back to a viable range, and lo and behold......I made it!  What an indescribable sense of accomplishment!  And then I realized that actually, what I had done was to ride by bike from the Galillee to the Golan......yay me! Yay all of us!

We had gotten to Qatzrin, an ancient Talmudic village and currently an area well known for its vineyards and winery. Which if course we did not visit. But that's okay. I was high enough from the accomplishment and the exertion without the alcohol.

So now comes the best part. What goes up must come down, right? And down we went! The drop to the Sea of Galillee - Kinneret - is about 1600 ft.   WHHEEEEEE!  The wind can be a little
frightening and there were times I thought I'd be blown over, but the exhilaration of zooming downhill (carefully and in total control, of course) was unreal. The drop bottoms off into rolling hills
at one point, and I actually coasted up an entire hill at 25 mph from the momentum and speed of the previous downhill. Wow!  Add to that the valley coming into view and sighting the Kinneret to my right and you've got a double wow!  Even the strong sun, extreme heat and really awful humidity couldn't put a damper on it. I rolled into the lunch spot on the shores of the lake, and joined my fellow riders by jumping into the cool refreshing water.

The afternoon was spent touring Beit Shean, possibly the largest most complete Roman village excavation. Wandering through the ancient city on the same roads the inhabitants walked on centuries ago is breathtaking. There are 22 civilizations which have been uncovered from the Tel there because of the strategic location of the spot. Even in the ancient world the most important real estate asset was.....location,

location, location.

Speaking of location, the Beit Shean Hostel was lovely, but doesn't hold a candle to HaGoshrim.  And for Robin D's birthday celebration, all they could find was a candle.  Stuck into a baked potato.  She still said that combined with our (half naked) rendition of "happy birthday" to her in the Kinneret it was the best birthday celebration she could have imagined.