Welcome to the Israel Ride Blog! Over the next week, this blog will feature stories and photos from the route, as I travel with the riders as they pedal for a purpose from Jerusalem to Eilat. As your virtual tour guide and writer for the week, I will be sharing highlights and interviews from the road. I will provide a bit of history about the Israel Ride and information about the two incredible organizations it supports, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and Hazon.

For those of you who have supported a rider this year, please think of this blog as your window into their experience. For those of you who have not yet supported a rider, we are still accepting donations for the 2015 Israel Ride until December 31st; click here to sponsor a 2015 Israel Rider.

As the week progresses, feel free to write comments, questions, and messages of support below (the latter of which I will do my best to pass along to the riders). You can also find more photos and updates from the road on the Israel Ride Facebook Page!

Today has been a busy day full of excitment and anticipation. While over 50 staff and crew spent the day helping riders prepare for the week, alumni riders reunited and welcomed new riders (and staff such as myself) into the Israel Ride community. On this year’s Ride we have 105 new riders, 57 alumni, and at least 30 couples and families. After a morning of bike assembly, check-in, and practice rides around Ramat Rachel, we spent the afternoon and evening in orientation, which included a number of workshops on safety, life on the road, and tomorrow’s route briefing. Despite the excitement, we all hope to get a good night sleep, as tomorrow will be an early morning as we set off on our first day of riding.

Check back tomorrow to read highlights from the day and view pictures from the road.

Farewell for now!

Sam Schauer
Israel Ride Communications Manager