Friday 27 February 2009

Day 14: Tsofar to Paran


On paper this was going to be a short easy section , between Tsofar and Paran, riding what is called The Springs Route.

Eitan had left us at the end of yesterday's ride, catching a bus north. The five days he partnered me were invaluable in maintaining my momentum and morale.

So it was left to the orginal 'A team' , who had started this oddesey in Neve Ativ, to continue onwards together to Eilat.

The severe weather that was afflicting the north was reaching the Arava with high winds and the odd shower. The route took us over some hills, where we had difficulty staying upright in the strong gusts. When we descended to the Paran Valley, this had blown up to a full blown sandstorm. Visibility was reduced so Ariye would sometimes disappear from sight, only to reappear as some ghostly figure on his silver steed. My GPS was a real saviour in plotting a course to Paran, which we could not locate in the midst of this yellow soup. We knew we were finally there when we heard the unmistakable tones of Thai drifting towards us from the murk, then we saw the hothouses of Paran.

Ride Stats:
Distance 37kms
Total Distance 845kms
Duration 5hours
Agg Climbs 395 metres
Max Gradient 33% (not rideable)
Av temp 20C
0 punctures

No comments:

Post a Comment