By David Lewis
It all started by two dudes from Durbs and a bloke from Zim – The Cyclenix Mountain Biking Group
We classify our riding level as intermediate but the accent is always on fun and good company. Our riding companions are our friends; not our competitors!
The Path Ahead
It was November 1996 that John Cohen and myself, both originally from Durban, and Hylton Sher formally of Bulawayo, took our first bike ride together. Little did we know then that history was in the making! No, not the kind of history that would be etched in the annuls of mankind, but rather the beginnings of a venture into the wonderful world of mountain biking. At that time, biking in Israel was still in its relative infancy – as in many other countries. There were few quality bikes generally on the road – or country paths – at the time. However, the few serious cyclists there were, little did they know at the time, they were pedaling more than just their body weight.
They were propelling a future recreational sport that would soon take Israel by storm. I knew that threshold had been reached when someone told me that, “You know Dave, there are more bicycles sold in Israel each year than cars!”
WOW! And there are a lot of cars sold in Israel annually!
South Africans On The Road. Stephen Schulman, Hylton Sher, Adrian Wolff, Michell Wolff, John “Candy” Cohen, David Kaplan, Martin Wolff, Hiliard Hart and the late Ronnie Feinberg.
Round the Bend. South Africans riding around the Sea of Galilee.(l-r) Ingrid Lewis, Martin and Michelle Wolff, Dr. Daniel Klug and cofounder of Cyclenix, John “Candy” Cohen.
Buddies on Wheels
As this was not a ‘men’s bar’ type of thing, soon our wives joined our rides and our group began to expand; mainly because people of all ages and strengths felt comfortable by our philosophy: that the ‘finish line’ was all about health and exercise, enjoyment and camaraderie. While our routes in those ‘early days’ were mostly in the Ra’anana, Kfar Saba, and Hod Hasharon area – central north Tel Aviv – we soon broadened out – and I’m not referring to the gender additions but geographically!
A new member Moshe Abromowitz – also a former South African – convinced us that even though the bicycle had hardly evolved in over one hundred years, we need to at least evolve in terms of our PR, and so we went on-line with a club website. Overnight we were suddenly on the Israel mountain biking map and we changed our name from “Ra’anana Riders” to “Cyclenix”.
Today we ride both in the Sharon region as well as throughout the length and breadth of Israel.
Fun in the Sun. Relaxing after a ride around the Sea of Galilee.
Israel offers enormous mountain biking variety and options and has become something of a Mecca for overseas mountain bikers. And our riders comprise both English speakers and native Israeli speakers, so our rides are a fun way to exercise, see the country, and meet its people. And as all riders know – the best folk are cyclists!
Contact us for any information concerning mountain biking in Israel. If we are unable to help directly, we will do our best to refer you to someone who can, and if on a visit to Israel contact us with a view to joining us for a group ride.
For more facts on Cyclenix visit us at www.cyclenix.com
* I am writing this a day after our ride in the Lower Galilee on the western rim of the Jezreel Valley, surrounded by HaZore’a Forest to the south, Yokneam Moshava to the north, and the fields of the Jezreel Valley to the east. Why I mention this as noteworthy is that John, Hylton and I were on this ride, nearly twenty-one years after the three of us rode together for the first time!
Out in the Woods. The Cyclnix Club riding in the Lower Galilee in April 2017.
