atlas? who's that?

i forgot to mention the single thought that shared my hour-long wait with me at the embassy yesterday:

to be an agent of change is to be despised. to be an agent of change is to despise primitivism and backwardness right back.

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waking up five hours later? getting ready? pg and i joining her mother and bussing to jerusalem? the ride to the western wall was terrifying - the sheer numbers of those on the path to endarkenment are unimaginable to anyone living in internet-enabled tel aviv.

i was quite nervous about my new wheels - getting them yesterday was not smart. i needed to sort those out at least a week ago, it took most of the downhills to wear down the silicone enough for me to gain enough traction at high speeds. the slow, easy first downhill was scary. so was the second. the third, the amazing one, was only enjoyable for that last bit, by which time i'd shaved my wheels so much by constantly dragging them to keep my speed down that i already have to rotate them :/

on the other hand, having new wheels for the long, flat 50km stretch back to tel aviv was really, really comfortable. i'm pleased and amused at the guy who approached pg and me after we'd arrived at azrieli to tell us that watching us blading together was like watching two dancers doing the tango - i almost hesitated to admit that i'd been grooving along to incredible house*, and some of the others laughed when they overheard because they'd been well impressed by my drafting but couldn't figure out why i kept changing the pace every now and again :P

* whoo hoo! i finally remembered to take the speaker i bought in april :P

in retrospect, i'm really glad that we didn't manage to score a ride up the painfully steep first uphill. that's our penance for yom kippur, and it simply must be done. we were in divine territory, and a part of the experience (for me) is hoping that i've been good enough this past year to warrant coming through the route unharmed.

things i learned this evening:
1. wheels must be replaced at least one 20km route prior to a major set of downhills.
2. heavy bags do hurt the lower back.
3. trains can be fun - and on downhill stretches can save a lot of energy. they require a lot of trust, though.
4. you can't beat house music for keeping drafting pace.
5. a thermos filled with hot-chocolate and rum is *just* enough to last 60km.

final thoughts for the day, before taking a book to bed (i was going to watch a movie, but pg's not feeling well): kids. a group of them got run over by arabs in palmachim... i don't care whether it was intentional or not, my initial reaction is that most people driving on israeli roads, in general, drive so fast and so badly that it's a wonder these things don't happen all the time. also, it shocks me to blade through streets filled with kids on bicycles when half of them literally aren't looking where they're going.

...

right. exhausted.

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talking down telemarketers. very, very smooth.