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| Main event. pack is tight chasing the leaders. Tel Aviv road cycling competition, September 2010 / © 2010 |
On a Friday morning during the Succot holiday, while Tel Aviv was still half asleep, hundreds of slick dressed road cyclists converged on Kikar Ha'medina. Tel Aviv's annual road cycling competition was about to start. Some arrived as early as 7:00 AM to practice and stretch. Some arrived from as far north as the Gallil at the Lebanon border and as far south as Arab Bedouin village. Everyone had speed in mind. Most of the contestants belong to cycling clubs with cities like Haifa represented by about 20 cyclists. Some clubs are sponsored by the big bike stores on Ha'cheshmonain street or Igal Alon Boulevard in south Tel Aviv. Some are local clubs associated with the large sports groups Maccabi and Ha'poel. The main event was a long race around the circle. Kikar Ha'medina (The State Circle in Hebrew) is Tel Aviv's largest traffic circle. It houses some of the city's most exclusive shops. But on this Friday morning Gucci and Lacoste shoppers were nowhere in sight. The main event ended peacefully with a few scrapes and bruises. Overall, very few accidents for such a tight and fast race.
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| Time trial finish! This year's record of 1:03 was a course record. Five time trial heats were held at the end of the event. Tel Aviv road cycling competition, September 2010 / © 2010 |
During the breaks between races, walking around the booths and groups of cyclists, you could overhear as much Arabic as Hebrew and Russian. Road racing in Israel is open to everyone. It is a relatively small sport with a few thousand serious participants and only a few large national races a year. This does not stop serious enthusiasts from dedicating time and energy to the sport. Israeli road cyclists are influenced by French and Italian racers. Shirts of the big French and Italian tour teams are favorites here. The sport supports a few high end shops which import bicycles from Europe and also customize with any type of accessory you can imagine. I overheard all kind of brand names, top sponsor and racer names and every imaginable price you can imagine. With the value of the shekel at 5 times the Euro, top end bicycles run between 10,000 and 20,000 shekels. That's a month to four month salary of the average rider. With the close proximity to Europe, some racers buy their bikes on their own and import them themselves. Enjoy the pictures, more to come.
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| Few of the leaders make last attempt to get ahead. Tel Aviv road cycling competition, September 2010 / © 2010 |
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| New bikes on display. Classic street style and folding models are the hottest selling items. Slowly taking place from the off-road models dominated the last ten years. / © 2010 |
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