I have a confession to make. I am not exactly a lover of the great outdoors. In fact, before we started writing this blog, my idea of a perfect and well spend day involved a good book and comfortable mattress.
No hiking shoes, no ropes, helmet or anything too adventurous. Can I continue being honest? Before taking upon going to all these places in order to take pictures and write about them, I had never, you read me correctly, never in my 21 years living in the desert, been in most of them. It was some king of a private joke for my children in the house.So when we decided to write this blog, I knew that writing a post about Geofun – a bike rental company operating from our village and also present in Mitzpe Ramon – was a must and that I would have to try it myself. Although Assaf, the owner of Geofun was the first person I called to tell him about my plans, I kept putting it off. I was a bit worried it might be a bit too much for me you see.
How did it happen?
But yesterday was the perfect opportunity. Some guests had rented bicycles from Assaf. As usual when guests take a bike, they had come back with a huge satisfied smile on their face. Assaf wasn’t going to collect the bikes for another few hours, the woman was about my size and I had a bit of time in front of me. When was such a constellation of good fortune going to present itself again?
I immediately called Assaf to ask him for advice. He suggested I follow the green and red paths going on that flat stretch right in front of the house to the sculpture park and the fortress.
I was a bit disappointed. He obviously knew that the last time I had been spotted on a bicycle was about 12 years ago and that it was to go to the supermarket, 400 meters from the house. But I was quite ready to get out of my comfort zone and it surely meant at least to cross the road 40! Hold on my friend, I said. Don’t you think I could be a bit more adventurous? I started examining the map you receive with your bicycle (along with a helmet, a pump and a repair kit).
There were half a dozen marked bicycle trails for me to choose from. OK, I said to myself, Halukim, 27.5 km of intermediate difficulty might be a bit more than what I had bargained for. But what about the Terrace trail? 10 km, easy… Sounds like my cup of tea! I checked with Assaf that I was not being too optimistic and after he assured me it was an easy and beautiful 2 hours ride at a leisurely pace, I was on my merry way… If only still a bit suspicious.
The Terrace trail
The Terrace trail starts on the other side of the main road, right between Midreshet Ben Gurion and Kibbutz Sde Boker. We could have biked through the village and along the road till the started point but we choose to join it going across the kibbutz fields.
Joining the main road only takes about 10 minutes. Be careful when you cross the road as it is a long stretch of completely straight road and cars are driving fast.
And there you get to the starting point. Immediately, you will see on your left the very clear marking. As you are riding on a 4×4 track, you don’t really need the signs so you will only find them when there is an intersection.
It will take you along a dry river bed with, as its name implies, some terraces. Spring is definitely the best season to do it as you will have the most vegetation and lots of flowers,
but because of the terraces and small dam, you’ll see some greenery all year round
which is why you have a very good chance of meeting a few lovely and cuddly friends
Therefore, it is a nice ride even in the summer. You could go early morning, before breakfast, so you will feel totally entitled to your big breakfast and lazing at the pool during warm hours.
It felt like it was mostly a very gentle slope and sometimes flat, although John assures me that the laws of physics imply that if you start and end from a same point, you will go up as much as you go down… I really didn’t feel the strain of cycling up. Which makes it the perfect outing for children.
If this all sounds too easy for you, you can always choose a more strenuous path or just spice things a little by mixing the trails as the Terraces trail meets the Haloukim trail (going up and down the ridge) for a few kilometers
It also meets the Tree Trail, another easy trail that will take you a bit further to some roman ruins. But if you stay on the Terrace trail, you now leave the riverbed, to ride between a range of hills. A complete change of scenery…
… Until the Terrace trail ends at a picnic area right in front of the kibbutz. We again chose to avoid the road (also there is a bicycle trail along the road) and to come back across the fields.
How was it?
Needless to say, I absolutely loved it!
In conclusion, we already knew that the Negev is a favorite terrain for avid road and off-road cyclists alike. But we now have the absolute proof that it could also become a favorite activity for the less adventurous type because trust me, if I could do it and enjoy it, you can do it and you will enjoy it! Now the only thing that is missing for me to do it again and again is a pair of these extremely unsexy padded shorts.
Costs 80 sh per day. Geofun also provides baby seats and little trailer for young children and small bikes for children.
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