Bikepacking events in Israel - 2018/19
In the coming year there will be no less than five bikepacking events in Israel. Considering the small size of the community of local bikepackers, this is quite a lot, and probably stands as a testimonial that the community is persistent and slowly growing.
All the events are open for our guests from overseas of course and have pretty good informational sites on the web. Add to this a welcoming virtual crowd on the social networks with pretty good English, most worldwide bikepackers should find getting ready for riding in the Holy Land pretty easy.
On November 1st the 700NonStop will kick off. This race is planned as a team relay of two pairs of riders, one pair riding, one driving, swaps taking place only at designated spots. The route is from Machanaim junction to Eilat, on a relatively gravel friendly surface.
Last year a solo category was introduced with a challenging cut off time of four and a half days.
In December the P2P South will be held. 600 kilometers from Lehavim to Eilat. Replicating the social concept of the Northern version that took place in April. This means there are pre-planned sleeping spots, called Zulas, where the participants can bunk together and continue the race on the morning.
This first attempt, going north from Lehavim to Rosh HaNikra was very successful, with 50 riders starting, 15 completing the full course, and a lot of following along the way.
This northern version of the ride will take place again for the second time in April 2019.
Another event will take place in January 2019, this one being a Bikepacking/Orienteering race, the Y.O.T.A standing for Your Own Trail Adventure, where, unlike the other events, the route is determined by the rider.
The last event has the longest route and track record:
The Holy Land Challenge has been around for a few years now and has received pretty good coverage in the world wide community of bikepacking racers.
The race is designed to both appealing to tourists and very challenging.
The race starts at Magdal Shams and end in Eilat, 1400 kilometers through the Golan hights, northern Galilee, Nazareth, the Carmel moutain, the Mediterranean coast, Tel Aviv, up to Jerusalem, through the Old City, back down to Emek Ha'Ela and Lachish, all through the Negev desert, the Ramon crater and down to Eilat.
The race used to be held around April, in 2019 it will start in October.
