And now for something completely different. Perhaps my favorite recreational sport of all time is snowboarding. Wait a second, what the hell does snowboarding have to do with mountain biking? Well, for one, they both go downhill.

Spending most of the year in Israel poses quite a challenge for the snowboarding or alpine-skiing enthusiast. The challenge is snow – we don't get that much of the white stuff around here. Israel hosts one ski-resort, really small (about three and half short slopes), very crowded, and benefits from no more than 20 days of reasonable snowboard conditions per year. About two years ago I accepted the fact that I needed a new pasttime.  I decided to find a replacement, something I could do all year around, without having to spend all of my budget on one hobby, so I went out and bought a pair of bikes.

Knowing what I'll probably enjoy most, just going downhill and doing some free-riding, I was instantly attracted to downhill biking. This is a more technical aspect of mountain biking – speed, adrenalin, highly technical courses, drops and turns, peak concentration and the general feeling of 'being on the edge' – all contribute to a great experience.

The terrain around here is perfect, a wide variety of hills, not too difficult to climb, a whole lot of fun to descend. The mountains of the north are less than a two-hour drive, the hills of the central and the Jerusalem area are less then one hour away, and the wonders of the desert (recommended through winter months only) are about three  hours to the south. July and August are a mess to ride in – early dawn and late dusk only, unless you particularly enjoy suffering and getting dehydrated. Winter is great, with cold temperatures staying usually over 10 degrees centigrade; even with full body armor and protection, riding is a breeze and almost never too cold.

As for competitive DH courses, there are four of them. All of them have a few similar features: vertical descent of about 200 meters, course length of just over one kilometre, a series of diverse obstacles, including switchback turns, rock gardens, drops and usually one or two main elements – a larger drop or Road Gap. Expert riders get from start to finish in under one minute forty seconds, and as the level goes down the time goes up.

For instance, on the last official downhill competition in Beit-Qeshet forest, first place registered 1:39, second place 1:40, and third place 1:41. The results give a good indication on just how close the expert riders are.   I have also competed in the sports category, ages 19-29 with an astonishing finishing time of 2:45:43 on my first run and an improved 2:45:15 for the second. I was actually pretty happy with the consistency.