The Hebrew greeting "shalom" means "peace" and that is probably the last thing I thought about when I found out I was going to Israel. All over the news at home we hear about fighting and terrorism in the Middle East but the second I landed in Israel and was greeted my first "shalom" that's all I felt the whole trip - peace. 
 Our first stop of the trip was to do a dirt jump demo at a cross country mountain bike event in the Dead Sea which also happens to be the lowest place on Earth. It's highly doubtful that I'll ever end up standing on the top of Mt.Everest so being in the lowest place on Earth was the second best thing. And it was considerably less work to get to! The Dead Sea got it's name because it is so salty that it can't sustain any life, but looking at it reminds you of a brochure out of a travel agency for the Caribbean or something. It's bright turquoise. The brightest water I've ever seen!
 The jump they had made for us was about 30 feet from the water and it was made out of a wooden ramp to big sand landing. The run in was half wood, have soft sand so getting speed into it was always a challenge (especially in the scorching heat) but the Israeli fans loved it and gave us all a very warm welcome of cheers. It was pretty cool to see how big the biking scene is over there and how many people turned up for the event.
 Our next stop was a ride in the desert with some bike shop locals. It doesn't seem to matter where in the world I go, all bike shop guys are the same: stoked! These guys were no exception. They took us to their local downhill trail that was through some of the gnarliest desert terrain I've ever seen. Lots of loose shale that would shred you to pieces if you went down, but from a distance it looked smooth and inviting. Half way through our ride we saw 4 camels walking along a path in the middle of the desert and it definitely felt like we officially in Israel. Our ride ended up in a bedwin camp in the middle of nowhere which housed a few lean-tos and camel pens, and thankfully for our guides, we were able to get out safely without being stormed by camels!
 The tour continued to the old city of Jerusalem and it succeeded in blowing everyone's mind. Jerusalem is a crazy place. It holds three of the holiest places in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions - all within a 15 minute walk of each other. The streets in the old city are pedestrian only with the exception of tiny tractors that haul grains, fruit, and supplies to the vendors. It's a weaving maze of arab bazaars mostly built into the rock underground to shelter from the heat and the vendors are extremely friendly. Two old muslim vendors insisted on giving me free chocolate bars and dates because they liked my eyes...they obviously knew the key to my heart.
 The energy in Jerusalem is unparalleled to any other city I've ever been to. In a matter of minutes I had touched the Wailing Wall, seen the dome of the rock, walked the path that Jesus supposedly did on his way to his crucifixion, and stood next to the tomb where he was said to buried. It felt like I had been put into the pages of a history of world religion text book! 

Although it was a very welcome treat being a tacky tourist in the city, we actually had to get back to doing what we came to do - riding bikes. We met up with some more locals and rode an urban downhill on the outskirts of Jerusalem along terraces that dated back to biblical times. The trail that they had made was awesome! Lots of fun little drops and rollers mixed with fast single track and half way through it was intersected by a little village that reminded you "oh, right, I'm in the middle of the city!"
 After our ride we made the not-so-long drive to Tel Aviv. The great thing about Israel is that everything is really really close together. Even though our crazy guide Chaim was probably one of the worst drivers I've ever seen and drove a steady 20km/hour below the speed limit everywhere, it still didn't take very long to get anywhere in the country.
 Even though the drive was short, Tel Aviv is a world away from Jerusalem. It is extremely modern and has a very laid back feel like most Mediterranean cities. We drove an hour north along the coast to hit up our next riding spot with Boaz and Nimi from Mountain Goat riding school. These guys are the pulse of mountain biking in Israel and are a ton of fun. Believe it or not, Nimi's real name is Nimrod. No joke! Apparently it's a common name in Israel...but he never tells English people his real name. His friends did instead and enjoyed watching us laugh for hours about it!
 Boaz and Nimrod took us up to the mountains off the coast and showed us to by far the most fun trail that we saw in Israel. The terrain in the North of the country is more tropical and the forests were filled with pine trees and olive groves - perfect terrain for the perfect trail. Unfortunately my Croatian team mate Mislav didn't fare so well on the trail because a few minutes into it he had a very fast meeting with a tree branch and ended up jabbing a huge hole in his arm and having to see what the Israeli hospital system is all about!
 Despite the carnage, our trip to Israel was incredible. The country is beautiful, friendly, and absolutely incredible in every way. SHALOM!!!!!