Bicycling (Not) to Bethlehem

My good friend, Dr. Alexander King, is a bicycle enthusiast. And today, Wednesday, Sept. 10, he decided to cycle on down to Kever Rachel, Rachel's Tomb, at 3PM.

He didn't get that far towards his destination.



As he wrote to me:-

The guard at the yellow gate checked with his superior...and told me that bicycles are not allowed it. Only motorized vehicles. No amount of reasoning would help my situation. I hung around for about 20 minutes and then left.

Nevertheless, not all was negative, he notes:-

I was none-the-less happy to see that the tomb is being well visited: every few minutes a car would enter.

He discussed his options:

* To keep coming back every now and again (to put the pressure on)
* To arrive there with several other cyclists (+/- media) and see what happens. (Interested parties should forward me their cellphone numbers)
* To speed past the guards when they open the gate for a car (not a good idea as risk getting shot or arrested)
* To arrange a visit, co-ordinate permission, with the local commander... anyone have any connections?

Please let me know if anyone has any ideas.

Do my readers have any better idea?