Gettin' the cat out

January 24, 2022

Mesa bike day #3

The day started with plenty of sun, although it was in the 40's when we got up so took a few hours to warm up enough for a ride. Don was feeling well enough for a ride on Garfield and by noon, we were headed north for a shortish loop ride.

Our route was all on streets - some busier through roads that had bike lanes and others passing through residential neighborhoods. I read that Mesa is rated highly as a pro-cycling city which is probably from all of the bike lanes. I think we were on Mesa bike routes 5 and 6 today. Yesterday I was on routes 1 and 4.

It was a nice ride and we enjoyed looking at all of the homes, especially when we went through the Apache Wells country club. This community was quite large with a golf course, beautiful custom homes and an RV resort similar to where we are staying.

As we continued north, we left the city behind and found ourselves back in the desert with lots of mountain views. We also had been gradually increasing in elevation. Not bad, but it wasn't flat for sure!

When we reached Power Rd., we kept going north past a big gravel mine and irrigation canal that I think hooks up with the Salt River. We'd ridden this road in 2020 which takes you next to the river. You can then loop back to Mesa via Usery Pass which is a good climb but one Don didn't care to do today.

Don called for a turn-around point after we crossed the canal and we headed back to Towerpoint via a slightly different route. A few loops through the park here pushed us up to a total of 20 miles.

We keep looking at all of the different park models, and wondering if we would ever buy one and move down here for the winter. We're not ready to do that but it's sure an intriguing idea. Right now we plan to travel with our trailer all over the US and Canada at some point.

Down here they design cell towers to look like palm trees vs at home where they make them appear to as if they're pine trees.

We spotted this flock of ring-necked ducks swimming around a neighborhood pond. Check out their pointy heads!

One neighborhood we biked through had real grass in their front yards on one side of the street while on the other was the typical no-water desert landscaping. Nice enough, but we are in a desert folks!

Going north on Power Rd gave us a great view of Red Mountain. We turned around at this spot since Don didn't want to go down the hill, only to have to come up it on the other side. That cyclist was sure huffing and puffing on the climb!

Our home in Mesa - the Towerpoint RV Resort.

Down the road from us is this derelict property. From their sign it looked like it was something from the 60's or earlier and offered a motel/cabins and spa? If you had lots of money it would be interesting to restore.

Our resort is on Main St. in Mesa which apparently is one of these historic roads that went coast to coast. Who knew?! Maybe you could make up your own cross-country bike tour!

Today's ride: 20 miles (32 km)
Total: 1,530 miles (2,462 km)

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