London Bridge is falling down, falling down......

November 3, 2021

Lake Havasu City loop, take 1

Today's ride almost didn't happen.

After breakfast, Don headed over to Walmart to do a grocery run and he ended up not getting back until nearly noon. He said it was over 30 minutes away and he took a few wrong turns getting there. This city is a lot bigger than we remembered!

Plus it was a major restock trip since we hadn't been able to do much shopping for the last couple of weeks. If we ever come back to Borrego Springs, we'll make sure to fill the larder before we get there since the grocery stores in town are very expensive with few choices.

Suffice to say, he was pooped when he got back and not overly excited to do a bike ride. The temperature was already in the 80's by now and not ideal for starting a ride!

But I was itching to get out and get some exercise, so I talked him into finding something we could do.

Looking on-line, he started looking at the neighborhood roads nearby, but found that they all involved some major climbing no matter where we went. I hadn't realized how hilly this city is with homes marching up the sides of the mountains. Even the Elk's lodge is located several miles above the lake level. Fun going down but not on the return!

I saw on a map of the area that there was a road that ran alongside of the lake so suggested we try that one. Don said he would be up for that as it was flatter, but needed to empty out the bed of the truck so we could put the tandem in and drive to spot lower down the hill to start the ride.

By the time we accomplished that chore, loaded the bike and drove closer to the lake, it was nearly 2 pm. Not a good time to start a ride in this hot climate!

Finally on the bike, we followed London Bridge Rd. north for several miles. It sure wasn't like riding in the quiet desert in Borrego Springs, that's for sure. There was a lot of traffic but at least there was a small shoulder on this slightly rolling road.

However, it was enjoyable riding along the lake and seeing all of the homes along the water, many of which had roof top decks to better take advantage of the views. I didn't see any discarded masks today but did spot lots of liquor bottles - both the mini ones and full size. In one section, at least a dozen on each side of the highway. Hmmmm........not good!

We might have ridden further had we gotten an earlier start but after 5 miles Don announced that we're turning around now. He'd had enough of the heavy, noisy traffic.

When we got back to the London Bridge, we took that over to the island to do a few more miles on a road that ran around its perimeter. That was much quieter, and he could now relax and enjoy the ride.

This is a man-made island that was created specifically for the London Bridge to go somewhere when the bridge was reinstalled in this location. The original developer of Lake Havasu City wanted the bridge to cross a channel which it does now. Check out my journal from last year if you want more of the history of this bridge.

The island isn't large but still had restaurants and hotels along the channel. As we went further into the interior there were RV parks and lots of new homes being built. Some of these were quite large with 2-3 car garages plus an RV garage and roof-top deck. No shortage of money out here!

The road we followed also had a nice looking bike/pedestrian path next to it, but we chose to just stay on the road. We found a couple of small light houses and had a nice view of the city when we circled toward the east.

This area seems to be having an incredible amount of growth and has turned into a large desert megapolis! I don't know what is attracting people to the area but surely they can't be all those just wanting winter homes? The roads are all clogged with traffic and the city has all of the big-box stores you could want.

Once we got back to the bridge, we had a short ride of a couple of blocks to the Safeway where we had parked the truck. I was glad we had done some kind of ride but it was already after 4 pm by the time we got back home.

Now that the truck bed is unloaded, maybe we can drive toward Parker to do some riding over the next couple of days. We know from staying in this area last year that we found quiet, flatter roads in an agricultural area south of Parker along with a nice road that ran along the California side of the Colorado River. There sure isn't the kind of riding that suits us to be found here in Lake Havasu!

Just one of several fancy speed boats we saw today.

This lighthouse was small but similar to others we've seen on the east coast.

The channel below the London Bridge goes out to Lake Havasu.

Another small but nice lighthouse on the Bridge island.

Looking to the east toward Lake Havasu City, you can see the incredible sprawl.

Gross, but here it is - one week out from my fall. Most of the foot is yellowish/green with purple bruising on my toes (weird because I didn't sprain them) and on either side of my foot. The only spot that's sore now is around my ankle bone. But it's doing better every day!

Today's ride: 16 miles (26 km)
Total: 307 miles (494 km)

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