Thursday, September 18, 2008

Day 5: Parker, AZ to Lake Havasu,AZ - September 18, 2008

Miles: 42 Miles
Ride Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Avg. Speed: 14.9
Total Climbing: 1500 feet
Work: 1238 kJ

Today’s ride was an active recovery ride. With only 42 miles between Parker and Lake Havasu we could take it easy and rest our muscles. This was great ride to relax and take in the scenery as we left the desert behind and rode next to the Colorado River. It looked like an oasis with all the plants. But the mountain terrain was colorful compared to the desert.

We crossed back into California as we left Parker and headed for the Parker dam. Since the dam has restricted traffic the road was clear of cars for the most part. We stopped to take photos at the dam. It was much smaller than we thought since the lake behind it is large and compared to the Hoover dam which is so large, makes one believe that Parker Dam would be larger.

After the dam we had to climb a little but nothing tough or long. The ride into Lake Havasu was nice. The last 5 miles even had a bike path. We were able to get to the Hotel by 10:30 and later take in a nice lunch. We saw Havasu’s London Bridge which is the main tourist attraction. Again we were expecting something bigger based on how much it is talked about.

Tomorrow we have our first big climbing day. It will be fun to see how these hills compare to my training hills back home.

Visit all the photos from today at flickr

1 comment:

dawn kressman said...

Richard,

Really enjoying taking the trip with you through your blog. I really enjoy all of your pictures also, it almost feels like I am there. Congratulations on having the guts to do this trip! I admire you! Keep safe and I will post soon.

Dawn