powercrank wood

so i got in a ride mid-day today.
i went out on a simple ride and did our usual weekday LA river trail via franklin to fletcher and back again through griffith park [some of it closed due to the recent fire damage]. it was to be a casual cruise, as i know i am coming back from a dramatic injury and have not put in many powercrank miles since. well i felt it today, my legs were like heavy wood, turning the powercranks over. all in all i did ok, but there was a slightly larger volume of coasting on the PC's than usual.

i brushed off some of the LA traffic demons that have been striking fear into my cycling soul. but traffic was light around 11:30 and for the most part nice. not always a word i would use to describe the locals here in smelLA. which reminds me of a post on another blog that i did not comment on about the current state of cycling on the streets and drivers. everyone mentioned bad experiences and angry drivers. i am still amazed by my experiences training in the boonies in arizona, casa grande area to be exact. once out of town [takes 2 mins], you are confronted with fairly flat, straight 2 lane country roads, with views of cotton fields and mesas for miles. now, one would be trained to think by the liberal biased press that the so called rednecks in their traditional white pickups would be, well, not cordial to a guy in a flashy tight team kit. you would be wrong, very wrong. these guys are cruising slightly over the posted speedlimit and do everything they can to give you a full lane width when they pass you from behind [some even go in the gravel the other side]. i am always amazed at how nice these so called hicks are, they always initiate a wave first and sometimes even a few words of encouragement. this is in stark contrast to the so called 'smarter than you' silent death prius driving elitist city folk i encounter here everyday. even in san diego, where i moved from to LA, the so called laid back san diego'ns don't respect my right to be on the road as much as the ford pickup truck driving farmers in arizona. so, remember stereotypes don't always fit.