Originally Posted by
Trakhak
I loved riding my fixed-gear Specialized Langster on the hills of northern Baltimore County. (While riding through those hills one summer day decades ago, I asked an ex-pro who had raced throughout the U.S. and Europe where the best riding was, figuring he'd say "North of Milan" or "Colorado" or whatever. "Here," he said.)
But I promised myself that, when I hit 50, to protect my knees I'd stop doing those hills on that bike. Then I hit 50, but kept riding the bike. Another season won't hurt, I told myself.
Now I'm 72, and my left knee is getting pretty bad. So this past summer will have been the last time I regularly did hilly rides on that bike. Probably.
Yeah, when I biked across the country for the first time on the Trans America folks asked me after the trip where the best states for riding were. I'd have to think about it and would realize that I liked Oregon and Colorado a lot, but getting home to Maryland was pretty nice riding wise. Having ridden most of the states again since then I still feel that way. So yeah, Baltimore county is pretty great for riding. I miss riding there since I moved to Tallahassee.
There is pretty good mountain biking and trail running there as well.
Also I never bought into all the hype about what would and would not ruin your knees. All the guys who must spin 100 rpms at all times or their knees will asplode are either full of bs or have different knees and legs than I do. I always figured it was healthy to ride with a variety of cadences including some high and some low ones. Not saying a fixie is for every one, but I doubt that they are quite the knee killer folks claim. Maybe you should quit the fixie, maybe not. Maybe a few less teeth on that front ring next year?