I did yesterday and it paid.  Signed up for the Portland Century early in the week and spent some time studying the course to see if it was a suitable fix gear ride and if so, what gears should I bring and where should I stop and change.  Billed as 3600' of climbing, not huge, but with many smaller hills and not a whole lot of flat.  Decided to put the 17 and 22 on and carry a 16 (should I be feeling really strong, knees perfect) and 14 for one or two descents.

Friday night I was aware of my knees.  (I rode 45 miles both Thursday and Friday, doing my Cycle Oregon prep ride Thursday with its 2100 feet of climbing and about a 1000' and another 45miles Friday.  All fixed, loafing uphill on the 23.)

So I made it a point to always go easy yesterday; to not push hard, to keep my wind down so I could keep good form all day, always a blessing for my knees.  Ended up only stopping and changing gear once, flipping the wheel for what I thought was going to be most of a mile at 10%.  As I was gettting going I was joined by a woman I had passed many times (I took long breaks at all but one of the many rest stops).  So, now that I was in a 22, I rode with her up the hill which turned out to be short, then with her the next few miles in a super leg saver gear!  Then two consecutive descents that were not fun in the 22!  Back to the 17 for the rest of the day.

So, with no drafting or paceline work, I rode the century plus the 30 mile round trip to and from fixed for a lifetime high fixed of 132 miles and felt great at the end.  My knees know they did something and I will have to back off for a few days, but I am sure they will be back for Thursday's CO prep ride.  I am beginning to feel confidence in my ability to take on COs climbing in 3 weeks.  And man, does that bike, Jessica J the super foxie, feel great!  And I am in shape to ride her.

The other prep I did for that ride that paid off was downloading the course instructions (120 lines of turns, etc,) and cutting and pasting (real cut and paste, scissors and glue) onto 4" x 5" paper and sealing with plastic.  Two double sided instruction sheets, fitting nicely in jersey pockets.  Also did the same with the course profile.  Didn't use these aids a lot, but were valuable when I did.  (And saved me from at least on wrong turn.  Part of riding smart was not riding extra distance.  If I had doubts, I immediately went back to last known or waited for the next rider.  Extra distance?  Maybe 300 yards.  Now I know most of you would be GPS set and wouldn't need this.  My fixie is true to the era of fixed.  If I stare at my stem, all I will see is one word.  "Cinelli"  As it should be.

Ben