The Lake Placid Bike Leg: 7,400+ Feet of Climbing You Manage with Your Head

The Big Picture

180 km over two loops, 2,265 m of official elevation gain (7,432 ft). It's not the hardest full-distance course out there, but the distribution of the climbing is nasty: the longest climbs come in the last third of each loop, right when you're tempted to make up lost time. The course was modified in 2024: before you plan anything, download the updated map from the official course page.

The Key Segments

The Keene descent. Over 300 m of elevation loss, speeds above 70-80 km/h, almost no pedaling. Several race reports describe it as the most technical section of the day. What to do: serviced brakes, new and broken-in tires, pressures not at the limit. If you haven't mastered the aero position on fast descents, don't improvise it here: you lose 30-60 seconds riding the hoods, you lose a lot more if you hit the deck. If you can, ride it in a recon session in the days before.

The valley floor: Keene - Upper Jay - Jay - Ausable Forks. A 27-mile stretch you ride twice, relatively fast-rolling. This is where mid-pack age-groupers do the damage: the terrain invites you to push and your average speed climbs. Hammer in the valley and you pay twice: on the Three Bears and then on the marathon.

Jay - Wilmington (Highway 86). Steep climbs, with a brief breather on the Haselton Road out-and-back. You need real gearing here: a compact and a wide-range cassette, so you can climb seated at a decent cadence instead of grinding.

The final ~20 miles back to Lake Placid. Nearly 300 m of climbing to close out each loop: the 4 miles along the river and then the 'Three Bears' with 'Poppa Bear Hill' before town. On the second loop, this stretch is the real test of your pacing.

Pacing: The Practical Rule

The loop has a profile that rewards riding to watts and punishes riding to speed. Concrete plan:

• Conservative first loop: you should crest the Three Bears on lap one feeling like you've done a training ride, not a race.
• Don't chase your average speed in the valley: you get it back for free on the Keene descent.
• On the Jay-Wilmington ramps, keep the effort in check, even if that means climbing at 10 km/h.
• Second loop: same effort, accept that the speed drops.

Look at the ballpark times: for a mid-pack goal we're talking roughly 6:30 on the bike. If your first loop projects much faster than that, you're probably getting it wrong.

Nutrition and Special Needs

On course you'll find Maurten (gels and solids) and Precision PH 1000: if you don't use them in training, bring your own. The bike special needs bag is around the halfway point (mile 56, ~km 90) and gets dropped off the day before: pack extra nutrition and a lightweight rain shell. This isn't a minor detail: half the course sits at a different elevation and multiple weather systems are possible in the same day. One 2023 race report mentions an unforecast downpour right in the middle of the bike.

What to Do Between Now and Race Day

1. Train long technical descents, not just climbs. The Keene descent is managed with experience, not race-day courage. 2. Fit easy gearing (compact, wide-range cassette) and test it on repeated steep climbs at the end of a long ride, on tired legs. 3. Simulate the profile: rides with the bulk of the climbing in the last third, followed by an uphill run. 4. Check the 2024+ map on the official site before doing any virtual recon: the course has changed.

You don't win the Lake Placid bike: you survive it well enough to run the marathon. Whoever gets off the bike with something in reserve gains whole minutes on the run course's climbs over anyone who arrived empty.