IM Lake Placid Course Breakdown, Part II, The Bike

After leaving T1, you ride out of LP and downhill for 2 miles towards the ski jumps.  Don't overdress, here.  You may be cold during these two miles, but soon enough, you will be climbing the next 9 miles along route 73. After you cross the bridge by the ski jumps, you begin a long gradual climb.

Go easier here and get your heart rate under control.  Remind yourself that you still have 110 miles to bike!  The problem is that there are so many athletes out on the course hammering this section, and it's easy to get caught up in their excitement and pace.  The key to this bike course is riding the first loop easy, and trying to even split the two loops.  My suggestion is to go easier for the first two miles of the climb on 73, then settle into a rhythm.  Get your heart rate under control and where it needs to be.  

Many will comment that their heart rate was a bit high but they felt good and if they slowed to get their heart rate to where it should be, they'd be going way too slow.  I always see these people hurting later on in the ride or on the run.  It's a long day.  Pace yourself!  After the two miles of climbing, it rolls for a bit but is still mostly a gradual uphill. Stay calm and relaxed and use this part of the course to get in some nutrition.  You begin descending and then it levels off for a bit along the river in between the two cliffs.  Because you are carrying some speed from the initial descent, many can have a tendency to get overanxious on this part.  They also feel that the real big descent is coming very soon, and they will be coasting more or less for 5 miles, so they figure why not push a bit here.  Don't.  Again, cap the heart rate and stay calm.  

The descent makes many timid.  The thing is, it's not a technical descent by any means and the middle section is a place where you should be pedaling. My suggestion is to get out to this descent a few days before the race and ride it three or four times.  Have someone meet you at the bottom and drive
you back up.  I will once again be there this year on the Friday before the race at 10am for those interested in doing just this.  The descent starts out fairly steep and it's the speed that makes most nervous.  Use your inner thighs/knees to brace the top tube and enjoy this speed.  The turns are big
and sweeping and you don't need to break.  Just watch out for other timid riders.  As I mentioned, in the middle section, pedal.  You can push your big gear here and keep your speed up and your legs loose.  Then, towards the bottom, there is the one slightly tight right hand turn.  If you ride this
and lean correctly and counter steer, you shouldn't have to brake at all. This downhill is a blast so enjoy it, because you spend the next 40 miles
making up the altitude that you just lost.  

Coming off the descent, you make the left turn and follow route 9 along the river.  If there is a tailwind here, know that there will be a headwind on the climb back up 86 into LP.  Stay aero along rt. 9, get in some more nutrition, and keep your speed up along the slight rollers by easily standing and powering over them.  In my opinion, the race really starts here on rt. 9 on the second loop of the bike course. Until this point on the second loop, the pace should almost feel too easy.  You know, that pace where you feel like you are moving at a descent clip, but it doesn't hurt. Since triathletes feel like they aren't doing anything unless they are hurting, they feel guilty.  Did I mention to stay relaxed?!

You then turn left off of rt. 9 onto 86 and begin a long climb.  Try to spin up this, standing occasionally. You'll see the 25 mile marker here, or the 81 depending on which loop you are on.  The year Steve Larsen won this race, he caught the leader on the bike just before this point on rt. 9 on the second loop.  In the next 30 miles, he put 20 minutes into everyone!  86 up to the right onto Hazelton Rd. (the 14 mile out and back section) has some good climbing in it.  This is a good place to test the legs on the first loop to see how they are doing.  Work this section a bit.  Don't get carried away, but again, test the legs.  Most wait for the out and back section because they see a ton of athletes in there and get competitive and hammer. In anticipation of this, they can ease up on 86 leading there.  Take advantage of this.  

Wear the blinders on the out and back.  Don't worry about what anyone else is doing.  If it's the first loop, you'll see your friends here, your competitors, a lot of people going to hard, and a ton of drafting. It's hard, but ignore this, stay present, stick to your plan.  Stay in your process.  Don't worry if Joe X. is ahead of you at this point and "that just shouldn't be!" - stick to your plan and your race.  

Coming off of the out and back and hitting 86 by Whiteface for the 11 miles of stairclimbing back to town really throws people.  Most dread this section.  In some ways, they are excited because they are heading back to LP.  But they also overestimate the toughness of this section.  It is a
challenging section, but it's really not that bad.  Headwinds can make it more challenging, and if this is the case, stay aero and spin and stick to your heart rate plan.  Don't let the conditions drain you mentally or physically.  I actually love this section.  As I said, the climbs are not bad, and the scenery is gorgeous.  I love riding along with the gorge to the right.  Many feel that the "bears" at the end of this section on 86 are the toughest part, but they aren't.  The two toughest sections are the part around mile 46 where you cross over the bridge that has the steel grates in it and the gorge runs under the road, and then a bit further up where there is a stone wall hugging the road just to the right of you and it winds around.  These two sections are where I have witnessed a lot of people falter and I think more mentally than physically.  The year I raced there, I came upon three guys on the second loop and they were bitching to each other at this point, and they looked dejected.  I forced a smile and used
their negetiveness to my advantage, telling myself repeatedly to "love this section".  It worked, and each year I go up and ride this course, I still love this section.  After you get past the second tough section I described, there is a sign that says Entering North Elba or Egan or something with an
E.  You have about 5 miles left in the first loop and I suggest that you use the next couple of miles to again, get in some nutrition and hydration, stretch a bit, and begin preparing mentally for the next loop.
Most wait until they get back into town along mirror lake drive, but it's hectic and busy here and I feel that you should pedal hard through this section, using the energy of the crowds in town.  

Coming out of town and beginning loop two, again, stay controlled and use the same strategy from this part on loop one.  Remind yourself that the race begins after the downhill when you get on rt.9.  

When you get to rt. 9, if you feel really strong, then let your heart rate go up about 10 beats and work it just a bit more.  Otherwise, stay controlled and focused and smile, knowing that you are competing in an Ironman!

The out and back on the second loop is a bit more spread out.  Stretch a bit along this section and get out of the saddle on the short steep climb about two miles from 86 on Hazelton on the return trip. Prepare yourself mentally for 86 back into town. Focus first on making it to and over the steel grate bridge, then next, focus on the North Elba/Egan/whatever sign, then bring it home!