Subject: RE: IRONMAN RACE READY PACKAGE I raced Lake Placid in 2010 and really enjoyed it. You're in Manhattan so it's not a big trip for you, but we did it as an epic road trip. Seattle to Chicago, then down to Washington DC, up through Philadelphia, then race week in Lake Placid. Then we headed to Denver, then back through Salt Lake City to Seattle. 8000 miles, 23 days. We had varying numbers of people with us, and only my wife and youngest daughter actually did the full trip. I flew back to Seattle from Denver and only did the first 21 days. Anyway Lake Placid was a good experience. We rented a house for a week, and it was pricey but no worse than most small IM towns. Get your lodging early. Mirror Lake is cold in the mid 60s and the two lap swim means its pretty crowded the whole time. It doesn't spread out much. The bike course is hilly and while people in the Northeast seem to think the roads are pretty good I thought they were the worst roads of any IM I've ever done. The Keene Descent was rutted and bumpy by my standards, certainly far worse shape than anything in Penticton (old IM Canada) or places like Cabo or Arizona. So practice on steep crappy roads for that descent. Other parts of the course were in better shape, and it's been 4 years so who knows now. I will say it's a beautiful country setting. The run has a good mix of some steep parts and some flat parts. You run by a lot of local homes with people cheering you along. I'd enjoy doing Lake Placid again. |