Climbing Whiteface Mountain
 

I will try to climb Whiteface Mountain this weekend. Just so I can compare my time with other riders where should I start my clock? Anybody else did this climb? How long did it take?

I get tired driving up Whiteface, haha. Enjoy.

I rode up it at the end of July starting from the main gates since I got a late start and wanted to be back down well before dark. While driving up to the gates I noticed how rough the road going up to it was which wouldn't make for a fun fast return. Even the road on the mountain isn't the best in spots with small compressions in the pavement you have to watch for.

Its 8 miles from the hwy junction and 5 miles from the gate. I took 46 minutes which was my first time and didn't want to kill my self early. I think I could have done sub 45 now knowing how hard the climb actually is.

You might want to double check if the road is open as many areas have been closed down there from Irene.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7865.html

There are too numerous to count new landslides on the mountains in these areas including slides on Mt. Colden, Trap Dike, Wright Peak, Skylight, Basin, Armstrong, Upper and Lower Wolf Jaws, Dix, Macomb, Giant and Cascade Mountains and many existing slides widened and/or lengthened. The threat of additional slides exists on these and other mountains which creates a very dangerous situation. Other damage in these areas includes trails buried by landslides; heavily eroded trails (1-3 feet deep in some places); numerous washed away or damaged footbridges, bog bridging and ladders; blowdown and flooding.

I've also read that some of the roads have been destroyed so also double check that.

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer them.

Thanks bmc-rider, I'm leaving in 15 minutes and I won't have access to internet. By the way, which BMC do you ride? I'm getting a Roadracer very very soon :)

How did the climb go? Did you also ride the IM loop, its one of my favorite rides.

I ride a RaceMaster (SLX01) and love it. I'd like to move up to the Team Machine but who wouldn't.

I saw some BMC's on sale at a shop in Toronto and the big bike sale is in Oct, should be some deals there.

52 minutes and change.


http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...Ironman-course

or think about spending a couple of hours volunteering. the mountain isn't going anywhere and the reward of helping folks in need is far greater.

for real? pretty sure that would have won the june race

the toll road is open.

edit: oh...46 minutes from the gate>?

More accurately my time was 46 minutes 39 seconds. I also weigh in at 185 pounds so the lighter guys should be faster ;)

Remember, that is from the main gate which is only 5 miles long, not the entire 8 miles from the hwy. Don't most people time from the hwy?

I don't think my time is all that fast as I know I could have done it quicker but didn't want to blow up too early since I've never done that climb before. Now that I know it, I think I could get into the 45's and if I went harder maybe 44's.

I didn't think the climb was all that bad though. Sure its steep but it felt very consistent at the same grade for most of it so it was easy to get into a rhythm. Plus at one of the switchbacks you get a break from the grade and can really spin out your legs which felt good.

The time is climbed from the base in Wilmington to the elevator tunnel. At 8 miles and 8.3% avg it's an above category climb. I generally ride it 4-5 times year from my house 'down the road.' I find it to be a pretty bad climb.

The climb was amazing. I've never climbed anything higher than a hill here in Toronto so I wasn't sure if I could do it but I think I did OK. Took me almost an hour from the gate but I stopped at least half a dozen times to take pictures. The views are amazing. I got caught by a thunder storm but luckily I was still at the base and I found shelter at Santa's Shop :) The storm cooled down the air so that was actually a good thing. I can't wait to go back next year and do it again!! Oh, for other riders thinking about doing this climb the road toll is $6.

Sunny to this: less than 5 minutes
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...00883Large.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...00932Large.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...00933Large.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...00939Large.jpg

About 1405m. Elevation gain counting from highway 86 is 1100m.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h2...00950Large.jpg

If you do the climb before it opens or after it closes it's free. They just started letting cyclists ride during operation hours last year.

Nice pics.

Yes, nice pics.

Now you've got me interested in trying that some day.

Seems like those folks up there can't catch a break. There was a huge ice storm about 10 years ago that just devastated that area--as well as a big chunk of Vermont.

I like the idea of volunteering. Do that in the morning, ride in the afternoon.

Nice going and nice pictures. There are some hills as steep and steeper in Toronto but they are short in comparison.

I can't PM yet since I don't have the mandatory 50 posts but check out the Wheels of Bloor website, they started adding some BMC bikes to the sale page. Might be worth a trip to the store to see if they have anything else available. Also don't forget about the huge bike sale on October 15th at the Direct Energy Centre.

The only other place that I know of that sells BMC is Dukes which I haven't seen any sale info for yet.

You can write me here if needed.

another_adventure at hotmail dot com