Whiteface

[majorpat]

There must be an Adirondack-Capital region forumite who knows the answer.
Can you ride a bike up the Whiteface Mtn toll road? I heard once that you can do it in the summer after the road closes to cars (about 5pm). Making plans for next year. Thanks.
Pat

[dauwhe]

From the NE Climbs website (http://www.northeastcycling.com/Mtn_Climbs.html)

Whiteface Mountain, Wilmington, NY

Whiteface Mountain is located just outside of Lake Placid. This climb is the next closest thing to Mt. Washington. About the same distance, a little less vertical, so not quite as steep. Just means you go faster, not easier. View from the top is spectacular. Start the climb from the town of Wilmington at Routes 86 and 431. Climbing starts off with about 8-9% grade for first three miles. It flattens some around the toll booth area, then resumes at 10% average grade for the next three miles before tapering off again. Best part of this climb is the descent. Road surface is very good, long straight sections with few sweeping turns. After the 2002 hillclimb race, official pacers supposedly controlled rate of descent. I never saw them and I cruised 46 to 48 miles per hour most of the way. Others were going much faster. On the portion below the tollhouse, I hit 54 mph, a personal record! By far, Whiteface is the best descent I review here. I’m told bikes are not allowed on the toll road during operating hours, until around 5pm daily in the summer. Once the road has been cleared of cars and the toll people go home, bikes are allowed to ride the road.

[Ginger]

Just there last week. Evidently the night before there was a full moon ride on the closed road.

Supposedly you can't go all the way up on a bike til after the toll booth closes, and all cars are to be off the top of the mountain at 5:45....the toll booth is part way up the road.

Let's see...below the toll booth the road is good, but doesn't really have shoulders. Above the toll booth there are sections on both sides that I would hate to hit at speed at dusk. Weird pavement, bumps and dips. So if you're going later in the year, I'd suggest a light for the descent.

It is a nice area to ride in, the state park right there is quiet and you can hike down and look at a nice waterfall (but you can't hike all the way up the river to see the falls advertised at the pay site... I think the rangers tell you that for their own amusement, but putzing around the river is fun.) You can also create a few nice loop rides in that area. I'll be going back. Good riding.

[david]

yes, you can ride whiteface.
they have two races each year, but you can ride it on your own during the long summer hours.
i've heard you can get up there first thing in the morning providing you get down before the gate opens. don't know what time that is.
i rode it a few times last august at night.
the first 3 miles of the climb are open road, no restrictions. then you get to the toll gate and it's 5 miles from there to the summit.
as i recall, the toll road closes at 6pm and the rangers split at about 6:15.
what i did was leave from the bottom at 6pm and i'd be at the toll road a little before 6:25. that gives you plenty of time to get to the top and back down before dark.
it is an awesome ride at that hour. no cars, usually some mist rolling in. dead quiet. all you hear are your tires and your breathing.
but ginger is right about the descent. lots of frost heaves. so be careful.

[my2cents]

I was in stowe, VT last week, I rode up smugglers notch heading north (ascended the stowe side - cripes that a steep road riding a double with a 25 in back). Descending into jeffersonville, I couldn't get above 41.5 mph. I tried pedaling, I did full TDF-style tucks. I did everything I could to go as fast as I could, but 41.5 was as fast as I could ever go. This seems crazy slow considering i hit 39 on a tiny hill 2/10 of a mile long about 500 ft from my house in MA. I would have thought an 8 mile descent with grades of 10% and a bit higher in patches would have gotten me to at least 50. why couldn't i go faster?

[Tom]

I was in stowe, VT last week, I rode up smugglers notch heading north (ascended the stowe side - cripes that a steep road riding a double with a 25 in back). Descending into jeffersonville, I couldn't get above 41.5 mph. I tried pedaling, I did full TDF-style tucks. I did everything I could to go as fast as I could, but 41.5 was as fast as I could ever go. This seems crazy slow considering i hit 39 on a tiny hill 2/10 of a mile long about 500 ft from my house in MA. I would have thought an 8 mile descent with grades of 10% and a bit higher in patches would have gotten me to at least 50. why couldn't i go faster?

Perhaps the wind was from the north? Even a small one will do it. I couldn't get above 45 at the top of Lake Desolation on Monday but lower where it isn't as steep I had turned in front of a full tailwind and was at 48 without even trying.

[majorpat]

Thanks for the information, I did an early AM sneak on the toll road up Prospect Mtn outside Lake George Village earlier this summer with no trouble, will probably work Whiteface into a trip next summer.
Pat