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Source: Joseph Vinciquerra
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It may not look all that appealing now, but that folks, is quintessential Lake Placid region. It’s hard to imagine the throngs of Iron athletes, the wild roller coaster of daily sun, rain, clouds, humidity and winds, but rest assured, it’s coming our way.

For many years, Lake Placid has virtually served itself as a second home to me. I’ve hiked there – in and around the High Peaks region countless times, bagging peaks with Liz and some of my best friends over the years. I’ve raced my bike all up and down the roads in the Northcountry back in the days where there was the bike, and only the bike. In fact, one of my favorite stories to tell is of the first time I ever did a race up in Lake Placid; there was quite a climb on the course, you see - a real ass-kicker - as they say. And I had been racing with a 23t cassette since the first day I ever through a leg over the top tube. After driving the course (or, appropo, “doing a recon”) and seeing that one, decisive, monster of a climb, I’d decided to shuffle into a local shop and throw my man-card to the wind while upping my count to 25 teeth just for that race. Concerned they’d be sold out of these cassettes – as everyone and their brother was nervous about this horror of a course – I was elated when I asked the gentleman behind the counter if he happened to have any 25t cassettes left.

“Oh yeah, we got plenty of 25t cassettes left, you worried about that course, huh?” The shop owner said with a wry smile.

“Well, not so much worried, I’d say, more like just wanting to play things safe and give myself a little bit of an option for the steeper pitches” I responded with my all-too-typical cocksureness.

As his grin grew to a wide-open, knowing, smile, the shop owner removed a 25 tooth Dura-Ace cassette from the shelf and said: “Well, like I said, I got plenty of these 25t in stock… Everyone else who’s been come’n in has been buying 27 tooth cassettes!”

Buh-buh-bum.

Anyways. Lake Placid is quite a playground, and when I decided to do an Ironman, there was never any doubt in my mind about where that Ironman was going to be. You can save Wisconsin for another boy. Points further west or south are great for working on the tan while racing. You want a course profile that would make Lucifer shudder? You want weather conditions and elements that have even the best of the fortune-tellers guessing? Well serve it up, Lake Placid style.

Are those other courses easier in any way? Hell no. Let’s not confuse issues here. I’m just saying for a Northeastern athlete, there’s nothing like a Northeastern Ironman.

With that being said, I want to throw open the doors on an invite to all of you who follow along here on The Daily Grind. An invite to participate in two, highly focused, “recon” style training days up in Lake Placid during the pre-season lead-up to Ironman Lake Placid – tentatively scheduled for June 16 and July 7. You may think it’s a bit early to be planning, but if you know me, you know I don’t believe in ever being “too prepared”. These training sessions will largely revolve around training on the actual Ironman course, but will be equally focused on establishing a network of athletes racing the event. If you’re not planning to race Ironman, but you’re keen to get out for a killer group ride and/or run with some great people, by all means, join in. And so you know, there is nothing official about these training days, they are in no way affiliated with any organization or Ironman itself. Simply common days that aspiring Northeastern Iron folk will head up to the playground to learn the course. If I’ve got your interest, send me an email (jvinciqu_at_gmail_dot_com) so I can start tallying up a list of potential participants. And rest assured, there will be plenty more on the subject in future blog posts.

I hope to hear from you, and as always, thanks for stopping by and reading.

Joseph Vinciquerra, Amateur Triathlete
Swim. Bike. Run. Repeat. This is our routine, our Grind. Joseph is an accomplished cyclist, marathoner and age-group triathlete currently residing in the Northeast and training for Ironman Lake Placid 2007. Coffee is a common theme with Joseph, as his love for training and racing is matched only by his affection for deep, dark, and complex javas. Between workouts, Joseph is an aerospace engineer, working for one of the world's largest research and development centers. Contact information: The Daily Grind Blog | jvinciqu@gmail.com.