David,

MDI is a great place to train, especially if you can get out early before the mobs of tourists wake up, have breakfast, and start to waddle about.

My inlaws have a place in Southwest Harbor that we were just at. I often doing longer rides from there into the park, around the loop road a few times, and sometimes up Cadillac. Swimming is great in Echo Lake, which is two miles from SW Harbor. I like to run from SW Harbor along the water towards the Bass Harbor Lighthouse - it's around 7-8 miles each way, depending on where you start. Running on the carriage roads is also great. A nice place to park is at Eagle Lake - lots to choose from there in terms of distance and terrain.

Here are a few strava links from some workouts to give you an idea of what the area has to offer:

bike

run

swim

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
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When I was there last month, I was surprised at how few people there were on the carriage roads. I could go for miles without seeing anyone. If you get up and ride early, the park roads will be empty, with the exception of the one up Cadillac Mountain. People like to drive up and watch the sunrise (they spend about two minutes then drive back down and go back to bed). I rode my bike up there in the dark then just waited for the crowd to clear out and rode back down. I spent a few hours riding all over the park after that, and because it was still early in the morning I had the roads to myself.

Thanks for your thoughts and strava links.

I generally prefer riding my tri bike over road bike. Which is preferable for this location?

There have been some other threads - search Bar Harbor.

you can swim at the Y but definitely take advantage of the outdoor swim opportunities - Echo Lake Beach has two buoys you can do laps between, and you can also go back and forth across the lake the narrow way from Ike's Point, or do triangles between Ike's Point, Camp Beech Cliff (the camp across the lake), and the Ledges.

Somes Pond has a nice big rock in the middle you can swim to, also.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

yup, yup, climb the Beehive with the kids then go swimming at the super cold water beach below it forget the name.....

The park loop and up Cadillac Mountain is one of the best places in world I have ever ridden. Spent a week there and repeated it every day followed by blueberry pancakes. Followed by run on carriage roads. Have fun - it's spectacular.

I have a summer house in Bar Harbor and have been going there for 15 years. Plenty of great terrain for road or mountain / cross biking. The park loop road is 30k mostly 1-way with about 1,800 vertical. You'll need a park pass (card) and id to get thru the guard station. A great ride is 2 x Loop.

The Southwest Harbor / Seawall / Bass Harbor loop is also a good ride.

You should also climb Cadillac at least once. From the loop road it's 3.4 miles to the top with an average grade of 5%. Very respectable climb. The local hard men will do repeats 3x or 5x and some in fixed gears. Best to start at 6:30am after the sunrisers are off the mountain. Also good to climb late afternoon around dinner time. The descent can be fast and the cars are limited to 25mph - don't pass the cars on the way down with the blind curves and tourists unfamiliar with the roads. I get high speed descents in the early morning.

The carriage roads are terrific for running and cross riding. Already mentioned, but Eagle Lake loop is 5.7 miles and good climbs for running. You can add witch hole / duck brook to get up to 10-miles. For cross riding start at Eagle Lake and do the around the mountain ride (check with park maps).

Sand Beach is below the "Beehive" hike. Open ocean water at 55 degrees, but a great beach. Gets real crowded by mid day. Echo Lake is the best place to swim (Ike's point as mentioned is the sport for open water swimming - across and back a few times).

Message me if you want more info.

Eagle Lake is 5.9 miles!

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Sand Beach.

Can also go to the Bowl that's practically atop Beehive and swim there

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

Thanks for all of the great insights...

Tri bike or road bike?

Also, in mid to late August, how warm is Echo Lake? If it's 65 or higher, I will leave my wetsuit at home (unless Sand Beach OWS is worth it...).

Likely easier to ride a road bike versus a tri bike on MDI. I spent 4 weeks in BH this summer and only rode my old tri bike once (love the '98 Cervelo Eyre Tri). Prefer the road bikes there with all the elevation changes.

I wouldn't OWS at Sand Beach. If you really want to swim in the ocean you're better off at Seal Harbor beach when the tide is up. Maybe Hadley Point as well, but never done it. Echo Lake is terrific. Water temp won't be too hot and you don't need a wetsuit at Echo Lake. The Bowl is pretty small and not really a swimmers pond. Although a few dip in to cool off while hiking.

Concede the 5.9 mile loop for Eagle Lake...great loop which is part of the fall half marathon course. If you're up for it, an epic run is from BH to the top of Cadillac and back. Depending on start point can be 13-15 miler. Some start from the park loop road and then it's just under 7 miles but not as cool as starting in town and banging out a 2 hour run.

Yo! Back from Maine and just wanted to give a huge shout out to everyone who posted ideas here! Ended up being a great week combining many of your suggestions so thanks very much for taking the time!!!!!

Truly my favorite place on the east coast. Did you get to bike the park loop?

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Indeed!
Stayed at the Seawall and ride this one day:
https://strava.app.link/mvMABTRDD8

Also swam from Ike’s to the beach and ran quite a bit. My son ran up Cadillac and back down and then a portion of Park Loop. 😳

We’re heading up there in a few days for almost a week - can’t wait!!! Glad you had a good time. Going to do some KOM hunting 😁

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

https://www.strava.com/segments/9603501
Have at it ;)
It's been 3 years since I've been up there and I've been yearning to go back. Unrivaled swimming, biking, and running, certainly on the east coast.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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did you work with Will Greene to get that? I never trust cycling KOMs.

Fair question. I mentioned on a group ride that I was going to be going for the full loop KOM and Will and another guy wanted to join. I was the only one on a TT bike and was fully kitted. Will rode my wheel for 90% of the loop and then dropped me on the final climb to take the full loop KOM. So while there is some small advantage from having someone ride right off your wheel, the effort for this stretch was solo but his full loop KOM was certainly assisted. Still super impressive riding from him but certainly not a solo effort.

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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Amazing effort on a sick segment - and I suppose his full loop KOM is a good example of this issue.

Thanks! And that is one of the reasons I want to go back with my tri bike! My FTP is probably about 70 watts higher and I know a lot more about aero and riding efficiently now...

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
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I’ll have at it. On that segment it looks like my best time is 9 min slower on around 230 watts. I plan to have the tri and road bikes, and will plan on full aero for the segment days. I know I can’t put out the power you had on that segment, but I’m quite aero. My goal for this spring/summer is 100+ KOM’s and I have a bit over 70 thus far.

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Blog: http://262toboylstonstreet.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/NateThomasTri
Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023

The power associated with that ride is Strava's estimate, as it was before I had a power meter, so don't put too much value in that! But I'll definitely be curious to see what you snag!

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Benjamin Deal - Professional - Instagram - TriRig - Lodi Cyclery
Deals on Wheels - Results, schedule, videos, sponsors