US Open Bike Route Review

Road the US Open bike course today. Short review: It's tons better.

Longer review below:

Right from the bat, we don't have the long uphill up 1382. The turn onto Clark road is before the longest section of that climb. There is a short steeper climb as soon as you turn, but it is over faster. Clark is concrete and smooth and fast with no potholes. There are however brick sections at street intersections and stuff. They aren't the smoothest as there are gaps between some of the bricks, not enough to make anyone go down I hope, but they are a bit rough.

It seems every right turn I made was immediately followed by a long downhill and a long uphill to match it. This kinda sucks. Happened turning right onto Camp Wisdom and Ledbetter.

Everything is pretty uneventful and smooth until Westmoreland. There are some hills pretty comparable to last years route but everything is smooth and you aren't flying down super bumpy hills at 35mph anymore. Even came up on some RR tracks (dont' remember which street) but they were smooth too.

Once on Westmoreland, it seemed a lot like last year. Luckily this seemed to be the only road this way. It was pretty bumpy with lots of potholes and cracks. There is a good downhill to the intersection of Jefferson that had lots of bumps and holes and cracks. The stretch on Westmoreland is pretty short though so that's good.

Onto Ft. Worth Ave. and it is a bit rough but no real holes or cracks which is nice. Plus once you get past Hwy 30 it smooths out and is nice for the rest of the way. There is a bridge getting close to the turn onto Industrial with some pretty big gaps at the seams but they pose no real risk other being slightly jarring.

Industrial is smooth and uneventful. Market Center and Oak Lawn are more of the same.

The one really sketchy part, the turn onto Hi Line. When I went through it today there was tons of water and cracks and holes right in the middle of the corner. I had to really get on the brakes to make sure I didn't go down. Wouldn't be as bad without the water but still pretty bumpy. I'll email the people at US Open and mention if they have any input to getting any holes fixed or anything cleaned up before the race, this is the most critical place, mainly because it is mid-turn. Hi Line is slightly bumpy but didn't notice any big holes. Just before going under Hwy 35 Hi Line becomes smooth and should make a for smooth dismount and entry to transition.

Overall the route seems to be a bit more residential and less commercial shopping areas than last years course if I remember correctly. Hopefully this means less traffic. I didn't notice any large chuches to contend with either, but I wasn't specifically looking for them.

All right there you have it. Hope this helps anyone who doesn't have the time to get out and ride it before the race or just doesn't feel comfortable getting out in traffic.

Link from race website to route:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/ride/united-states/tx/dallas/964962343595

Edited by tajsss 2008-08-30 4:45 PM