Not to speak ill of IMLP, but can I talk about the condition of the road surface at IMLP?
In short, it has the worst overall road surfaces in my experience
(IM Arizona, Cozumel, Canada, plus HIM Boise & Lake Stevens, local tris
).
Keene descent was the worst section. Right side of the lane a bumpy patchwork of cracks, patches on patches, and frost heave lines. The middle of the lane was a washboard
(I was wondering what parts were going to fall off my bike
). The left of the lane a bit better if you didn't mind blocking. Add in steep and twisting, crosswinds and rain on the first loop, and Keene was a white knuckler for me. If you managed more than 35 mph down that yesterday, then I think you've earned the right to change your name to Knievel.
Other than that, there were just many stretches of road with a patchwork of patches and cracks all down the right edge of the lane, sometimes for hundreds of yards, other times just ten or twenty yards of garbage pavement then back to fairly reasonable.
Is that "normal" for this area? People talk about McDowell Road and the Beeline in AZ, and that's a baby's bottom compared to Lake Placid. I'd even take the chipseal of Boise
(which has the rolling resistance of contact cement
) any day. Canada's and Cozumel were both great roads, BTW - what I'd call "normal".
Edited by brucemorgan 2010-07-26 8:44 PM