That out and back was added a couple (3?) years ago. The other out and back used to be longer.

No, it wasn't. That's only been part of the race for the past maybe 5 years or so.

The original oab is on Haselton Rd, which is just before the main intersection in Wilmington, where L brings you back thru High Falls Gorge to LP, and straight is up the hill towards the Whiteface toll road.

The new oab to Ausable Forks is several minutes faster.
But I prefer the original on Haselton Rd.

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float , hammer , and jog

2010 was the first year of the new out and back (and not so coincidentally the last time I raced there). Initially it was because there was construction on the old one. Not sure why they didn't change it back, the new one is way too crowded and crazy since it happens before a lot of the good climbing that breaks people up a bit.

The story I heard was permitting became a pain because the old out and back crossed into Clinton County so they moved those miles to the new OAB which keeps the entire course in Essex County.

Thank you for the replies.

I remember the Haselton OaB and still see it there, I just didn't think that Rd had enough miles on it to have been the only one, but then I couldn't think of any other place those extra miles could have came from

I always felt that way about Haselton where it could turn into a long pace line in some stretches (too narrow to get the motorcycles through with bikes on both sides).

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

How did you find the pavement/road conditions? Hopefully not too much damage from another hard winter of snow plowing.

Do any Slowtwitchers know if there are plans to repave the older sections of the Keene descent?

Thanks in advance.

Last time I was up there was three years ago, the section of 86 from Whiteface going all the way back to town was repaved that summer.

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"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

I will be down to Lake Placid this Friday and will report back on the road conditions. The section from Wilmington to LP is really good. The question is the highway 73. Since I was there last summer it was supposed to be re paved to the top of the Keene descent. Don't know about the descent itself.

As for the discussion on the new out and back vs the old classic Haselton (definitely prefer that), it is because of the permitting and staying in the same county vs going into the other one.

I will also be arriving in LP this upcoming Friday for the weekend to ride the course (on Saturday)... Most of the route to the top of Keene was paved last year with a few smaller sections done on the decent *i think*... Hopefully they take care of some of the super sketchy stuff on the way into Keene before race day.

Agreed, it's no contest to me. Love the old route.

I road the course the past Saturday. The decent into Keene was ok but some of the new pavement is getting the washboard affect from what I'm guessing is the snow plows. Still better than years past. At the bottom before you turn onto 9, however, they are doing bridgework. They are down to one lane. Hopefully they finish before race day. The rest of the course was in good condition from what I remember.

I thought the same thing. Having done both courses, I think the old oab was more narrow, with lots of bikes trying to pass each other. And, for some reason, the concentration of motorcycled officials seems high. I actually saw a moto hit someone one year (they recovered).

The new oab is wider and faster. However, I think it leads to more pack formation.

What drives me batty is that they still have both aob's. The Haselton feels like a waste. If you are going to keep the new one, extend it just a little more to get rid of the old one completely.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

My understanding is that the first cannot be made longer without some traffic circulation issues. The second one also allows them to set up an aid station that you technically pass twice.