The Tour de Boro wants to use part of it on their route. It's a full mile of wind tunnel for the riders. I thought it a curious choice for groups of riders to venture on. 1 mile is very far when it comes to that road. 65mph is the average car speed on that road.

I suggest staying off HWY 96. The only time I go on it is for very short distances when necessary to get from 1 road to another. VERY infrequently, preferably never. Are you involved in planning Tour de Boro? If so, avoid long hauls on a single road when you plan the route. Turns as opposed to curves keep a ride interesting. Remember, you are dealing with the public (even if they are riders) and you'll want to consider/balance safety with making the ride interesting. Heavy traffic = poor riding and lack of safety, straight single road = boring, too many turns = someone off route which may be corrected with proper route marking.

I'm not involved in the planning for it, but I wish that I was.

I did email the organizers to find out why they want to place riders on a 1-mile stretch of that death trap. The particular section (Coleman to Old Almaville) is a slow uphill ride on a bike with several blind spots where oncoming cars won't see riders until it's too late. The fact that there's no shoulder and gusts from large vehicles could make some novice riders quite nervous. I'm not personally willing to put my back to the traffic on that road, no matter what time it leaves in the morning.

Unless they plan to post some actual patrol cars to cover this stretch of road, or to have volunteers covering it with SLOW signs, I'm thinking of working out an alternate route to ride this one.

I regularly ride the approx. 1/4 mile between Puckett and Coleman Hill, and the half-mile or so from Rehobath Rd. to Almaville Rd.

Other than that, I avoid 96 every chance I get.

The area between Cason Lane and just before Moreland/Beasley is 5 lane and the city keeps the shoulders relately clean. Once it narrows down to two lanes, the sphincter factor is almost more than I can bare.

the two sections that Ed mentioned are great for working on your sprints.

Hi All,

I appreicate your input and expertice to this part of our route. We will be changing this portion of the route based on your suggestions! We will have the revision posted by Wednesday of next week. Thanks for your help!

Joey