The Limekiln-Cedar River Road through the Moose River Plains is in generally good condition, especially considering the amount of rain recently. The section that was closed, from West of Silver Run to just East of Lost Ponds, was reopened Wednesday and is surprisingly solid but will require racers utmost attention on the downhills.
From Byron Park, the old Wakely Golf Course water station at mile 5 has been eliminated (when the race starts in Indian Lake) for safety reasons so the first water station will be at about 9.5 miles.
From mile 22 to mile 25 racers will need to be extra cautious on the downhills. This part of the recently reopened section had to be raked and there are marbles everywhere. Vehicle traffic is creating smooth grooves and hopefully will make the road even better by Saturday.
After mile 25 the road smooths out (except for a sand pit at mile 26.5) and is in good condition all the way to Inlet. Between Red River (the last water station) and the Limekiln gate there is a single down arrow warning racers to use caution for a very sharp s-curve at the bottom of a downhill.
This is followed a few miles later by a 2-down arrow near the top of the last downhill before the gate. This hill is steep and fast. A 3-down arrow was posted to warn racers about the upcoming curves which could be dangerous at a high rate of speed.
The Fern Mountain trails will have the usual combination of roots & rocks, hard & fast sections, wet but solid sections and a couple mud holes, which we spent several hours today trying to drain. The forecast now through race day is sunny and breezy, which should stiffen things up a bit.
