Saturday, September 3, 2011

IMMT Road Paving Update: Sep 3.

Duplessis is 99% DONE!!   This is the route from the base of Tremblant around to the North side of the hill, towards Lac Superieure.  The asphalt is pristine!  I said 99% done because the first 1.0km (0.6 mile) from the base is not yet paved though it is hard pack dirt/gravel, ready for a top coat.  If one were to do the loop on a bike (I drove, as you can see), you could actually take a winding bike trail through the forest and avoid the unpaved section, though the path is multifunctional so you can expect to ride as slow as you would on the unpaved road.  It would be a good alternative.

The road condition is excellent and as previously mentioned, wider than the pre-construction route.  While there were no lines painted on the pavement yet, you could see there would be about 2-3 of shoulder.  This section of the course is constantly going up and down and turning.  It will be a really fun section and take everyone's mind off the workload of racing IM or HIM.

There is no other evidence of paving at this point in the region but at least the shoulder on the 117 Northbound looks to be in great shape.  It is about 6 feet wide and assuming my hip injury continues to improve, I will hopefully be able to ride it in a few weeks.  We know this section of road climbs a lot at the first turn, but the last 10 km or so before the turnaround is relatively flat as it passes through farmland and meandering waterways (Riviere Rouge).  It is beautiful an very scenic, offering views of Tremblant ski area in the distance.  The southbound section of the 117 has been freshly paved, so you will enjoy that if you are up training on the course these days...only the northbound section will be used during the IM and HIM.

I have no idea when they plan to repave other sections of the route, but the one that needed the most attention, got it.  That's all for now.  Thanks for reading.

August (injury month) totals:
Swim - 7.5K
Bike - 91K
Run - 40K


Posted by CouplaHounds at 3:54 PM

9 comments:

  1. JonSeptember 3, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Thanks for the report! These are so great. Do you think that they WILL repave other sections? Or is this last 1K section the last bit?

    ReplyDelete
  2. CouplaHoundsSeptember 5, 2011 at 9:38 PM

    Hey Jon - Duplessis is just the beginning. About 75% of the course will be redone. When are you coming up this fall?

    Moreover, $7.5 million is going towards investment and infrastructure for the race. “The Quebec government is going to repave and redo the roads for at least 75 percent of the course,” Piche said. “That’s going to give us wider roads and bike paths on each side so when the athletes come to train and acclimate they are going to have that bike path to secure them.”

    Plans are to completely redo and widen Duplessis road. The main portion of work and new pavement is scheduled for Montee Ryan and Route 117. The bike course will also be completely closed to 95 percent of traffic and they are closing highway 117 northbound, which will give participants 40 km of complete highway access.



    Read more: Get to Know a Race Director: Ironman Mont-Tremblant’s Dominique Piché - LAVA Magazine http://lavamagazine.com/features/get-to-know-a-race-director-ironman-mont-tremblant-s-dominique-piche#ixzz1X8FoTHvv
    Don't have LAVA? Subscribe today!

    ReplyDelete
  3. cdnhollywoodSeptember 6, 2011 at 10:40 AM

    This info is awesome and it just peaks my excitement more and more.

    Just realized you're in Ottawa - gotta get out and ride sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ironman By ThirtySeptember 6, 2011 at 9:33 PM

    Awesome info!! Totally looking forward to this race (and possibly the 70.3 as well if I can swing it).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kristin BradfieldSeptember 7, 2011 at 7:23 AM

    Hope it stays pristine through the winter!

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  6. AnonymousSeptember 8, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Nothing beats a fresh paved road for the bike

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2011 at 9:50 AM

    Greetings from Italy !
    I got a slot for IMMT and I hope to have finally my comeback to IM races after a break of 3 years due to an endless list of injuries.
    It's my first IM out of europe and MT it will be a perfect place to start with.
    You did an outstanding coverage of the bike course; if I understood properly (sorry for my english) the course is "rolling" without "heartbreak-hills": correct?
    Do you have rough idea of the total climbing elevation?

    Run course: I think that the starting climb (to do a second time after 21k) will be really tasking and painful, but the worst part will be the steep descent at 6k and 27k !
    Do you have a garmin file of the course (or part of it) ?

    Thanks a lot for your excellent e very useful blog.

    Paolo

    ReplyDelete
  8. CouplaHoundsSeptember 13, 2011 at 11:24 AM

    Paolo - welcome! Glad you found the information useful. Ironically, my parents (who live at Tremblant) are off to Italy on a bike trip next week! I am sure your country will not disappoint!!

    Congrats on the return to IM after much recovery. I am sure you will love IMMT. There are some short, steep climbs on the course (one at 15%), as well as some long moderate ones, but everything is relative. It would be a difficult course for anyone coming from flat topography, but if you have done some cycling in the mountains of Italy, you will be very well prepared!

    I did not bring my Garmin last trip around so I don't have an exact file of the bike loop.

    The run course will not be too bad - it won't be a marathon PR course but when I saw IMLP run course and the hill back into town - IMMT has nothing like it. IMMT is more civilized :-). All my weekend runs last winter were on the course and I survived....I am not a runner and found the hills to be slow going at first, but I improved over time. Perhaps 10-12K (of the 42k course) will be completely flat. The rest is nothing an Ironman contender would have a problem with. Let me know if you have more questions!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousSeptember 14, 2011 at 4:38 AM

    Thanks for your answer
    I guess your parents will ride in Tuscany: quiet roads, landscapes, arts, food and wine...
    Glad to hear that your recovery is on the right way: I wwish all the best for the next 7 weeks leading to IMFL.
    Paolo

    P.S. how can I post a message like a user end not like Anonymous?

    ReplyDelete

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