Ironman Coeur d'Alene race director Mac Cavasar has confirmed for Huckleberries that the bike leg of the triathlon will be changed this year to run along Highway 95 20 miles south of Coeur d'Alene to Missile Base Road in the Worley area. The Idaho Department of Transportation and Idaho State Police have signed off on the new course, which Cavasar says is safer than the old one. Which ran along Government Way through Hayden and beyond. The triathletes will bike along the northbound lanes of Highway 95, which will be blocked off for vehicular traffic which will be using the northbound lanes as a two-way roadway. The move was necessary this year because Ironman Coeur d'Alene was facing issues with road construction on the old bike course. Also, Cavasar said, he had heard complaints that the old course cut the communities of Coeur d'Alene & Hayden in half. "I've been looking at this for a couple of years," he told Huckleberries. Ironman Coeur d'Alene is now in its 10th year. Cavasar said he is trying to renew the contract for Ironman Coeur d'Alene, which expires this summer, for another five years. You can find a map of the new bike course here. (Dan Pelle SR file photo of 2009 Coeur d'Alene Ironman leg)

Question: Do you prefer the new course to the previous one that caused traffic problems on Government Way?