The question (mark) about stage 600 is why it almost resembles a question mark, but doesn’t quite. The direction’s initially loopy and south east one way, then south, then loopy and south east the other way: spin it through forty five degrees and you’d almost have your question mark. It’s also another descender, leaving aside a bit of a wobble in the first mile and a whoopsee at eighteen miles. The highest elevation is after half a mile while the lowest is two miles from the finish, which tells you a lot about the profile of the mile long middle bit, and the run in to the finish.
As previously mentioned, the rollout is up but it’s better described as lumpy up and down because by the time Highway 42 passes through Tuxford after four miles, the descent has already begun. The right hander out of Tuxford sees Highway 42 join up with and become Highway 2 and that sets up a gentle downhill three mile straight to another right hander that intersects with a bunch of dirt roads heading north, east and west: H42 is the remaining option heading straight south.
That descent gathers pace the longer it goes on, eventually reaching Moose Jaw at fourteen miles. The approach to Moose Jaw brings about the end of Highway 2 because the route takes a left onto Highway 1 heading south east (which will become east on stage 601). The descent continues on Highway 1, with the gradient increasing all the way to the Moose Jaw River, which it crosses at eighteen miles. Route 1, which is now aka the Trans Canadian Highway, exits its south easterly run straight after the crossing and the remaining two and a bit miles are uphill as the river and the road attempt to run side by side: the issue is however that each time the river meanders away from the road, the gradient goes up, so the last couple of miles are actually a bit lumpy flat: the finishing line is at the intersection with Highway 301 heading north and Highway 39 heading south.
Distance: 21 miles / 34 kilometres
Ascent: 180 feet / 55 metres
RGT Magic Road: Blu1lISy2Tkt
Max elevation: 1978 ft
Min elevation: 1747 ft
Total climbing: 182 ft
Total descent: -346 ft
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