oh right sorry I totally misunderstood your comment! Nah this is good feedback, and it's not the first time I've heard this particular comment. The main thing for me here is, I wanted it to feel floaty & have that 'along the mountain ridgeline' type vibe, and having the map open up along the sides of the road is part of that (But I've still done a bit of deco over the unseen edges just incase you crash in a weird place). I totally get it if it breaks the immersion, though.
On the extended checkpoints - they are already 2 double-sized checkpoints. The issue is, is that your racing line will change depending on your speed, or if you're respawning. By only placing one checkpoint instead of two, I had to choose whether I wanted to force a specific line on the track to hit the checkpoints, or have an awkward pole at two points on the map, and I went with the latter. In this, I've tried to make it so you have as much visual notice as possible on the approach, but I do get it if it just happens to be right in the middle of your line & you hit it, that's frustrating.
Hope this helps explain my thoughts (: