Durango’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was born of good-natured chest-beating between two brothers. Jim Mayer was a brakeman on the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad, and Tom Mayer was a cyclist who thought he had the legs to pedal a steel-framed 10-speed bike 47 miles from Durango to Silverton faster than the locomotive could make the climb. Tom won. A year later, Ed Zink, 58, who was just starting a sporting goods store, was lured into helping expand the race. Now one of the most anticipated races in the state, the Iron Horse makes its 35th run this weekend. The race covers a leg-rubberizing route up and over Coal Bank and Molas passes on scenic U.S. 550, pitting cyclists against a steam-powered train on its shorter, parallel route in the Animas River Canyon. – Electa Draper
What is so special about this race? This is the fourth-oldest sanctioned road race in America and the oldest in Colorado. It is the largest road race in Colorado. There are larger tours, like Ride the Rockies. But the Iron Horse is a 47-mile race for some and a 52-mile tour for others. It succeeds for a couple of reasons. It’s exciting to race against the train. The train has some charisma, some cachet. The communities have embraced it. The volunteers have great energy. Participants feel welcome. And the mountain passes are spectacular. It’s just fun.
The race originated in a battle between the Mayer brothers. How did it evolve into one of Durango’s biggest events? The Mayer brothers were neighbors of mine. We (Ed Zink and his father, rancher John Zink) were just starting to run a sporting goods store that sold bicycles. Tom Mayer would come into my bicycle shop and ask me to get more people involved. So I did. There were 36 riders the first year. And this year, we’ll have a few over 2,000. A handful of racers cover the distance in just under two hours. But most participants find it quite a challenge to beat the train’s 3 1/2-hour time to Silverton.
What is the hardest thing about putting on this race? Having 2,000 bicycle riders come to town to ride a major highway has some real impacts, so coordinating and mitigating those impacts – so the community feels good about it when it’s over – takes some detailed planning.
The past 10 years we’ve closed the highway between Purgatory Resort and Silverton from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for safety reasons. Some people complain about the highway closure.
We send direct mail to those who live in the Animas Valley so they don’t accidentally get caught in the middle of this thing. We contact all major businesses running delivery trucks. In 35 years we’ve had enough weather to really affect us three of those years. One of the challenges is that the weather can get bad quickly. We have to have a safety net, buses stocked with blankets and other necessities.
Who holds the record for running this race? There is no record because we’ve had to have four finish lines, and so we can’t say there is a real record. But Ned Overend has won it four times, and that’s the most anyone has won it. He’s running it this year for the 25th time.
UP TO SPEED
Think you’ve got the steel to race the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train from Durango over two 10,500-foot passes to Silverton? It’s not too late to sign up. Visit ironhorsebicycleclassic.com or call 970-259- 4621 for registration information.
There are three races over the weekend. The timed road race against the train starts at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the Durango Community Recreation Center at 27th Street and Main Avenue.
The citizens road tour – it’s not timed – leaves with the train at 8:15 a.m. from the McDonald’s parking lot at Main Avenue and College Street. The racing winds up Sunday morning with a downtown criterium for kids and adults.
If cheering the riders after they’ve finished is more your speed, plan to celebrate race history and past winners 5-7 p.m. May 28 at the Main Mall in downtown Durango.
