Chance to race train draws cyclists to Durango
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- Created on Friday, 20 May 2011 16:28
- Written by Nathan
By JOE PAISLEY, THE GAZETTE
DURANGO - Saying you beat a train in a 50-mile road race has a strong allure for everyone from the most casual recreational rider all the way up to the accomplished professional cyclist.
Having the T-shirt to prove it only adds to the sense of accomplishment of beating a coal-fired, steam-powered locomotive during the Citizen Tour at Durango’s 40th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic.
The Citizen Tour on Saturdays each Memorial Day weekend is a challenging one, with up to 1,500 amateur cyclists biking from Durango (6,512 feet) over two mountain passes (Coal Bank, 10,780; Molas, 10,910) past a couple of lakes and Twilight Peak and then into the former mining town of Silverton (9,310). The inclines and declines range from 30 to 45 degrees, making for grinding climbs and high-speed (50-plus miles per hour) descents.
All to say they did it.
Soft core or not, riders can brag, if so inclined, about beating the train.
The race started out as a battle for that very reason in 1971.
Avid cyclist Tom Mayer challenged his older brother, Jim, a brakeman on the then-Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad (now the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge) to a race from Durango to Silverton. The bet was for a candy bar, said Jim’s son-in-law Chris Wherry, a retired pro cyclist.
“Sure enough, we pulled into Silverton and there he was, with his bicycle and a big smile on his face,” Jim, now retired and living in Evergreen, has told the Durango Herald. “I was proud of him.”
Bike shop owner Ed Zink heard about the race from Tom as did most of the residents of the town in southwestern Colorado. The town was looking for an event for Memorial Day weekend and The Great Iron Horse Bicycle Race was first held in 1972. It’s grown from 36 original cyclists to a limit of 2,500.
The course is more of a challenge than the old locomotive, which was built in the 1890s. Despite fewer steep inclines along the train's route through the Animas Valley, at least 80 percent of the Tour riders can say they beat the train when it arrives in 3.5 hours.
“It’s a great course because of the scenery and because it is very challenging,” said eight-time rider Steve Autry of Durango. “Closing the highway makes it a lot more pleasant and safe.”
The allure for Durango – which has become known as a cyclist-friendly town in large part because of the popularity of the Iron Horse – is an economic one. Organizers estimate the 2,500 cyclists and their families pump in $1.5 million over three days.
The organizers also realized too much could be a bad thing with the popularity of mountain bike racing doubling entrants from about 800 in 1986 to 1,650 in 1987. The surge and subsequent steady growth forced the board of directors to cap registration at 2,500 entrants so the volunteers could handle the workload, about 270 eight-hour shifts.
“We get asked each year by riders to expand it,” Zink said. ‘It’s hard to say no, but we have to make this sustainable.”
The boon isn’t just for Durango. Many of the cyclists’ families head up to Silverton before the highway closes and spend the whole day. The 1,500 cyclists, including the Tour and the pro racers, then roll into the former mining town (population 531), where they often stay behind for the afternoon, swapping stories and slurping down carbohydrate-rich meals and drinks.
“They eat a ton of pasta,” said waitress Tracy Wilkins of Handlebars Food and Saloon. “They beat the train so they feel like they deserve it … and a couple drinks too.”
And like the restaurant and saloon business in Silverton, the event is going strong. While never meant as a fundraiser, the event has been able to donate money to local charities off and on since the early 1990s.
The event is able to donate money to local charities, after paying off its $100,000 annual budget, including more than $50,000 to the local hospital and the American Heart Association over the years, Zink said.
The continued longevity of the race, said to be the third oldest in the United States, keeps the cyclists coming from around the country and provides an annual showcase of the area.
But all that means little compared to the feeling most get as they complete the final incline and look down the final 1.5-mile decline into Silverton and the finish line.
“It’s like an injection of drugs,” said Durango resident Steve Parker, who completed his 20th Citizen Tour last May. “It’s a great feeling knowing you made it and you beat that train.”
TIMELINE
1971 – Mayer brothers compete for bragging rights and a candy bar
1972 – 36 entrants compete in first “Great Iron Horse Bicycle Race”
1974 – Becomes three-day event
1980 - Race adopts current name, Iron Horse Bicycle Classic
1981 – Olympian Dave Paranka (14th place) and several others delayed by herd of cattle across road.
1983 – Durango’s Ned Overend wins first of four King of the Mountain titles.
1984 – Mountain biking added to IHBC.
1985 – First 50-mile Citizen Tour to Silverton
1987 - Addition of mountain bike races cause participation to double to 1,650 in one year
1991 – IHBC hosts first mountain biking world championship
1995 – Blizzard forces early end to race; several treated for hypothermia
1996 – 25th anniversary; 2,659 cyclists race over snowy passes
1997 – All road races canceled by blizzard
2002 – 627 Citizen Tour riders surpass serious racers, 592, in number for first time
2008 – 15 inches of snow on passes and 8 in valley force first and only full weekend cancellation
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