Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

By DALE RODEBAUGH, DURANGO HERALD

The 41st running of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic is more than five months away, but several categories closed enrollment within hours, others within five days.

“It’s amazing,” race director Gage Sippy said Wednesday. “We’ve been gaining momentum in recent years, but this is crazy.”

Video: A classic race against a train

The Iron Horse pits bicycle riders against a Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train over 50 miles that takes bicyclists across two 10,000-foot mountain passes.

Enrollment for all categories in the McDonald’s Citizens Race – limited to 2,500 riders – opened Dec. 1 and closed Tuesday.

The citizens race didn’t close out until Feb. 15 last year, Sippy said.

In this year’s road race – the competitive division – with 1,000 slots, 70 percent of places are sold out.

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