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Thanks for coming to our races.Ĭhairman of the Organizing committee 1971-2004 All are pleased and excited to carry on the tradition. Many still ride the local streets regularly and mentor the top-level riders of Fort Lewis College’s perennial National Championship contender cycling team.Įach year the organizing committee and hundreds of volunteers make Durango one of the finest cycling communities in the world. In the early 90’s the community boasted eight Mountain Bike World Champions, more than any other city in the world and more than most nations. This outstanding level of cycling competition in Durango has influenced dozens of the country’s top cyclists to live and train in the area. On the international scene, Durango was home to the first internationally sanctioned UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in 1990 and World Cup races for both the cross country and the downhill in 2001. In 1994, Durango hosted the National Collegiate mountain bike championships and the National Collegiate road bike championships in 1997.
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They also hosted the Colorado State Off Road Championships 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, and 1993. They brought the National Mountain Bike Championships to Durango in 1986, 1987, 1989, and 1992. In addition to an outstanding 30-year history with the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, the volunteer steering committee has expanded their event offerings to other events. Not bad for a remote town of only 15,000 people nestled in the mountains of southwest Colorado. This made the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic one of the ten largest races in the country and the $25,000 overall purse one of the largest of that year. By 1990, the organizing committee of Durango bicycle enthusiasts hosted 1500 participants in seven bicycling events over the three-day event. For mountain bikes there have been cross country races, hill climbs, downhills, trials, trail rides, team races, and even a unique event called the Roostmaster. Over the years there have been several additional events added to the classic “train race” including criteriums, circuit races, road races, tours, and BMX races. National Team coaches often use Iron Horse results to select the best racers in the country. The course from Durango to Silverton never changes so races of the great 1970s can be compared with races of today. The Iron Horse has been a very strong developmental event for young riders and nearly every American to win an Olympic medal or to compete in the World Championships has raced in Durango. And familiar faces are always waiting since many people return year after year to the "best race we've found anywhere".
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Each year hundreds of riders feel the thrill of descending into Silverton and looking to see if the train has arrived there before them. In recent years, participants have come from every state and several countries to ride the famed Iron Horse course. It is an ideal early summer meeting of the riders from each of these cycling centers, a chance to bring home the glory to their own communities. It's been all uphill since then, with the Iron Horse become truly one of the classic bicycling events in the Western United States.ĭurango is centrally located between Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. In 1972, a group of 36 riders decided to celebrate the first run of the train in the spring by accepting the challenge. Tom was waiting at the station when the train arrived. While the train took the shorter, gentler route (with limited speed), Tom pedaled up over the rim of the old volcano and descended the mining town of Silverton. As the train came by the house, the steam whistle screamed and Tom climbed on his trusty old steel framed ten speed. One day Tom challenged Jim and his train in a race to Silverton. Tom was a young bicycle enthusiast who grew up alongside the railroad tracks to Silverton. Jim was an engineer on the D & R G W railroad, which had run the steam, powered locomotive between Durango and Silverton since the 1880s. The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was the brainchild of Tom Mayer and his older brother Jim.