“the biking circle and community is great”. –Howard Grotts, 2018 Iron Horse Men’s Champion
Durango, Colorado is a beautiful Western town. This year’s 47th Annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic celebrated Durango’s cycling heritage, and expanded the fun by weaving in new cycling events including BMX for the second straight year. The atmosphere around cycling brings out such joy in people and the character of this place in an extraordinary way. Cycling is a technology of contact, connection. It’s simply amazing. The Iron Horse is so fun it’s a pity it only happens once per year.
At the Iron Horse everyone gets involved somehow. Like many people in attendance, over the weekend I was both participant and spectator. On Saturday I raced the classic road cycling event from Durnago to Silverton, and on Sunday I watched the BMX action up close on main street and cheered the mountain bike racers as they passed through town and the Steamworks Brewery. The festivities excel at community engagement so well the Iron Horse is in a league of its own, much like the San Juan mountains are perhaps the most spectacular range in the lower forty-eight. It’s an event that matches the landscape!
There’s such a diversity of events there is something for everyone. The road ride on Saturday is the most accessible event, and it’s on one of the most beautiful courses in the county. There are races for women and men in all different age groups and categories. The most popular road ride is the Citizen’s Tour to Silverton. But don’t be fooled, even though the tour is not an official race, many of the participants are trying to set a personal best or even beat the Iron Horse train that departs downtown Durango at 7:15a.m. and steams up the canyons to Silverton. I bumped into my friend Rose from Albuquerque on Sunday in Durango, and she did the Quarter Horse ride, which is a shorter road ride with less climbing that goes to Purgatory ski area halfway between Durango and Silverton. Over the weekend, there is the La Strada La Plata Gravel Ride, MTB (mountain bike) race, BMX, Cruiser Criterium, Kids Race, bike parade and things beyond cycling–a running event, a triathlon, a Veterans Memorial Ceremony, and lots of vendors with art, food, and cycling offerings. It’s incredibly fun.
I had a pretty good race by my standards. I was sitting eight overall on the road as we headed over the final pass, Molas, for the final descent into the old mining town of Silverton. Cycling legend Ned Overend was just a few minutes in front of me, and I basically had a front row seat to see him and other stars in racing action. What a learning experience! As I flew cautiously down the steep grade, two riders caught and passed me, and out sprinted me in the slightly uphill drag down Silverton’s main street to the finish line. One of the riders I knew well, Ben Sontag, a mountain bike pro for Cliff Bar. The other I wasn’t so sure of, but man can he race and is he fast! As soon as we crossed the line conversations began, and I met the other rider, Todd Wells, three time winner of the Leadville 100 and USA Olympian. He just retired and said this event kept him motivated to stay in shape. I ended up in 10th place, but hey, when Todd Wells is just in front of you, is that so bad? I was a happy finisher, like everyone!
Over the weekend, visitors soak up the local Colorado vibes and learn more about the many things we can do with bicycles. And residents get to pinch themselves and be reminded how lucky they are to live in such a special community. When people come together around bicycles more great things happen. The cool thing about Durango is that having Olympians and cycling champions living next door is not really remarkable, it is just normal. They represent the possibilities of human expressions through the bike life. The event itself normalizes cycling. The bike is the way to get around town. The mainstream planning community is starting to respond to that.
I think it’s time we start referring to active transportation modes for what they are, our most basic and primary modes. –Michael P. Sanderson, Professional Engineer (P.E.), “Leading the way to make active transportation safe, while improving health”, ITE Journal May 2018
I’ve grown up in a world where bicycling is seen as alternative or unconventional. Planners and engineers today are working to make walking and cycling flow more naturally, like a mountain stream. Every street in front of every house is a bike route. Our street system connects us to where we want to go, our schools, work places, our friends’ houses, recreational assets, our business districts, health facilities. Making the street system accessible and welcoming bicycles is key for healthier and sustainable lifeways. The Colorado Department of Transportation has made big strides, putting bike lanes in on the main route through town, Highway 550. This is where the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic begins, right in front of Durango High School. They are trying to making it convenient for people to ride a bicycle everywhere we need to go. It’s not perfect, though. Vallecitos Road has a typical sign as you leave town that says “bike route ends” and the wide shoulder tapers down, but that doesn’t mean people stop bicycling there. People that live in the country want to ride their bikes to town, too, and certainly town residents love to ride their bikes to the countryside. When we change our paradigm and view cycling as conventional, we expect bicycles everywhere. And at the Iron Horse it is like leaping into the future. Softly, gently, joyfully…cycling dreams will come.
Credits and Further Reading:
Thanks to our team, sponsors and partners for getting us to the Iron Horse for the second straight year. Go Team CSP-SBI! https://bikeinitiative.org/sponsors-partners/
A special thanks to Sansai Studio for most of the great photos (the better ones!) in this post.
https://sansai.photoshelter.com/index
Visit the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic to sign up for 2019 and learn more about the history!
http://www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com
Southwest Bike Initiative 