Fortunately at the last second, the stars aligned and a trimmed down Iron Horse event was able to take place. In addition to several canceled and altered events, the 49th Iron Horse Bicycle Classic had another notable omission. The Durango to Silverton train would not take part in Saturday's race. Yes, it's different not to start down near the train station. I told the riders though, we started up near 33rd Street and East 2nd, right next to the train tracks. I told everybody they were going to have a 26 block advantage on their bikes to get ahead of the train. But it was different without the train pulling up, the whistle, all of that stuff. And yes, some of our participants were upset but they also said that they were so happy to be back out again and doing something cycling related, special event related, that they were okay with it.Īnother big change for the post COVID event was the absence of Iron Horse founder, Ed Zink, who passed away after the last Iron Horse in 2019. It's had an effect in as much as that it's the first time it's ever happened without Ed being here. And so for all of us that have been involved in it a long time, it's not normal for me not to see Ed here. I would normally, he and I would have five or six conversations throughout the weekend. He'd be here tonight, helping us break things down. I used to say, Ed met everyone that came. But the great thing about Ed doing it and what we miss from Ed not doing that is capturing some of those personal stories. That was something that was extremely important. That it was great, that some young kid was fast and won the race to Silverton. To Ed, that was far more impressive than some hot shot bike racer riding their in two and a half hours.īut that wasn't an important to Ed as the person that wanted to make a life change and bought a bike and set the Iron Horse as a goal and succeeded. I always, always, always want to say that this event would not survive without the community's support.Īnd so I'd like to believe that spirit's still alive.Īlthough this event was limited to 1,000 cyclists rather than the typical 4,000 strong of recent years, the first post pandemic Iron Horse Bicycle Classic has served as an example of Durango's incredible resiliency. I don't really like this phrase but it takes a village to do this. And we really have a village to put the Iron Horse on. Not everybody loves it, but they tolerate it.Īnd I appreciate the community putting up with it every year.
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