I had wanted to do this ride for quite some time now and it was made special by sharing with my son whom is now married and living in Colorado. Along the way, we stop to scoff at our nemesis. We walk back thru town to get picked up by our wives. We are handed medals to show how awesome we are:
We have beat the train by finishing at noon. Evelyn Dong, left, who won the 2021 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic mountain bike women's pro race, talks with Erin Huck, right, who placed third, and Madigan Munro, center, who placed second on Sunday. The ride ends in a corridor of spectators on main street in town. An amazing sight with mountains towering around it. There are volunteers along the route now trying to keep us in line. When the course is re-opened we are instructed to descend the rest of the way in single file at a more cautious rate of speed. We start to doubt we will beat the train now. While we are waiting we could hear the steam train echoing in the valley. We have to stop about 1/2 way down because motorcycle rider supporting the event has crashed - he has to be transported to the hospital in an ambulance. More windgusts on the descent to Silverton. Ed Zink, the co-founder of the iconic Colorado bicycle race the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, has died at age 71.The news was reported by the Durango Herald. This one starts off rather steep and the powerful gusts are now headwinds.Ī little over 4 miles later and we are on the top of Molas Pass! It's all downhill from here and we have made great time. Tom was a young bicycle enthusiast who grew up alongside the tracks to Silverton. Jim worked as a brakeman on the D & R G W railroad which had run the steam powered locomotive between Durango and Silverton since the 1880s. We reach the bottom of a valley and immediately are on the last climb of the day: Molas Pass. The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was the brain child of Tom Mayer and his older brother Jim.
Sorry no pictures here - hands are on the handlebars! This can be quite disconcerting while traveling over 40 mph. Sudden side wind gusts would hit you with no warning. We reached the top of Coal Bank Pass and took a short breakĭropping down off Coal Bank Pass our tail wind started to work against us. My strategy was to keep my son in contact and he set a hard pace.
Here is where I was really put to the test having never ridden at these altitudes before. We had a great tailwind pushing across the valley floor then the road starts to climb. The train signals the 8:45 start when it blows it's whistle in Durango: Call (860) 592-0577 Get directions WhatsApp (860) 592-0577 Message (860) 592-0577 Contact Us Find Table Make Appointment Place Order View Menu. To do this, you have to average just under 18mph for 50 miles, climbing two mountain passes each of which are over 10,000 feet in elevation. The point of this ride is to try and beat the narrow gauge steam train to Silverton. I rode the Iron Horse Classic "Citizens' Tour" today with my son.