A professional field of cyclists loaded with local talent, a five-time champion, the defending champion and an Olympian are ready for the 47-mile race against the train from Durango to Silverton.
The 43rd Iron Horse Bicycle Classic features amateurs and professionals alike competing in the Men's A road race. The race is set for 7:30 a.m. Saturday, beginning at Buckley Park on Main Avenue in Durango. Riders are competing for a $2,250 cash purse.
“We have around 200 riders in the open men's race. I can't say how many of them are professionals, but it is a solid field – a great field, actually,” first-year race director Jeff Frost said. “They are all top-level racers, and it should be a great competition.”
Local favorites such as former champion Rolando Gonzalez, 58-year-old Ned Overend and three-time mountain bike Olympian Todd Wells are among the riders competing to take the title away from Albuquerque's Kip Taylor, the 2013 champion who won in 2 hours, 18 minutes and 39 seconds.
“It was so fun not only winning in Silverton last year but being able to tell the story to friends and family thereafter,” said Taylor, a High Desert Bicycles Team rider. “Around these parts, the Iron Horse is well known, and I was happy to share my story.
“If I win back-to-back, I can be the guy years from now asking 'Have I every told you how I won the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, twice?'”
Road conditions are expected to be wet with rain in the forecast. Wells, who usually makes his money on mountain bike courses all around the world, joked he may be to blame for that.
“The last time I did the race, it was a long time ago. I've been signed up for it two times since I had previously done it, and both times it snowed,” said Wells, a mountain biker sponsored by Clif Bar, Oakley and Specialized. “It is a bad omen if I'm registered for the race.”
Gonzalez, the 2006 IHBC road race champion, said the wet conditions combined with cool temperatures at 10,000 feet above sea level can make for a slower and more tricky race, especially one that already features 6,700 feet of climbing.
“For a race with that high of an altitude, rain can change it a lot,” the CRC-Janitorial-Cannondale Pro Cycling Team rider said. “A lot of guys don't really do well in the cold, and temperatures up there can be around freezing.
“It makes things strenuous on the downhills; you have to hold yourself back.”
When asked who the favorite is to win this year's road race, the resounding answer was Overend, the five-time champion and IHBC record holder and Durango legend.
Taylor, 28, also is considered a heavy favorite to defend his title, but Gonzalez, 34, said it may be hard for Taylor to breakaway from the pack the way he did one year ago.
“After Ned, definitely Kip Taylor. I've been riding with him over the last year since he won the IHBC last year, and he is in good form, but I would like to see how he drafts this year,” Gonzalez said. “Last year he won because of a breakaway, this year nobody is going to let him go on a breakaway. I am interested to see if he climbs with the top-10 guys, but he is a good climber.”
Taylor, who ran cross country at Fort Lewis College for two years between 2006 and 2007, has had a solid year since winning the IHBC road race. He won the Sandia Crest Race and the New Mexico Regional Road Race. He also competed in the Mount Evans and Pikes Peak hill climbs before claiming the overall omnium and road race titles in the Adoption Exchange Classic in Albuquerque.
Overend has spent most of his time lately in San Jose at the Specialized shop. Credited by Wells as being one of the best cyclists at adjusting to high altitude, Overend said he isn't sure how the change in elevation from sea level to 10,600 feet will affect him this year.
“I haven't done that much racing lately. I had some good stuff in early March and haven't raced much since then,” Overend said. “I still got a chance to ride Coal Bank Pass last week. The altitude is a real shock; I could feel it around Durango, and 10,000 feet is a whole different deal.”
Wells, 38, said he spends a lot of his time training on road bikes while preparing for his mountain bike endeavors. Though he would like to add an IHBC title to his already stacked résumé, he knows it is a tough race to win. Overend said this just may be the year for Wells to accomplish the feat.
“I would like to win, but it all depends on who shows up for it and how the race develops that day,” Wells said. “Doing a road race to Silverton is always great, and I do train quite a bit on the road. To do it in a competitive group in this race, it is a lot of fun.”
Gonzalez said he isn't in his best shape for the IHBC after taking a few weeks off following the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico. His main focus this year is the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Oregon.
“This year is a different story for me because of my training,” Gonzalez said. “I started early last November and had to take a midseason break a couple of weeks ago right after the Gila. I'm definitely still excited for the Iron Horse, but it is more exciting when you know you are well-prepared for the race.”
Not only will Taylor be trying to defend his road race title, he hopes to claim the overall omnium title after competing in Sunday's downtown criterium race and Monday's time trial. He finished third in the onmium one year ago, behind brothers Robin and Yannick Eckmann.
Brothers Eckmann are not competing this year.
Robin, who was sixth in the road race and first in the omnium after winning the criterium and time trial, currently is in Europe with the USA National Team preparing for the Paris-Roubaix espoirs. Yannick, who took third in the road race and second in the omniumn in 2013, is recovering from a recent crash in Europe.
“Winning the overall is always fun, and after such a close first through third overall spread last year it would be great to win it this year,” Taylor said.
Taylor has put in a lot of miles in preparation for the race and said he is finally ready to enjoy the weekend.
“Being race-ready means you need to train, and training takes time – especially when it's voluntary for a dude like me,” Taylor said. “In essence, getting to the race line is the hardest part. Once you are there, it's time to have some fun.”
In a town such as Durango, Taylor said he knows the experience will be fun no matter the outcome.
“Durango is and always will be a special place to me. ... The IHBC weekend is icing on the cake,” he said. “Add an active town like Durango to the mix, and it becomes a weekend filled with great memories.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
Overend IS Durango's Iron Horse Classic
It doesn't matter how many years go by, riders never count Ned Overend out of contention in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race.
Overend, a 58-year-old, five-time IHBC champion, returns to the pack of pro riders set to contend for the 43rd IHBC title Saturday.
“You bet I signed up; I don't have any excuse not to do it – not good ones anyway,” Overend said.
Idolized by his peers for his accomplishments on a bike, Overend is the figure riders young and old hope to see when they arrive in Durango for the Iron Horse.
“It is incredible to still see him riding from two points of view: First, he is one of our local heroes and a national and international hero,” said Ed Zink, the chairman of the IHBC committee since the race's existence in 1972. “It is always nice to see high-profile athletes in the competition, but that is magnified because he is in contention to win, and he is 58 years old. To be 58 and be considered in contention to win, that's remarkable.”
Overend has spent much of his time recently in San Jose, the home of Specialized. He serves as the captain of the Specialized Cross Country Team.
He first won the IHBC road race in 1983, then followed with consecutive titles in 1986 and 1987 before winning again in 1992. After a 19-year absence from the top of the podium, Overend once again won in 2011.
“I have a lot of second-place finishes sprinkled in there,” Overend joked.
Overend, who won the 1990 World Mountain Biking Championship at Purgatory, now Durango Mountain Resort, was praised by local mountain biking professional Todd Wells, who also has won his share of national championships.
“The guy is a pretty inspirational figure for a lot of people, especially older riders,” Wells said. “There are more older riders these days, and cycling is becoming trendy. A lot of the guys are doing it because they look up to him; he is a great athlete and a great guy.”
Nobody doubts Overend's ability to once again claim IHBC glory. In fact, many have come to expect seeing Overend on the podium.
“He puts in the time, and he races well because it is a short enough race that he can always be in good form for,” said local pro rider and 2006 IHBC road race champion Rolando Gonzalez. “Ned definitely is the one I would put my money on.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
