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45th Iron Horse bicycle race the centerpiece of action-packed weekend

After nearly half a century in the life of one iconic athletic event, it can (with a healthy dose of home-town hubris) be emphatically stated that no other place in the nation boasts a better, or more active, Memorial Day weekend than Durango.

It is true, and credit goes to the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, which rolls into town and on up to Silverton this weekend for the 45th consecutive year.

Yes, there are a score of major athletic events coming up this weekend, all of them vying to keep you inside and glued to the television: playoff games in basketball and hockey; the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR auto racing; the French Open in tennis; and, of course, a full slate of baseball games. But how many of those contests will get you outside into the fresh air of town or the colder, rarer air of the San Juan Mountains just shy of 11,000 feet? And in which of those major events are your friends and neighbors on the track, the ice, the court or the field with you in a front-row seat? This homegrown event is truly unique.

Now grown even larger than the three-day weekend, the athletic endeavors and the celebrations open on Friday with Durango Swim Club’s 1500-meter Narrow Horse swim, and the Iron BMX racing event on the riverside track at Cundiff Park. Packet pickup will follow in Buckley Park during the Steamworks Faceplant Party featuring live music, vendors and a bike parade from 3 to 8 p.m.

Saturday brings the main event, with the competitive racers, including both world-class riders and local legends, leaving Durango High School at 7:30 a.m., and the Citizen Tour riders scheduled to follow from the intersection of College Drive and Camino del Rio at 8 a.m. All of them will strive for the finish line at Silverton’s Memorial Park. The Quarter Horse competitors, bound for a finish at Purgatory, will depart at 8:15.

Spectators in search of a view of the finish line should set their alarms for early Saturday morning. Highway 550 will be closed to motor vehicles from Purgatory to Silverton between 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., and there will be a detour of southbound traffic on Highway 550 onto County Road 203 from the Hermosa railroad crossing south from 7 to 9 a.m.

Not to be forgotten on Memorial Day weekend is the train, responsible, after all, for the birth of the event when Tom Mayer made his legendary challenge to his brother Jim, a brakeman on the railroad, that he could beat the train from Durango to Silverton on his bicycle.

Durango is the focus of events scheduled for Sunday, beginning with the Narrow Gauge 10- and 4-mile running races at 8 a.m. at Santa Rita Park. Cycling comes next, with the Circuit Race, Kids Race and Mountain Bike Cross Country races running in age-class heats from 8:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., capped by the ever-popular Cruiser Crit at 4 p.m. The racing will be anchored at the intersection of 9th and Main, with Main Street hosting an all-day festival with live music, activities for kids and vendors.

The event wraps up on Monday with time trial racing north of town from 8 a.m. until noon.

With racing and activities that appeal to anyone from 4 to 84 years of age, no other event we know of provides a community with more opportunities to get out, get moving and embrace such a unique combination of history, old-fashioned small town fun and a challenging athletic endeavor. Get out and ride. And keep your fingers crossed for nice weather.



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