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Iron Horse to get publicity boost with CNN show

CNN crew is in town to film for Fit Nation show
Riders in this year’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic could see themselves on TV in a few weeks on CNN Fit Nation’s “Around the World in 8 Races,” program.

Amateur and professional cyclists come from far and wide to check the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic off their bucket list, and more are bound to join in after some major publicity reaches global audiences later this summer.

CNN’s Fit Nation has brought a crew to Durango to gather footage for a documentary series called “Around the World in 8 Races,” and the Iron Horse will be one of the races featured.

It will be one of the few bicycle races the CNN crews will follow, and Iron Horse Bicycle Classic race director Gaige Sippy knows it’ll bring a lot of attention to the event and region.

“It’ll be nice to see a global discussion about our community that doesn’t involve contaminated water,” Sippy joked. “Honestly, though, I thought it was a joke or some sort of scam at first. As I talked more and more with them, I could see that they were really intrigued. They had seen footage on YouTube, and it was clear that they had done their research.”

According to Sippy, the concept of the race, the origin being man versus train, appealed to the producers. They were also attracted to the unique idea of the weekend warriors racing alongside some of the best cyclists in the world.

They’ll focus on the concept, mostly, but some human interest stories are bound to pop-up as well. From Ned Overend and Mara Abbott’s pursuit for their sixth title, to Parkinson’s disease sufferer Joe Williams and the “Go Joe Go” crew racing to raise awareness for the disease, the film crew will have plenty of options.

No matter what the producers choose as the focus of the piece, the IHBC and the Four Corners region will see an influx of attention.

In 2007, US Airways sent a writer to do a story about the IHBC, and the response was startling. According to Sippy, the story had 3 million views and inspired more than 500 new registrations in a 24-hour period.

Despite the certain boost in publicity, the Iron Horse’s maximum number of entrants will stay about the same.

“This is obviously going to attract a global audience, but, over the many years this has been going on, we feel like we’ve found the perfect number,” Sippy said. “The community is into it and people travel from all over to experience it. It’s a pretty easy sell. Our job is just to not screw it up.”

jfries@durangoherald.com

Jun 24, 2016
CNN spotlights Iron Horse Bicycle Classic


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