The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic kicks off the summer season in Durango and retailers and businesses should expect a bump in sales.
Organizers said 3,078 cyclists have registered for Iron Horse events this weekend, nearly 100 more than last year. That number does not include participants in the BMX race, cruiser crit, kids’ race, and those who will enter in last-minute registration. By the end of the weekend, IHBC director Gaige Sippy expects more than 3,600 people to participate in the event.
Participants in the race rarely come alone, which means a significant impact on the local economy.
“Many or most of the participants bring someone with them,” Sippy said. “We’re a pretty family-oriented event. We have kid’s races, we have junior races. So a family that’s into cycling, everyone can participate.”
It’s hard to directly determine the economic take for the city, as estimates from various sources vary from $1 million to $2 million. Fort Lewis College did a study in the early 2000s that calculated that the Iron Horse generated $1.5 million for the local economy. At the time, the Iron Horse averaged around 2,400 participants.
Local restaurants enjoy the busy weekend and the sales that come with it. Chris Olyer, co-founder of Steamworks Brewing Co., said the weekend is the busiest of the year for his restaurant, including Labor Day and Fourth of July weekend.
“I would say it’s slightly busier, maybe five to 10 percent busier than those two weekends, if those are good weekends,” he said.
Grassburger owner Jessie Kileen said that for her restaurant, Memorial Day weekend is a close second behind the Fourth of July in terms of sales.
Tim Walsworth, executive director for the Durango Business Improvement District, said that although the race draws a lot of people, the 4th of July has far more people.
“When we’re at July 4th, we’re a lot busier with tourists then we will be for Iron Horse,” Walsworth said.
Though the Iron Horse is the main attraction of the weekend, there are other events that bring visitors as well. The Narrow Horse swim race will take place on Friday, and the Narrow Gauge run is a 10-mile run that takes place on Sunday.
“There’s these auxiliary athletic events that aren’t run by us that partner or tag on to the Iron Horse that your family members can do while you’re here,” Sippy said. “That adds to the multiplier effect.”
The town of Silverton also receives a bump in tourists because of the race. Saturday’s events will send roughly 2,500 cyclists to Silverton. U.S. Highway 550 is closed until 1:30 p.m., so riders and any members of their entourage must stay in Silverton until the road reopens.
“It’s a five-hour window where no one is moving,” Sippy said.
“Silverton gets all the people that aren’t affiliated with our event but are impacted by the road because they have to stay there until the road reopens.”
Michelle Hamilton, interim administrator for Silverton, estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 people will be in Silverton on Saturday, depending on the entourage each individual cyclist has.
Hamilton estimates that cyclists will spend between $200,000 and $250,000 that day, with most of the money coming from food service sales.
“It’s positive for our community,” Hamilton said. “We like to host them. We like to have them here.”
Another aspect of the Iron Horse that impacts the economy is the money the IHBC spends.
The IHBC will spend about $250,000 on local goods and services needed for the race in the Durango and Four Corners, Sippy said. This includes money to local businesses and city and county governments.
“If you take all of these things that are going on, our spending, our participants’ spending, the money we give to government entities, the sales tax figures, it’s big,” Sippy said. “It’s a large weekend.”
asemadeni@durangoherald.com
