Starting a race and already knowing your undervalued makes the ol’ stomach pit even deeper. (If you’re looking for the gritty details, check this LINK from the Durango Herald article) We sure did do it though - this year the race paid out an equal amount of money to the men and women as they crossed the line after the historic 50 mile race against the train from Durango to Silverton, CO. It took lots of women, men, local organizations, and even one company offering to pay the difference. We took a new approach and rallied a large group of people that the director would have a harder time saying no to. This debate has been going on for over a decade and numerous women have reached out to the organization to change the payout. In 2011 the IHBC had over 3500 participants in 5 events.Emily Schaldach, Kaylee Blevins, and a group of local riders from Durango challenged the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic to equalize the payout between men and women in the road race.
#IRON HORSE BIKE RACE DETAILS FULL#
There has been a full weekend of events every Memorial Day for the past 41 years.
There have been criteriums, circuit races, road races, tours, BMX races, Trials, dual slaloms, team trail rides, and mountain bike races. Over the years several events have been added to the classic train race. And familiar faces will be there, as many people come back year after year to the "best race we have around." Each year hundreds of riders will feel the thrill of descending into Silverton and looking to see if the train has arrived. In recent years the participants have come from every state and many foreign countries to ride the famed Iron Horse course. The Iron Horse is an ideal early summer meeting of the riders from each of these cycling centers as they attempt to bring home the glory to their own communities. It's been all up hill since then.ĭurango is centrally located between Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. In 1972 a group of 36 riders decided to celebrate the first run of the train in the spring by accepting the challenge. When Tom became strong enough to win, the bragging rights were his, and the whole town knew it. The train takes a shorter and easier route, but with limited speed, so it is truly a race between man and machine. As the train came by the house, the steam whistle screamed and Tom climbed on his trusty steel framed 10 speed and pedaled up over the rim of the old volcano and descended into the caldera to the mining town of Silverton. Tom challenged Jim to a race to Silverton. 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 1880's.
The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was the brain child of Tom Mayer and his older brother Jim.
Food, fun and jubilation await riders at finish. 2300 vertical feet of climbing finishing at the village of Durango Mountain Resort. 27 miles of the route to Silverton is a closed road.Ģ5 mile Tour from Durango to Purgatory Resort. Here are four aid stations with food and water along the route. The Citizens 50 mile tour from Durango to Silverton is the one that started it all! Take off with the train, traveling over two 10,000ft mountain passes enroute to the historical mining town of Silverton.
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