Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Information for Memorial Day Weekend

Durango, CO – Memorial Day Weekend and the 40th Annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic (IHBC) is just a few days away.  For an added safety measure for both participants and vehicles, there are several road detours and closures.

Saturday May 28th Highway 550 from Durango to Silverton:  Highway 550 from the Iron Horse Inn to Hermosa will be limited to northbound vehicular traffic traveling in the southbound shoulder while Iron Horse participants will be cycling in the northbound lane.  Southbound traffic will be detoured onto County Road 203 at the railroad tracks in Hermosa and coming back out
onto the highway at Sweeney’s.   This detour will be in effect from 7:15am until 9:15 am on Saturday May 28, 2011.  Animas Valley residents are encouraged to come out and cheer on the riders as they race the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Train to Silverton. 
 

Just like the past 13 years Highway 550 will be closed between Durango Mountain Resort and Silverton on Saturday May 28thth from 8:00 until1:15p.m.  [Note new time including an extra 15 minutes].

Only cyclists who have paid to participate and received numbers issued from the registration office for this year’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic will be permitted on the closed road. There will be a number check a Millcreek. Cyclists who have entered the closed highway without a number will be required to turn back by a deputy sheriff.  Both the race and the tour are
sold out.

Sunday May 29th in Downtown Durango: To safely accommodate the kid’s race, the mountain bike race and the criterium many of the downtown Durango streets will be closed from 5 am through 6pm on Sunday.  The primary closures will be Main Avenue, east 2nd and east 3rd  between 7th Street and 10th Street.  Also 9th & 10th Streets will be closed from Main Avenue on the
west all the way to the side of Fort Lewis on the East.

Sunday evening after the road and the mountain bike races, the IHBC will be hosting a party at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Train Museum from 6:30p.m. until 8:30p.m..  The event is free and open to the public. The party is a thank you to the entire community that has helped with the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic since 1972.  “We have many cycling enthusiasts and businesses that have supported the event for decades.” said volunteer chairman, Ed Zink.  “Whether you were an active volunteer, or just cheerfully put up with the inconvenience, you have been part of the success.

Forty years of the best run bike event in the country is something we can all be proud of.”
 

Monday May 30th on County Road 250 (East Animas):  The time trial race will utilize the north bound lane on County Rd 250  from 7:00am until noon.  The north bound lane  will be closed to vehicle traffic but the southbound lane
will be open for southbound traffic. 

 
Over the 40 years of the event nearly $500,000 has been contributed to local causes from the proceeds of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. The bike race has supported Mercy Health Foundation-Heart Fund, American Heart Association, Trails 2000, Safe Roads Coalition, Fort Lewis College Cycling Team, Durango DEVO, Durango Public Library, to name a few.
 

The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic produces a positive economic impact from about 2 million dollars of “outside money”  that comes into Durango and Silverton over the 3 day event.

For more information go to www.ironhorsebicycleclassic.com.