Iron Horse Bicycle Classic (Sunday)

La Strada La Plata Gravel Ride

A ride featuring a network of gravel, dirt and paved roads surrounding Durango Colorado in beautiful La Plata County. This is a small test event for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic to potentially add to our menu for upcoming years. Durango is home to numerous world class cyclists who for decades have used our extensive gravel and dirt road system for training. Notable gravel sectors include Texas Creek, County Road 510 and the legendary Glockenspiel. So please join us for a great cycling weekend as we roll out La Strada La Plata and ride the dirt of Durango!

**Cross bikes, mountain bikes, and road bikes with 700 x28c or larger tires are sufficient for course.

Two course distances offered, 40(ish) and 75(ish) miles

There will be a lead and follow vehicle and one aid station on course. We are limiting event to 150 riders.

Durango is centrally located between Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. 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. In recent years the participants have come from every state and many foreign countries to ride the famed Iron Horse course. Each year hundreds of riders will feel the thrill of descending into Silverton and looking to see if the train has arrived. And familiar faces will be there, as many people come back year after year to the "best race we have around."

Over the years several events have been added to the classic train race. There have been criteriums, circuit races, road races, tours, BMX races, Trials, dual slaloms, team trail rides, and mountain bike races. There has been a full weekend of events every Memorial Day for the past 41 years. In 2011 the IHBC had over 3500 participants in 5 events. Not bad for a town of only 16,000 people nestled in the mountains of Southwest Colorado!