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Did You Really Beat The Train?

Toot! If your goal of riding in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic is to beat the train to Silverton, pay attention!

By John Peel

You could grease the tracks. You could bribe someone to stay in the restroom an extra long time at Tall Timber Resort. Let's see, what else? You could get a head start.

More legitimately, you could train hard, or hook up with someone really fast and draft off them through the Animas Valley.

For those who want to get into the spirit of the thing, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic boils down to its origins: Man vs. machine.

Who's got the faster wheels? You and your human-powered apparatus, or the beastly, coal-powered giant?

Do you have what it takes to put the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge train in its place? And what, exactly does it take? Just exactly how much time do you have to arrive in Silverton's Memorial Park and claim victory?

More on that last point in a moment. First, let's take a look at why people think it matters.

The 39th running of the Iron Horse road race and ride is May 29. About 1,400 citizen riders will huddle in the morning chill before taking off that day on a 50-mile journey along U.S. Highway 550 between Durango and Silverton. As they wait near the corner of College Drive and Camino del Rio just before the 8:15 a.m. start, many will be making last-minute adjustments to their bikes, or wondering if they should hit the port-a-potty one more time, or simply trying to stay warm.

But in the back of their minds will loom the spectre of the big, steel machine on wheels ? their indifferent opponent.

The D&SNG train adds an aura to this event found in no other bicycle race. The train began its run from Durango to Silverton in 1881. It's been immortalized in movies, discovered by tourists worldwide, and raced by bicyclists from rank amateur to world-best pro.

Michelle Herringer, who teaches third through fifth grades at Durango Montessori, is making her maiden attempt this year. She claims not to be racing the train, but appreciates its presence.

"I am teaching Colorado/Durango history this year to my students, and of course, we have talked about the significance of our train and railroads of Colorado," Herringer says. "I look forward to riding a course that relates to the history of Durango."

Iron Horse weekend is filled with three days worth of events, but one shines brightest.

"There's a historical significance," says Gaige Sippy, director of the Iron Horse starting with the 2007 running. "I have people calling up and saying, ?I want to do the event that starts with the train whistle.'"

At 8:15 a.m. the train rolls out of the station and the engine whistle blows. Then it's every man and woman for him- or herself as they hurry northward to Silverton.

So the question is, how much time do you have? How long before the train pulls onto 12th Street in Silverton? The train must be credited for greater consistency than your average mortal. If all goes well, the train will arrive right at 11:45 a.m. ? 3 hours, 30 minutes after the whistle.

"We try to be as close to on the button as we can," says Andrea Seid marketing manager for the D&SNG. "And we usually do a pretty good job of that."

Truth is, though, that if you don't arrive in Silverton until 11:50 , or even noon, you might catch a break. Just don't count on it.

Not that we're suggesting any hanky-panky here, but it's said that during the inaugural running in 1972, someone greased the tracks on Shalona Hill to slow the train.

Perhaps more likely, the train could encounter any number of mechanical or logistical problems along the way. It could have trouble loading up at one of its water stops; debris could fall overnight on the tracks. The train stops at Tall Timber Resort for a quick loading and unloading. "We're not going to leave somebody in the bathroom at Tall Timber," Seid said.

We're talking about events that could slow the train, but what about the opposite? What if train operators decided they'd had enough losing to those slim-torsoed, skinny-tired cyclists? Could they go extra fast ? just out of spite?

"We're not allowed to," Seid said. But when they get to joking among themselves, they plot a scheme where they'd hide a locomotive near Silverton, and pull it out on that Saturday morning before even the first racers arrived. Alas, 3 hours and 30 minutes is the norm that everyone will have to live with.

"We do stick to that timetable, unfortunately for some people," Seid said.

How about the 1,100 racers who will compete this year? Since they start at 7:30 a.m. or slightly thereafter, well before the train, how do they know whether they've beaten it?

If you're a racer, you start at Durango High School. That gives you a 1.5-mile break vs. the train, which equates to about 6 minutes at a 15 mph pace. Doing the math for you, it means you have to finish in 3 hours, 24 minutes.

It should be pointed out that the finish line has been a moving target. A few years ago it was the Silverton Visitors Center. Now it's at Memorial Park, adding about a mile to the event and perhaps taking away a few riders' bragging rights vs. the train every year.

Whatever the exact start and finish, of the 2,500 bicyclists, most will beat the train, fair and square. And most will enjoy the experience, and many will return. The event has not lost its steam. The tour sold out its 1,400 slots this year on March 1, eight days earlier than in 2009. The 1,100 racers makes the Iron Horse the second- or third-largest event in the country in terms of licensed racers, Sippy says.

Yes, people can't wait to pay for the chance to ride 49.7 miles (measured by GPS) over two grueling mountain passes with 5,700 feet of total climbing. And some will do whatever it takes to get in, including some 50-year-old men who, seeing that their race class has sold out, try to sneak into the 15-year-old race category.

Sippy tries to root them out, but keeps a sense of humor.

"It's all in good fun," he says.

JOHN PEEL lives in Durango. He has not officially beaten the train, although he has finished the ride in under 3:30 (barely) on a non-Iron Horse day. He's not sure if that counts.