{"id":22119,"date":"2025-05-24T18:24:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T00:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/some-cyclists-seek-new-thrills-others-nostalgia-in-durango-to-silverton-citizen-tour\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:11:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:11:50","slug":"some-cyclists-seek-new-thrills-others-nostalgia-in-durango-to-silverton-citizen-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/some-cyclists-seek-new-thrills-others-nostalgia-in-durango-to-silverton-citizen-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Some cyclists seek new thrills, others nostalgia, in Durango to Silverton Citizen Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Near
Near perfect cycling weather had riders pumped for the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonald\u2019s Citizen Tour bright and early Saturday morning in Durango. Some riders were determined to beat the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train to Silverton, while others were content just to push themselves while enjoying the scenery of the San Juan Mountains. (Wyatt Richards\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Near perfect cycling weather had riders pumped for the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonald\u2019s Citizen Tour bright and early Saturday morning in Durango.<\/p>\n

Some riders were determined to beat the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad morning train to Silverton. Others were content to enjoy the scenery of the San Juan Mountains and the welcome party at the end of the ride.<\/p>\n

Several riders interviewed by The Durango Herald<\/em> were feeling nostalgic to be back in Durango and riding the Iron Horse again after life led them away from Durango.<\/p>\n

\"Riders
Riders line up for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic citizen tour on 33rd Street and East Second Avenue for the McDonald\u2019s Citizen Tour in the 53rd Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in Durango on Saturday. (Wyatt Richards\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Megan Altendorf said the last time she rode in the IHBC was 10 years ago when she lived in Durango.<\/p>\n

She returned to town from Boston to ride to Silverton once again this Memorial Day weekend. She chose this time to return because it\u2019s been a decade since she\u2019s ridden the Iron Horse, and other classic events that went away during the COVID-19 pandemic made a return this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeen training hard because I\u2019ve been at sea level,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she returned to Durango about two weeks before Saturday to train and acclimate to the elevation. Most of her previous training at home in Boston was on her smart trainer in the comfort of her living room.<\/p>\n

She expected to arrive in Silverton between 4 and 4\u00bd hours after the ride began at 8 a.m. sharp.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood luck to all the riders. It\u2019s a beautiful day so it seems like it\u2019s going to go well for people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Near
Near perfect cycling weather had riders pumped for the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonald\u2019s Citizen Tour bright and early Saturday morning in Durango. Some riders were determined to beat the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train to Silverton, while others were content just to push themselves while enjoying the scenery of the San Juan Mountains. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rachel Day and Madalene Andoe were tackling their first rides to Silverton on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Day said she intended to ride in the IHBC in 2020, but the ride was canceled because of the pandemic. She moved from Fort Collins back to Durango last year and is ready to beat the train.<\/p>\n

Andoe said she\u2019s lived in Durango a long time and loves cycling, even though she\u2019s not a road cyclist. She\u2019s completed separate segments of the Durango-Silverton route but never all in one ride. That changes Saturday, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m (expletive) stoked,\u201d she said. \u201cThis day is gorgeous. It\u2019s so cool to see everyone riding up throughout the town. It\u2019s a bucket list thing. When in Rome, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Rachel
Rachel Day, left, takes off on her first attempt at the Citizens Tour ride from Durango to Silverton on Saturday during the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. This year marks the 53rd anniversary of the IHBC. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The U.S. Highway 550 route from Durango to Silveton is her \u201cfavorite drive in the whole world\u201d and she is elated for the chance to ride it without any cars or vehicles on the road.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been training since December.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to get in shape enough that I could actually enjoy this ride,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cI am trying not to get picked up by the bus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Day said she loves how supportive the Durango community is and she appreciates everyone who put in the work to hold the IHBC.<\/p>\n

Dolores resident Brett Lecompte said the Iron Horse ride Saturday was his first speed ride to Silverton, but he\u2019s completed the stretch before and completed quarter horse rides twice before.<\/p>\n

\"Eli
Eli Reagh assists riders with bike issues ahead of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Citizen Tour, a long-lived tradition wherein cyclists race the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train from Durango to Silverton, on Saturday. (Wyatt Richards\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lecompte, 62, said he\u2019s been cycling since he was 14 or 15 years old \u2013 his son\u2019s age. His son was scheduled to race on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love being up in the mountains. It\u2019s fun. Even though I\u2019m (over in) Dolores, I have lived in Durango, so I feel like a local. And it\u2019s the second oldest road race. It\u2019s just fun to be part of a big tradition like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He was also looking forward to riding his new bike, a Priority brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an interesting bike,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a Priority. So it\u2019s got no derailleur. All the gears are inside here and then it\u2019s got a self-drive. It\u2019s a pretty new bike to me, but I\u2019m really looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phoenix resident Patrick Hess made his way to Durango to visit his friend Christian Gray for the pair\u2019s third go of the Citizens Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cStoked for the weather. Last year kind of sucked because it snowed on the second descent into Silverton,\u201d he said. \u201cVery excited that there\u2019s no forecast of snow. Should be a good day out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Riders
Riders pedal hard through the early miles of the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Citizen Tour, racing against the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train on their way to Silverton. (Wyatt Richards\/Special to the Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He said he and Gray typically reach Silverton in about 3\u00bd hours, although Gray added they dilly dallied a bit on previous attempts and they planed to take the ride a little more seriously this time.<\/p>\n

The descent into Silverton and the party awaiting him is his favorite part of the route, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m beaming down and you have all the beautiful mountains up there,\u201d he said. \u201cReally looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ride itself is challenging, particularly because he\u2019s used to Phoenix\u2019s approximately 1,100 foot elevation. But it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n

He said he enjoys cycling because of the community.<\/p>\n

Gray said he\u2019s into cycling because it\u2019s his main form of exercise.<\/p>\n

The classic Citizen Tour stretches 50 miles and over two mountain passes. Cyclists climb over 6,000 feet, surpassing 10,000 feet elevation, before descending into Silverton.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Near
Near perfect cycling weather had riders pumped for the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonalds Citizen Tour bright and early Saturday morning in Durango. Some riders were determined to beat the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train to Silverton, while others were content just to push themselves while enjoying the scenery of the San Juan Mountains. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Madalene
Madalene Andoe takes off on her first attempt at the Citizens Tour ride from Durango to Silverton on Saturday during the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. (Christian Burney\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Wyatt Richards<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018This day is gorgeous. It\u2019s so cool to see everyone riding\u2019 in this year\u2019s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[950,28,2111,976,327],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-iron-horse-bicycle-classic","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-silverton"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77583,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22119\/revisions\/77583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22119"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}