{"id":27471,"date":"2024-05-25T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/longtime-cyclist-remembers-rides-after-iron-horse-citizen-tour\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:01:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:01:59","slug":"longtime-cyclist-remembers-rides-after-iron-horse-citizen-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/longtime-cyclist-remembers-rides-after-iron-horse-citizen-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Longtime cyclist remembers rides after Iron Horse Citizen Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Competitors
Competitors in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonalds Citizen Tour proceed forward with a Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train coming up in the distance near mile marker 27 just north of Durango on Saturday. (Matt Hollinshead\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonalds Citizen Tour from Durango to Silverton drew over 1,000 cyclists on Saturday for the IHBC\u2019s 52nd race.<\/p>\n

Some riders set out on their first attempt to beat the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad train to Silverton. Others approached the ride more casually.<\/p>\n

Ed Alelyumas, 70, said he\u2019s competed in the IHBC for the last 20 years. This year, he decided to ride in the 25-mile Quarter Horse event, which starts in Durango at the same time as the Citizen Tour and ends at Purgatory Resort.<\/p>\n

Alelyumas rode a Pinarello carbon fiber frame bicycle on Saturday. The bicycle lacks hydraulic brakes and is rather light, making it hard to contend with winds that pushed cyclists around during their climb to Silverton.<\/p>\n

But he still had a good ride, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Darrell
Darrell Duchon of Fruita looks toward the back of the starting line getting ready for the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonalds Citizen Tour on Saturday. (Matt Hollinshead\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Quarter Horse is not as daunting as the ride to Silverton, but Alelyumas said he could have made it all the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have had to go a little slower,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said he knew for sure he couldn\u2019t outpace the cyclists leading the way on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Alelyumas said his best time from Durango to Silverton is about 3 hours, 20 minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was years ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He laughed.<\/p>\n

He said he set that personal record when he was about 50 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I was a little stronger,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to run when I was a kid, but my knees got bad. So I started riding my bike.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Competitors
Competitors in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic McDonalds Citizen Tour proceed past mile marker 27 just north of Durango on Saturday. (Matt Hollinshead\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

An experienced IHBC competitor, Alelyumas is familiar with the punishment awaiting fellow riders.<\/p>\n

\u201cCyclists conquer two mountain passes higher than 10,000 feet on this point-to-point ride, along with more than 6,000 feet of vertical climb and two breathtaking descents,\u201d as described by the IHBC.<\/p>\n

Alelyumas said the ride is exhausting, but rewarding.<\/p>\n

He remembered feeling bone-tired reaching the finish line.<\/p>\n

\u201cTired, like your legs are noodles,\u201d he said, laughing shortly after. \u201cAnd the elevation kind of gets to you. But you persevered and you made it. And that\u2019s the thing. This year, I didn\u2019t make it. But I did make it halfway.\u201d<\/p>\n

IHBC organizers reduced the scale of events in 2023, returning to its roots and reevaluating what the traditional cycling classic has to offer.<\/p>\n

This year, the IHBC returned with the competitive race to Silverton and the Citizen Tour\u2019s race against the train, along with a new event called the Hill Climb Challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the Hill Climb Challenge<\/a>, riders raced 238 feet up East Eighth Avenue to Fort Lewis College. The short route consists of a series of steep switchbacks.<\/p>\n

Iron Horse Race Director Ian Burnett told The Durango Herald<\/em> on Friday the new event was well received.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying a new event is always a challenge, but we\u2019re excited to be able to build on it and involve the community more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds put feet to pedals in 52nd annual bicycle race<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[657,950,28,2111],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-27471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cycling","tag-durango","tag-headlines","tag-iron-horse-bicycle-classic"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27471","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=27471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80069,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27471\/revisions\/80069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27471"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=27471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}