Fifty years is something to celebrate.

Iron Horse Bicycle Classic organizers, partly with momentum provided by longtime director Ed Zink, wanted to go big for the 50th running of a classic bicycle race, which takes place Saturday through Monday in Durango. So they did. Several special events were added or resurrected for the occasion.

The most notable new event is a race and tour from Ouray to Silverton. This 23-mile ride climbs 3,300 feet, cresting 11,018-foot Red Mountain Pass before dropping into Silverton. These riders will share a finish line with those doing the traditional Durango-to-Silverton course.

About this series

This year marks the 50th running of the annual Durango-to-Silverton race pitting bikes against train. Ed Zink, who promoted and fostered the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic from the start in 1972, died in October 2019. He was eagerly anticipating the 50th anniversary, and this Memorial Day weekend’s festival is being held in his memory.

In conjunction with the Iron Horse organizing committee and as part of its 50th celebration, former Durango Herald writer and editor John Peel put together a series of stories looking back at the race and ride’s history. These stories and more were compiled in a book, “Iron Horse Bicycle Classic 50th Anniversary: Looking Back, Racing Forward.”

With little fanfare, Ouray has been a partner in the Iron Horse for years. Since 1994, the town board has had to agree to the Purgatory-to-Silverton shutdown of U.S. Highway 550 on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

The Iron Horse organizing committee approached Ouray with this new idea for 2022 – to give Ouray an event, and to see if it would catch on. Ouray Town Administrator Silas Clark called it a great opportunity for the burg of 1,000 residents at 7,792 feet.

The town is doing its best to make the ride run smoothly. In the months after the event, it will analyze the benefits and costs to see if it’s something worth repeating.

“It’ll be a learning curve for all of us,” Clark said. He said the “after action report” would be important to study.

“It is a very neat event,” he said. “This is great for the city of Ouray.”

Back after a lengthy hiatus are both a dual downhill slalom and Roostmaster at Chapman Hill.

The dual downhill was a huge spectator hit at the 1990 Worlds and a mainstay over several Iron Horse weekends. Dual riders duel from a starting gate at the top of the course, and weave through gates just like skiers. They trade sides and race again, with the combined-time winner advancing to the next round in an elimination format. The jumps and twists – and yes, the periodic spectacular crashes – make this a fascinating and rowdy sport for fans.

The Roostmaster was a made-for-TV event that debuted at the 1993 Iron Horse. It mixes disciplines of cross country mountain biking and BMX in a fast-paced sprint to the finish.

Both the dual downhill and Roostmaster were invitation-only events because of the advanced skills necessary to compete safely.

Another cycling phenomenon took hold during the pandemic, spurred by cyclists’ need to compete in an era when no on-site races were being held.

This new trend is racing on virtual courses. From home, riders can set up their cycling trainers in front of a screen that displays a course. Just like a video game, your bike-pedaling avatar moves along as you pedal and steer. A group of riders go head-to-head, jockeying for position and drafting as they ride a virtual course that resembles an actual course and surroundings.

The Iron Horse committee got into the action, working with software developer RGT to design an Iron Horse course. The course starts up Highway 550 and from Shalona Hill turns onto East Animas Road (County Road 250); it heads down to Baker’s Bridge and eventually back to 550 to make a 17-mile loop.

The first race on this virtual course was held during Iron Horse weekend in 2021. A few months later, Echelon Racing League held a USA Cycling-sanctioned event Dec. 19. It was broadcast live online with announcers Brad Sohner and Lauren Hall, who lives in Durango. Iron Horse Director Ian Burnett was interviewed during pre-race activities and added commentary. Several nations were represented in the 51-mile race.

These events are growing quickly in popularity and promise to continue in the future. UCI, the international governing body for cycling, in conjunction with RGT held the UCI Cycling Esports World Championship on Feb. 26.

Virtual racing is a world away from the first Iron Horse in 1972. But it signifies how the event has grown with the times. Some categories die, others are born. Mountain biking came and went and returned. Gravel rides are a hot new commodity. The road race is the only constant. For the organizers, each year offers a challenge.

“There’s somewhat of a recipe,” said Gaige Sippy, who has been Iron Horse director for all but one year since 2007. “The ingredients change. But what we do hasn’t changed: get people on bikes.”

The organization has remained remarkably stable over the years, and that institutional knowledge of how things get done – and that as impossibly busy as they seem, things will get done – has been key.

Changes to rules, regulations and insurance liabilities have created a thicker layer of responsibilities since Sippy came on board. “The insurance bill is unbelievable,” he said. “Compared to 16 years ago (running the event) is quite a bit different.”

The Iron Horse organizing committee annually studies a $400,000 budget to run the weekend of competitions and rides. The level of professionalism has risen to meet the demands of hosting a large gathering of 3,000 to 4,000 people.

Sippy announced this year he would be stepping down as race director. He tried to retire after 2013, but was brought back in 2015. Sippy, 53, said he has made an effort to find younger people to carry on the tradition. Burnett, 35, who became director just ahead of this year’s event, is a Durango native, Iron Horse participant since age 15, and cyclist at Fort Lewis College and as a pro. In May, Burnett was named director of cycling at FLC, replacing Dave Hagen.

Zink envisioned Durango Mesa Park, the 1,850-acre parcel donated by the Katz family to the city and county for recreation, as the next base for whatever mountain bike races come to Southwest Colorado. Plans are still underway and slowly unfolding to fully develop the park. It has been the mountain biking base for state high school championships, and both the 2021 and 2022 Iron Horses.

Burnett said the best way to honor Zink, who died in 2019, would be to link him with something of value to the community. Put his name, say, on a pavilion at Durango Mesa Park where people congregate.

Sippy is confident that the Iron Horse is in good hands:

“The 50th anniversary is closing one chapter, and opening a bunch of new ones.”