Some Durango business owners are wary of the Iron Horse leaving downtown – Durango Herald

A BID executive said the change of location will free up space.

In the year Participants ride in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic’s Cruiser Crit in downtown Durango in 2016. This year, there will be no events in the downtown area. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald File)

Two years ago, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic moved its starting line for the historic Durango-Silverton ride from downtown Durango to 33rd Street and East Second Street, 2½ miles north.

It stopped holding events in downtown Durango on Sunday, with Steamworks Brewing Co. And the mountain bike racers who passed through Cruiser Crest wore costumes.

While some think the move from downtown could affect businesses during Memorial Day weekend — the unofficial tourist season — business owners and business leaders say they’re not concerned about the change.

“I don’t think that has lessened the impact at all,” said Tim Walsworth, executive director of the business improvement district. “Actually, it opens up the downtown a little bit and makes it flow.”

As of Wednesday, 1,906 cyclists had registered to ride from Durango to Silverton. The weekend’s events had a total of 2,388 registered participants.

Chris Oyler, CEO of Peak Food and Beverage, said the company’s restaurants — Steamworks, El Moro and Homeslice — will be the same as usual over the Memorial Day weekend.

Memorial Day weekend brings in bikers, but also brings in an influx of other visitors, he said.

“Overall, we’ll see 50% more people on the board this weekend,” Oyler said.

Oyler said Steamworks has been serving about 900 customers a day in recent weeks. He expects that number to rise to 1,500 per day this weekend.

Even in Homeslice, which tends to be a tourist attraction, there is a slight snarl in traffic due to the IHBC event, he said.

Peak Brewing’s restaurants don’t open until 11 a.m., Oyler said. So they never had a problem doing business on Saturday mornings with a starting line in downtown Durango.

In fact, he said, running events downtown helped employees get to work and avoid traffic delays associated with the race.

Wallsworth said that crowding in storefronts makes it difficult for restaurants and retailers.

“When you have an incident like this, you have to close the roads,” he said. “Downtown road closures can have their good points and their bad points for business.”

Jarrod Regan, owner of Premi’s Pasta and Wine Bar, said the Iron Horse helps business, as does the Durango High School and Big Picture High School graduations.

“We’ve noticed that the last two years they’ve fallen on the same weekend and that’s huge because there are two big dining events happening (at the same time),” he said.

Reagan Since opening the Italian restaurant in 2020, he has noticed that IHBC participants often dine with him the night before the trip.

“We’ve been busy all year,” he said. “So, maybe having fewer tourists won’t affect our business on Friday and Saturday.”

For business owners in Silverton, the Iron Horse event is one of the biggest weekends of the year, San Juan County spokeswoman Deanne Gallegos said.

The IHBC brings thousands of participants and spectators to the 651-person town hall.

“Memorial Day weekend is generally very busy. We start to see motorcycle traffic and car traffic over Highway 550, not just on the Iron Horse,” Galgos said. “And with it being a three-day holiday weekend, we start to see all kinds of high traffic.”

In addition to Iron Horse, this Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad will operate a second train to Silverton, she said.

“I’ve had some restaurants in the past say they’re winning their season from last year,” she says.

tbrown@durangoherald.com