This made the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic one of the ten largest races in the country and the $25,000 overall purse one of the largest of that year. By 1990, the organizing committee of Durango bicycle enthusiasts hosted 1500 participants in seven bicycling events over the three-day event. For mountain bikes there have been cross country races, hill climbs, downhills, trials, trail rides, team races, and even a unique event called the Roostmaster. Over the years there have been several additional events added to the classic вЂњtrain raceвЂќ including criteriums, circuit races, road races, tours, and BMX races. National Team coaches often use Iron Horse results to select the best racers in the country. The course from Durango to Silverton never changes so races of the great 1970s can be compared with races of today. The Iron Horse has been a very strong developmental event for young riders and nearly every American to win an Olympic medal or to compete in the World Championships has raced in Durango. And familiar faces are always waiting since many people return year after year to the 'best race we've found anywhere'. Each year hundreds of riders feel the thrill of descending into Silverton and looking to see if the train has arrived there before them. In recent years, participants have come from every state and several countries to ride the famed Iron Horse course. It is an ideal early summer meeting of the riders from each of these cycling centers, a chance to bring home the glory to their own communities. It's been all uphill since then, with the Iron Horse become truly one of the classic bicycling events in the Western United States.Дurango is centrally located between Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. In 1972, a group of 36 riders decided to celebrate the first run of the train in the spring by accepting the challenge. Tom was waiting at the station when the train arrived. While the train took the shorter, gentler route (with limited speed), Tom pedaled up over the rim of the old volcano and descended the mining town of Silverton. As the train came by the house, the steam whistle screamed and Tom climbed on his trusty old steel framed ten speed. One day Tom challenged Jim and his train in a race to Silverton. Tom was a young bicycle enthusiast who grew up alongside the railroad tracks to Silverton. Jim was an engineer on the D & R G W railroad, which had run the steam, powered locomotive between Durango and Silverton since the 1880s. American IronHorse bikes are still considered valuable and highly desirable to this day among custom bike enthusiasts and fans of the manufacturer itself, and many models can be found for sale online in new and used condition.The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was the brainchild of Tom Mayer and his older brother Jim. Some famous motorcycle models from this manufacturer include the Roadster, the Outlaw-Softtail, the Legend-Softtail, the YR Classic, the Thunder, the Texas Chopper, the Stalker, and the SR Roadster, to name just a few of the companyвЂ™s many high-quality motorcycle styles. Its first production chopper was released in 2001, and was historical in that it included the first digital speedometer in the motorcycle industry. Each motorcycle was also built with an S&S engine that was not built in-house but was assembled in the same Fort Worth factory as the bikes themselves. American IronHorse was also unique in that its entire manufacturing process was completed in one 224,000 square foot factory on Blue Mound Road in Fort Worth, Texas. The company was liquidated in 2008 after facing some financial troubles, but it was once the largest producer of custom factory motorcycles in the United States. American IronHorse Motorcycle Co., formerly an American custom motorcycle manufacturer, was founded by Tim Edmondson and Bill Rucker in 1995.

1998 iron horse bike