# Anyone doing the Durango-Silverton Ironhorse?



## B-Fun (Nov 15, 2005)

Hey all, just wondering if anyone out there was doing the Ironhorse this summer? If so, have you ridden before? What time are you shooting for? Which category will you be riding in? I'm going to be in the 19-29 race and hoping for a sub-3 hour ride. Last year was 3:27 but didn't do a whole lot of training before hand since I had just gotten into the sport about a month earlier. Good luck to all those who race, and any advice for training would be great!


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## EricNM (Oct 7, 2005)

I have it marked in the calender, but I haven't ridden any long hills yet this year. I need to get going, it is only a month away. I'll be in the 30-39 race. Last year (my first IH) I had a bit of stomach trouble starting on the decent from Coal Bank, and ended up with a 2:55 ride or so. I would like to take 10 mins off that if I can this year.

There is a tendency for people to push too hard from Bakers Bridge to the Ski Area, and have nothing left for the last two climbs. You need to remember that you climb over 2100ft just getting to the Ski Area. Plenty of time to attack the other people on Cascade and Molas.


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## B-Fun (Nov 15, 2005)

*2:55: Nice time*

Hey, wanted to say nice work on the time even with the stomach trouble. I did the Ironhorse last year for my first ever bike race. Finished in 3:27, definitely hoping to better that this year.

If you don't mind me asking, what type of setup did you use for the race last year. Do you have a particular set of wheels/tires that you used, or could you give me a recommendation on a good tire setup. I think I want to try and find the lightest weight tire I can without having to worry about getting a puncture.

I'll be riding in the 20-29 category again, and will be expecting to get smoked again. Best of luck to you!


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## EricNM (Oct 7, 2005)

Thanks. I barely finished in the top half. It was a little frustrating cause so many people beat me by only a minute or two.

I have a Trek 5200. I race on Bontrager Aero X-Lite rims with Michelin Pro Race 2 tires. A pretty average combination weightwise. I don't know if you have been following any of the rotational weight threads here or at velo news (in the tech section), but the bottom line is that wheel weight isn't really a factor in climbing. I would recommend using a very stiff wheelset maybe even a tri spoke. On that road, I would personally not run lightweight tires. 1. There is no wheel support for the race. 2. The road is kinda rough in spots. 3. I wouldn't want to blow a tire coming down into Sliverton, where last year I hit speeds of 50+ mph.


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## howardpowered (Jun 27, 2004)

B-Fun said:


> If you don't mind me asking, what type of setup did you use for the race last year. Do you have a particular set of wheels/tires that you used, or could you give me a recommendation on a good tire setup. I think I want to try and find the lightest weight tire I can without having to worry about getting a puncture.
> 
> I'll be riding in the 20-29 category again



B-

Take a look into Veloflex Pave/Black tires. They get the best reviews on this site, and they are a little bit lighter than other standard race tires, yet they still aren't your crazy "hill climb only" type of tires. I'll be running them in the 20-29 race. Otherwise just go with standard race tires like Conti GP4000, Mich. Pro Race, Vittoria Diamante, Specialized, Bontrager . . No matter what you run, make sure you have a cartridge and a tube in your pocket. What wheels are you running? I'll be on some '03 Ksyrium SL's that came with my bike. They should be plenty competitive with what other people are running. Lighter wheels and tires DO make a difference in a race like this, but not much, especially for bigger guys like you and me. I think that the original poster mean't to say that cutting rotating weight doesn't help any MORE than cutting weight off the frame, seatpost, rider, etc.

It sounds from your other posts like your preparation is coming along well, and I have a different outlook about racing the IHBC than a previous poster. Give it all you got on Shelona. It really pays to be in a fast group between Needles and Cascade. If you have some good long hard rides in your preparation, your body will recover by the base of Coal Bank. At that point, it's every rider for himself.


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## EricNM (Oct 7, 2005)

howardpowered said:


> B-
> 
> Take a look into Veloflex Pave/Black tires. They get the best reviews on this site, and they are a little bit lighter than other standard race tires, yet they still aren't your crazy "hill climb only" type of tires. I'll be running them in the 20-29 race. Otherwise just go with standard race tires like Conti GP4000, Mich. Pro Race, Vittoria Diamante, Specialized, Bontrager . . No matter what you run, make sure you have a cartridge and a tube in your pocket. What wheels are you running? I'll be on some '03 Ksyrium SL's that came with my bike. They should be plenty competitive with what other people are running. Lighter wheels and tires DO make a difference in a race like this, but not much, especially for bigger guys like you and me. I think that the original poster mean't to say that cutting rotating weight doesn't help any MORE than cutting weight off the frame, seatpost, rider, etc.
> 
> It sounds from your other posts like your preparation is coming along well, and I have a different outlook about racing the IHBC than a previous poster. Give it all you got on Shelona. It really pays to be in a fast group between Needles and Cascade. If you have some good long hard rides in your preparation, your body will recover by the base of Coal Bank. At that point, it's every rider for himself.


Yes, I was talking about rotational weight. I also agree it is good to be in a fast group from Needles to Cascade(which is the fairly flat 3 mi section before Coal Bank), but the general concensus is not to give it all you got from Baker's Bridge to Needles. I have only raced the race once so I can't offer much firsthand data. The Pro, 1, 2's I have talked to has said this is the classic mistake.


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## B-Fun (Nov 15, 2005)

*My potential setup...*

I have a specialized allez triple that is completely stock. for my birthday i was able to order a new wheelset, and decided to go with the neuvation r28 aero's. it looked like the reviews were pretty good on this site, plus i liked the idea of having the great customer service that everyone was speaking about. i was also thinking about running the michelin pro2's as well. i am hoping that this will make a noticable difference over the stock alex rims that came stock on the bike. I also made the mistake (at least from reading posts on the wheel and tires forum) of having the goo put into my tires when i first bought my bike. do any of you use goo in the tires, or is this just a extra weight. my goal this year is sub-3, although living in souther new mexico doesn't provide a whole lot of opportunities to climb up stuff.

what sucks about this race is sub-3 only puts you about 60th in the 20-29 category. very competitive race for sure. so have you guys developed a race strategy? i noticed that some are for pushing it on the climb to needles, while others are not. i guess the best strategy would be to put in the hard miles now so that i could actually try and implement a strategy on race day.

well thanks for the suggestions, and let me know what you think about the setup i am thinking about using. pros/cons. do you guys use a triple/double?

cheers,
B-Fun


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## EricNM (Oct 7, 2005)

No to the goo in the tubes for the IH. Wheel setup should be good. 


What part of S NM do you live in that there aren't any hills?


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## B-Fun (Nov 15, 2005)

*las cruces*

i'm in las cruces...we have hills, but nothing that rivals the mountains of the ironhorse. about the longest climb i do down here is about 2 miles long, which doesn't compare to the 6 miles of coal bank. i treat headwinds like a hill instead.

i'm planning on going gooless in my tubes for my new wheelset. what part of nm you from?


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## EricNM (Oct 7, 2005)

B-Fun said:


> i'm in las cruces...we have hills, but nothing that rivals the mountains of the ironhorse. about the longest climb i do down here is about 2 miles long, which doesn't compare to the 6 miles of coal bank. i treat headwinds like a hill instead.
> 
> i'm planning on going gooless in my tubes for my new wheelset. what part of nm you from?



Guys I have talked to from LC train for the hills by racing in the tour of the Gila, and also ride the Tour of the Tucson Mountains. I know it is a bit of a pain to drive somewhere to train, but the Trans Mountain in El Paso is a pretty sweet hill.

I live in ABQ, train mostly around Los Alamos.


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## sam.g (Sep 27, 2005)

B-Fun said:


> Hey all, just wondering if anyone out there was doing the Ironhorse this summer? If so, have you ridden before? What time are you shooting for? Which category will you be riding in? I'm going to be in the 19-29 race and hoping for a sub-3 hour ride. Last year was 3:27 but didn't do a whole lot of training before hand since I had just gotten into the sport about a month earlier. Good luck to all those who race, and any advice for training would be great!


B-Fun

I've just signed up for the citzen's tour of the IHC. A friend invited me out to his home in Durango for Memorial Day and we thought that this would be a great tour to start the summer season. This will be my first time for this event and at 56 I don't have any goal other than finishing and having a good time. I've ridden in CO before and done some climbing including the '03 BTC and a climb over Trail Ridge Rd, but for this year I've only ridden around 350 miles without any significant climbing. Hopefully preparation for a spring marathon and previous experience will get me through.

I'll be riding my Serotta HC with Open Pro/DA wheels shod with new Michelin Race2's and I'll have a triple just in case!

Sam in Cincy


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## fleck (Mar 25, 2005)

EricNM said:


> Thanks. I barely finished in the top half. It was a little frustrating cause so many people beat me by only a minute or two.
> 
> I have a Trek 5200. I race on Bontrager Aero X-Lite rims with Michelin Pro Race 2 tires. A pretty average combination weightwise. I don't know if you have been following any of the rotational weight threads here or at velo news (in the tech section), but the bottom line is that wheel weight isn't really a factor in climbing. I would recommend using a very stiff wheelset maybe even a tri spoke. On that road, I would personally not run lightweight tires. 1. There is no wheel support for the race. 2. The road is kinda rough in spots. 3. I wouldn't want to blow a tire coming down into Sliverton, where last year I hit speeds of 50+ mph.


tri spoke?!?
its a road race. Trispokes aren't legal
i'd recommened whipping out a pair of 303 tubulars and since no support, take a can of Gonfia e ripara see www.barbieripnk.com note, you must use threaded presta valves!


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## B-Fun (Nov 15, 2005)

yeah, i got the triple as well. definitely a nice security blanket to have, just in case. best of luck to you.


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## asgelle (Apr 21, 2003)

dfleck said:


> tri spoke?!?
> its a road race. Trispokes aren't legal
> i'd recommened whipping out a pair of 303 tubulars and since no support, take a can of Gonfia e ripara see www.barbieripnk.com note, you must use threaded presta valves!


For goodness sakes try reading the rules before posting your ignorance. Tri-spoke wheels are perfectly legal.


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## fleck (Mar 25, 2005)

asgelle said:


> For goodness sakes try reading the rules before posting your ignorance. Tri-spoke wheels are perfectly legal.


I agree. Its a bit anoying when people run their mouth without proper information.

UCI rule 1.3018 states wheels must have a min. of 12 spokes. Later in that section it requires spokes to have a maximum section no greater then 10 mm.

The USCF adopts most rules set by the UCI however the first stated above is one of the few exceptions. However, I cannot find anywhere on the USCF's list of exceptions to the UCI's rules regarding the maximum spoke section.

If this is something you can find please let me know. Their website isn't the most user friendly so it might not be totaly aparent.

So unless your tri-spoke has less then a 10mm section dimension Its my understanding it isn't legal.

Think of the reasoning... Do you really want to be in a peloton next to riders with a tri-spoke on? There are enough crashes in races, we don't need them because people want to use equipment that isn't appropriate.


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## asgelle (Apr 21, 2003)

dfleck said:


> I agree. Its a bit anoying when people run their mouth without proper information.
> 
> UCI rule 1.3018 states wheels must have a min. of 12 spokes. Later in that section it requires spokes to have a maximum section no greater then 10 mm.


That's nice but Iron Horse is a USCF event not UCI.



dfleck said:


> The USCF adopts most rules set by the UCI ....


Where does that come from? USCF adopts none of the UCI's rules. They are separate entities and share no regulations (except the extremely limited use of the UCI fine schedule). All USCF rules are given at http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USCF_Rulebook.pdf and http://www.usacycling.org/forms/USAC_rulebook.pdf USCF rules say that UCI equipment regulations will be applied to a limited number of international qualifying events, but Iron Horse certainly isn't one of them.


dfleck said:


> ... however the first stated above is one of the few exceptions. However, I cannot find anywhere on the USCF's list of exceptions to the UCI's rules regarding the maximum spoke section.


That's because there are no exceptions. The two sets of rules are entirely independent.


dfleck said:


> So unless your tri-spoke has less then a 10mm section dimension Its my understanding it isn't legal.


And your understanding is wrong. There are no restrictions on wheels in the USCF rulebook.


dfleck said:


> Think of the reasoning... Do you really want to be in a peloton next to riders with a tri-spoke on? There are enough crashes in races, we don't need them because people want to use equipment that isn't appropriate.


What's wrong with a trispoke? It's certainly less difficult to control than something like a Zipp 808, though even that isn't much of a problem if you know what you're doing.


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## hairscrambled (Nov 18, 2004)

Anyone heard if the fire that's South of Durango is effecting anything? It was just on the news here in Albuquerque.


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## wasserbox (Mar 17, 2002)

hairscrambled said:


> Anyone heard if the fire that's South of Durango is effecting anything? It was just on the news here in Albuquerque.


Nope. They got it contained pretty quickly. It was about 5 mi. from my house. 

My first thought was "Oh Crap - my house"

My second thought was "That would fix so many problems."

T minus 44 hours and counting.


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## wasserbox (Mar 17, 2002)

B-Fun said:


> yeah, i got the triple as well. definitely a nice security blanket to have, just in case. best of luck to you.


Nice work - that was a pretty significant improvement!

We had a slow lead out the valley. I think I may ride with the cat's next year instead of the Master's age group. We never got above 23mph. Apparently (according to my geeky riding buddy) we were already down 5 minutes by the time we hit the first climb.

I was on track for a 2:45 until my legs gave out 1/2 way up Coal Bank. Next year - more base miles.


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## B-Fun (Nov 15, 2005)

*2:52:59*

that race is definitely a tough one. i was happy with my improvements...beats that 3:27 i did last year. i was doing pretty well until i got near needles. went to shift into a bigger cog in the front and dropped my chain. sucky part was that i was busting my butt to stay with a group of 6 guys or so that were working pretty well together. wanted to be with them for the rollers between needles and coal bank. put my chain back on and went with a full sprint to catch them, definitely hurt the legs a little, but i wanted to be with that same group to pace my up coal bank. made it to the top pretty good, but started cramping up on the downhill. starting up molas i cramped bad, put it in my granny gear, and just tried to get some blood flowing again. midway up molas i felt a lot better and picked up my pace quite a bit. had the same problem on the downhill over the top of molas. that slight incline up to the finish had each leg cramping bad.
overall very happy with my time. next year i think i'm shooting for 2:40 or less. although i know that's a pretty big leap. let us know how everyone else did. see you all next year!

oh-did you all happen to see the drunk guys in kilts on the way up molas pass??? they certainly had me laughing!


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## howardpowered (Jun 27, 2004)

*Nice work*



B-Fun said:


> that race is definitely a tough one. i was happy with my improvements...beats that 3:27 i did last year. i was doing pretty well until i got near needles. went to shift into a bigger cog in the front and dropped my chain. sucky part was that i was busting my butt to stay with a group of 6 guys or so that were working pretty well together. wanted to be with them for the rollers between needles and coal bank. put my chain back on and went with a full sprint to catch them, definitely hurt the legs a little, but i wanted to be with that same group to pace my up coal bank. made it to the top pretty good, but started cramping up on the downhill. starting up molas i cramped bad, put it in my granny gear, and just tried to get some blood flowing again. midway up molas i felt a lot better and picked up my pace quite a bit. had the same problem on the downhill over the top of molas. that slight incline up to the finish had each leg cramping bad.
> overall very happy with my time. next year i think i'm shooting for 2:40 or less. although i know that's a pretty big leap. let us know how everyone else did. see you all next year!
> 
> oh-did you all happen to see the drunk guys in kilts on the way up molas pass??? they certainly had me laughing!


Wow! Nothing feels better than knocking 25 min off you time from last year. The Cat IV field moved fairly quickly through the valley this year. My 28th place time would have been good for 9th last year. I have ridden lots of races in Colorado, and this one is the best by far. 2:40 is doable. I went from 2:53 to 2:40 just like you want to. I am a bigger guy and a fast descender. I made up about 5 spots by hammering over the top of the climbs and bombing the 2100' of downhill, but the biggest time gains are had on Coal Bank. I averaged 8.7mph or so for most of the climb. If I could up that to 10mph, that's 5 HUGE minutes. I'll shoot for 2:35 next year. Overall, the Cat IV fields all over Colorado are getting very fast.


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