Iron Horse Race Weekend & Coming Trip

The Iron Horse weekend kicks off with an unofficial bike ride from SKA Brewing to Durango Cyclery and then to Steamworks Brewing Company which was attended by around 250 people this year. As we were riding down the I was asked if I was "the Chip Peddler" and I replied that I was, he went on to say how much he is supporting me and hoping that I succeed. I have experienced similar support from friends from all over the world as well as from people I have never met before.

Below is Scott Smith with one of the future Chip Peddler Cycles.





















































This years race to Silverton was won by no other than Ned Overend who has won 4 previous times before. The event also included a downtown crit road race and a mountain bike race that was routed through Steamworks Brewing Co.

















The rest of the weekend was full of racing and other bicycle events culminating in a celebration of 40 years of racing from Durango to Silverton. A fabulous presentation was put together by Jon Bailey and set up in the D&SNGRR Train Museum and with images spanning the history of the event along with vintage bicycles set up on rollers powering the back lit images (here we see Jessica Reed putting in the watts). There was plenty of local beer on hand and Chip Peddler chips for all to enjoy during the evening.





































I will be taking a trip up to Denver on the 7th if all goes as planned to visit a co-producer of potato chips and visit some distributors at the same time. I have been given some recent advice on how the chip industry is ran and some of the things that I might expect. Left with the advice that the climb will be steep, but the potential rewards can be great I will keep going.

As I rode up on Animas Mountain through the new flowers of the season, I was thinking about all the advice I have been given to date wondering how I will be able to pay my debt to those who have guided me along the way.