Some cities have a football, soccer, or basketball team that unites residents, but Durango, Colorado, a town of less than 20,000 people, has biking. From competitors in every Summer Olympics since mountain biking was introduced in 1996, according to an article in the Colorado Sun, to riders in the Tour de France, the sport is truly engrained among the residents of the town.
On many sunny days in Durango, there are always bikes being toted through the streets on the backs of cars, cyclists commuting to work next to the river, a road biker out for a morning ride, or a mountain biker speeding down a steep, slippery singletrack trail. And it’s not just in the sunshine. In almost any weather, you can find someone on a bike.
Durango hosted the first Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) World Mountain Bike Championships in 1990 at Purgatory Ski Resort, according to an article in the Colorado Sun and since then, Durango riders such as Sepp Kuss, Christopher Blevins, and Riley Amos, among many other talented riders, have made their mark on the cycling world, competing in numerous international events around the world.
And it’s not just world-renowned riders that have put Durango on the map. Every year, the annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic draws riders from around the United States and the world, according to an article in the Colorado Sun. On every Memorial Day weekend for the last 53 years, according to the race’s website, hundreds if not thousands of riders challenge themselves by climbing two mountain passes between Durango and the neighboring town of Silverton as they try to beat the historic steam train operated by the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. In addition to the road race, the event also features many different types of races over the weekend, including a BMX race, kids race, and a mountain bike race, among other events, according to their website.
Part of Durango’s cycling success comes from the local program Durango Devo, a youth cycling program that was founded in 2006. According to local high school rider, junior Ryder Seitz, a popular Durango Devo saying is #NFTF, which stands for “Never Forget the Feeling.” He said that the goal is to, “not to create powerful athletes but to create love and community around the sport of biking, creating lifelong cyclists.”
Durango Devo Executive Director Nate Greason echoed that statement, saying that many of the program’s 900 kids will never become professional athletes, but Devo tries to teach “becoming a good teammate, and a good communicator and listener,” along with respect for the outdoors and a cycling passion.
Like Seitz, many of the riders in Durango today came through this program. He has been riding for nine years, and “one of the main things that kept me biking was my team, and people around me who also enjoyed the sport.”
The sport unites the residents in a way seen with other major teams. When Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta a Espana in 2023, according to NBC News, many town residents came to support the cyclist in a parade and a party in a park, where he signed autographs for people attending.
Greason said that, “there’s still all these pictures that still are kicking around of little kids, three years old, on their push bike in an oversize Sepp Kuss jersey,” and even now, kids still come to practice with the parade t-shirt. In the parade, hundreds of Durango kids rode their bikes behind the cyclist, showing just how much cycling means to the community.
For Seitz, growing up in a community surrounded by talented riders has inspired him in his cycling journey. “Knowing that our town produces Olympians gave me confidence and motivation to keep trying,” he said. He credits the community around biking as something that has helped him get more into the sport.
“There’s nothing cooler than being a kid in Durango and knowing that all these champions came from this town,” said Greason.
Even if many residents in the town don’t race or ride professionally, many still enjoy getting out for a ride, being outside and becoming a part of the cycling community in Durango. “This town is crazy for biking and loves biking,” said Greason. He said his favorite thing about Devo is “how much the town embraces it.”
To come full circle from where the town started in 1990 on its cycling journey, Durango has put a bid in to host the 2030 UCI World Mountain Biking Championships, 40 years after the first championships were hosted. According to an article in the Durango Herald, the final decision will be made on September 25th. If the bid is accepted, Durango might possibly host a national championships event in 2028 and a UCI World Cup in 2029, to “build the hype,” according to an article in the Durango Herald.
The UCI World Mountain Biking Championships in 1990 might have put Durango on the map for biking, but the legacy and tradition have been carried on by numerous cyclists over the years who have called Durango home at some point in their lives. May that tradition continue for years to come, with the next generation of riders finding inspiration in the cycling icons that have come from the tiny, picturesque mountain town in Southwest Colorado.
