Durango will be the starting point in the upcoming USA Pro Cycling Challenge which will start in Durango on August 20 and end in Denver approximately one week later. This has often been described as the American version of the Tour de France bicycle race. Some of the participants in the Tour de France will also be participating in this event. ESPN and NBC, among others will be covering the event and reports are between 20 and 50,000 people will be pouring into Durango starting this coming week. Considering that the population of our city is just about 16,000 people it's easy to see that we will be "bursting at the seams". NBC is scheduled to have 29 hours of TV time for the full multi-day event. Some teams are already here getting acclimatized to the altitude (Durango is 6512 feet above sea level and one of the passes that they will ride over, is over 10,000 feet above sea level).
The first leg of the race is a little over 120 miles and includes several loops through the town of Durango itsel
f and then out by the new Lake Nighthorse and then west to Mancos, north to Dolores and then over Lizard Head Pass into Telluride. Numerous festivities are planned building up to the race including a parade, concert, a gala, a running race and a citizens bicycle race of approximately 72 miles. On Monday the 20th, all downtown streets will be closed in the first day of school as even been delayed. Since nobody will be able to move around the downtown other than on foot, real estate closings have been pretty much eliminated for that day. As a former restaurant owner myself years ago, I have no idea how they're going to get food into the restaurants on Monday morning after the busy weekend that I'm sure everyone will enjoy. There have been myriads of meetings and planning sessions regarding this bicycle race, but Durango has a lot of experience hosting major bicycle events. Every Memorial Day weekend, for the last 30+ years, thousands of participants race the coal-fired narrow gauge railroad from Durango all the way to Silverton 55 miles north of town. That includes the closing of US highway 550. For this race, parts of US Highway 160 will be closed for a period of time. Fans are expected to certainly line the entire race route in the city limits of Durango and many will also take up posts along the way to provide encouragement to their teams.
How does all of this affect real estate in Durango? Certainly there'll be people attending the event that have never been to Durango before and will get a first-hand glimpse of the friendly people, spectacular views, our terrific climate and our beautiful and historic town. Part of the race route goes through the campus of Fort Lewis college, so they will see our 4 year college campus. This is going to be a wonderful event and for additional information please click on the following link or I have set up several pages in my Durango real estate website with a lot more information. USA Pro Cycling Challenge
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