For Mountain Bike Specialists Manager John Glover, bicycles are a way of life. On July 15, Glover will retire after servicing the cycling community for more than 42 years and witnessing the evolution of Durango’s mountain bike culture.

Glover began his journey at Mountain Bike Specialists when the store was a general sporting goods store called The Outdoorsman. He said he approached owner Ed Zink about a summer job while attending Fort Lewis College.

Glover was hired on the spot and spent the remainder of his college years working on and off at the Outdoorsman.

After graduating from college, he began working for the San Juan National Forest. He completed a season with the Forest Service and when he was on a seasonal layoff, he started working for The Outdoorsman again in 1980.

“And so I came back down here and told Ed, ‘Hey, I’m recently married, I don’t want to be without a job,’ and said, ‘How about I go back to work until the Forest Service calls me up again?’” Glover said.

He never left. He quit the Forest Service to work full time at the store.

He said Durango was different during the 1980s. The population in town seemed about the same, but there were fewer people living in the county, he said.

Main Avenue used to be the hub for activity in town, he said. There were lunch counters, dry goods stores, pharmacies and gas stations along Main. Durango now feels more upscale and trendy. It is not all bad, he said; the development of downtown Durango has allowed for interesting businesses and restaurants to take hold.

Not only did Durango change during this time but so did biking culture. He said during the early 1980s, there was no such thing as bicycle tourism.

“Essentially, no one came to Durango for a bicycle vacation, and that has absolutely boomed,” Glover said.

The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic played a big part in spawning bicycle tourism in Durango, he said, which eventually included mountain bike events.

“I would say this was the jumping off point for Durango, leading not just in the United States but all around the world in terms of mountain bike events,” Glover said. “Because, you know from there, Durango hosted World Cups, they’ve hosted the World Championships, they’ve hosted national championships.”

The Iron Horse was huge for Durango’s bike culture because of its inclusiveness. Riders of any style could participate.

Because of mountain biking’s growing popularity, Glover said the shop went from selling sporting goods to exclusively mountain bikes around 1990, changing its name to Mountain Bike Specialists. He is amazed at how mountain bikes have changed since the 1980s.

“Bikes back then, by today’s standards, were nothing more than townies,” he said. “There was no suspension, no clip-in pedals, no front fork, no rear suspension and insufficiently built wheels to stand up to the kind of rigors mountain bikes are put through now.”

Glover has no regrets about his career in the outdoor industry.

“I feel like I’ve done a lot of stuff. I’ve come into contact with a lot of folks who have done more than myself, but I would say compared to someone who has a desk job in an urban area in the East or Midwest somewhere, I’ve been pretty lucky,” he said.

In retirement, he looks forward to hiking the La Plata Mountains, especially Diorite Peak. He has tried multiple times to summit the peak but has been forced to turn back because of weather. Glover was given a rooftop tent as a going away gift and plans to spend much of his time camping and exploring areas around Pagosa Springs.

Looking back at his career, Glover is grateful for the experiences he had with Mountain Bike Specialists. He credits his career to the community, family and everyone involved at the store.

“I’ve been treated really well,” he said. “The Zink family owns the store and they’ve both empowered me to be an effective and empowered manager, and that’s been fun.”

His favorite memories revolve around the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic and witnessing the great cyclists who have competed such as Ned Overend. He is hopeful about the future of cycling. He said advancements such as the e-bike have made the sport more accessible to those who are aging or have injuries.

He supports restructuring downtown’s Main Avenue to allow for safer bike lanes, saying the popularity of e-bikes will lead to even more people biking downtown.

“I look at them as a real transportation solution as we go into the future,” Glover said. “And if people are considering new designs for Main Avenue, (they should) put in bike lanes and give safe routes where there’s no interaction with high-speed vehicles.”

tbrown@durangoherald.com