Shifting Gears

With evening traffic rushing along the Glendale and Ventura freeways below, two sojourners on a different trek slip their mountain bikes through the bars of a hilltop gate.

“I close the door at my store and in 10 minutes I’m here,” said Doug Jackson, the owner of Glendale Cyclery.

For four years Jackson has organized Tuesday and Thursday evening rides for mountain bike enthusiasts--usually in the Verdugo Hills that separate Burbank and Glendale or the San Gabriel Mountains near La Canada Flintridge.

Each ride attracts as many as a dozen riders who range in age from 20 to 60, Jackson said. Most are bikers he meets at his store.

Young riders are usually the fastest--mostly because they spend more time riding, Jackson said. The older riders include a number of professionals who like ending a busy day at the office with an evening ride.

“You relieve stress and it’s a good way to exercise--plus you get to see the outdoors,” said Dirk de Graw, 38, a Glendale insurance underwriter who moved from San Diego. “I didn’t realize there was so much backcountry so close to Los Angeles.”

Recently, De Graw and Jackson parked their cars at the top of a Glendale street. Once past the last houses on the hill, they hopped on their bikes for the six-mile ride.

The rides are not too strenuous but not exactly a walk in the park. The turns are sharp, the terrain is hilly and cyclers reach speeds up to 30 mph.

There is also the risk of injury. “Everybody I know has had a broken collarbone,” Jackson said.

In the summer, with the sun setting late, riders sometimes catch glimpses of coyotes and occasional rattlesnakes, Jackson said. On winter evenings, the group stops at summits to watch the lights of Burbank and Glendale.

“Nights are cool,” Jackson said. “It’s pretty neat to see seven or eight bikes coming down with their lights on like a train.”