Originally Posted by
1955
The author, David Whiting, sounds like he could fit right in with Socal BF. He sure appears to be a hard core rider and maybe even a racer, but it is an article in a major newspaper, so it's not going to be geared towards us, but instead it is geared towards maybe getting people in their bikes and letting them know there is a place that's worth going for a ride on, where you can feel like you're out in the country. As a "journalist" I'm sure he felt that he needed to put all the disclaimers in, but did a fine job of pointing out what most of us already know, Santiago Canyon is a great place to ride.
Oh, I agree, my point was just a minor nit in an otherwise excellent article. I was going to explain more but Phil beat me too it. Then Phil and Pam beat me to it about which way is the "wussy" way.
I live near the intersection of Jamboree and Chapman/Santiago Canyon, so I've been somewhat in the loop on future development in the area. There are plans to build houses along Santiago Canyon between Jamboree and Irvine Lake, although those plans have been scaled back a bit. On the narrowest part between the toll road interchange and the old dump, some well-meaning (non road cycling) neighborhood advocates were pushing for elimination of the shoulders/bike lanes so that there could be room for a two way bike path on one side of the road. Luckily there was some push back on that, so if they do build the path it won't be at the expense of the shoulders/bike lanes.
But like Pam said, enjoy the canyon now, you never know what it's going to look like later!