Originally Posted by
Flying Merkel
I used to ride this from Costa Mesa to Orange. Going past the homeless camps on the trail made me a bit nervous. For those who haven't ridden on the trail, the camps are ON the trail, not next to it. Lent my friend a bike and went for a ride. In 3 blocks all of our tires were flat. Lost count of the thorns. If you continue past Warner, the path continues through the old Santa Ana neighborhoods. Stop signs every 100 yards or so. Due to bad city planning, the area is way overcrowded and short of parkland. The locals use the trail for all occasions. I literally crashed a first communion shindig, missing the little guests by inches. The trail through Santa Ana is an old Pacific Electric spur. I applaud the effort, but the result is not practical for bicycle use.
I call the area north of the 405, west of the 55 and south of the 91 Old Orange County, you can see the differences between in how the streets are laid out, most notably when bike lanes/paths turned on. Even more so when you drive some of the roads. Going from outside that bubble, to inside, the streets get narrower.
Oh, there are some small pockets of blue on the Bikeways Map from OCTA....wonder is someone lost parking for a lane and shoulder/bike lane in those areas.