Grand Reopening!
Written by Roger   
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Woo Hoo!
Whiting Ranch reopened Saturday, July 12th with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 9:00 am and at least 100 mountainbikers and hikers were standing by to hit the trail.  The trails were soft in some areas and very sandy in others - like trying to ride your bike across the beach...  Most every biker dismounted and pushed their bikes through the sand otherwise you would get seriously punished before reaching the Mustard climb.  There were a handful of trail changes, and the big surprise was Sleepy Hollow was changed back to a multi-use trail after at least a decade of being off-limits to bikers.  This was bitter-sweet news for me, as a hiker/biker, in that Sleepy Hollow was a nice place to get away from the bikers,  but also an absolute treat to ride.  I remember way back when we used to ride that trail when it touched along the "shores" of a pond, then dropped down a steep chute into the oak forest.  Ah yes, that was a great ride.  Today it's a little tamer but beautiful none the less.

Fire damage was still very obvious in most places, but there were pockets of untouched (or mostly untouched) areas as well.  I tried to take pictures (which will be posted to the gallery when I get a break from work), but the urge to ride was simply overwhelming.

Other points of interest - CBS and Fox News showed up to cover the grand reopening, one of which was stationed at Four Corners.  Did anyone catch the coverage on TV?

Stay tuned for the photos...