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Among the thousands of bicycle enthusiasts here for the Sea Otter Classic this weekend, there will be hundreds of mountain-bikers swarming the hills around Laguna Seca, riding a course that wanders through what used to be Fort Ord. They will discover a big mountain-biking playground.

I’ve spent a lot of hours pedaling a lot of miles on the web of trails crisscrossing that vast acreage—routes that were once used exclusively by soldiers in training. A big chunk of the decommissioned Army base, now owned by the Bureau of Land Management, has become a bicyclist’s paradise.

Its 7,000-plus acres offer an array of choices: single-track paths winding through sparse woods or along ridge tops; wide dirt roads—most rutted and gnarly, some smooth and fast; steep roller-coasters or sweeping pleasure-cruises; big views out across the bay or up the Salinas Valley.

A bike ride through the empty streets of old Fort Ord can be frustrating.

Those of us who ride are enormously fortunate that the closing of the base led to the opening of a spectacular park. It is one of the few ways (besides the creation of Cal State Monterey Bay) that the decommissioning of Fort Ord has produced a genuine public benefit.