Wednesday, January 27, 2021
Venetian Waterway Trail and Island Bike Loop
Another day, another bike ride, again leaving straight from our conveniently located hotel. It was somewhat foggy today, even by the time we got started at almost noon, but we were a little sunburned from yesterday, so it's probably for the best. Later in the day, it cleared up nicely.
A mile south of the Hampton, the Legacy Trail connects to the Venetian Waterway Trail. The waterway was dredged in the 1960s to become part of the Intracoastal Waterway since this area of the coast lacked a barrier island for a navigable inland shipping route. The channel bisected the city, creating the Island of Venice, an idea much opposed at the time, but producing what is now prime real estate.
And away we go
Venetian Waterway
Skip Stasko Park
The trail runs along both sides of the canal. We rode south along the mainland side of the waterway, doubled back at the trail's end, crossed over Circus Bridge to Venice Island, riding south along the island side of the channel as far as Caspersen Beach, where we connected to the Island Bike Loop, which led us north along the Gulf before taking a turn into some residential neighborhoods.
Caspersen Beach
We generally prefer to ride on dedicated trails and avoid roadways, but for the Island Bike Loop, we made an exception. Motorists didn't seem to be in a big hurry on the island, so it wasn't a problem. We enjoyed biking through the residential areas and seeing all the Florida architecture and exotic (at least to us) landscaping.
Venice Inlet
Intracoastal Waterway, Venice
At the end of the Island Bike Loop, we walked our bikes across the Venice Avenue Bridge back to the mainland and rode back to our hotel, stopping once more at Patriots Park. No gator today, but we spotted a little lizard and some cool softshell turtles. We rode a total of 21.6 miles.
Little lizard
Softshell turtle
Earlier in the day, we'd stopped at the Pilot House snack shack on Venice Beach for cheeseburgers and fries around, so tonight we just had a light meal in the room and spent the evening drinking beer while overlooking the pool. Lovely!
Tom
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