March 11, 2015 by Bruce Wynkoop
My lady friend, Lee, and I were in Florida for the month of February this year–lucky us (the average temperature in Minnesota was 10 below zero for the month). Actually, luck had nothing to do with it, we had planned to get away for the coldest month of the year and find some warmth.
We drove down, taking our bikes with us, and ended up riding almost every day. While there we found a nice 10-mile bike trail between Venice and Sarasota called The Legacy Trail. There are trail heads at each end and a nice 4-mile extension on the Venice end that goes along the inter-coastal waterway.
The trail is well maintained and in the two or three places it crosses busy roadways there are lights to help cyclists cross safely. At one crossing there is a regular traffic signal that is activated by a button alongside the trail. At another, there are lights that flash at vehicle traffic on the roadway, when activated by cyclists, and a large sign on the roadway telling motorists to stop when the lights are flashing. The lights make crossing the busy streets much safer, and much more convenient, as the traffic on the roads is fairly heavy.
On the south end of the trail there is a bicycle bridge that goes over the very busy Tamiami Trail (Hwy. 41). The ramps to the bridge are “stepped,” with level spots every so often, which help going up and, I assume, are meant to keep cyclists from going down too fast. As the trail itself is very flat, the bridge is the biggest hill on it.
The Legacy Trail goes through typical southern Florida country-side, with wooded areas on either side, and in a couple of spots goes over bays or inlets on cycling-bridges. Except for crossing the two or three roads, you don’t see or hear vehicle traffic, which is always nice. There are two parks along the route to pull over for a picnic lunch if one wanted. We rode it twice and found it to be well-used but not crowded.
At the south end, where the extension begins, cyclists can also cross the Venice lift bridge into downtown Venice, a great little town with great restaurants and shopping. There is also a trail on the town (west) side of the lift bridge that goes along the inter-coastal waterway, but we did not ride it as it appeared to go pretty much the same route as the trail on the east side of the bridge.
It is a very pleasant trail and offers easy riding while seeing the Florida countryside. It is so short that you probably won’t want to go too far to ride it (we drove 15 miles to get to it) but if you’re in the area, it is a very nice option.
