Bike & Hike in Venice (19 miles r/t or whatever it might be) & Lunch thereafter?

Join us for a bit of sightseeing in Venice, we haven't done this one in quite some time. We had to tweak our route a bit and changed the event to a BIKE & HIKE!

07:30 AM: Let's meet on the west side of Centennial Park (across from the restrooms). Please arrive a few minutes early so we can leave on time. Remember that parking on the large parking lot is limited to only 3 hours! You might want to park your car in one of the many side streets surrounding it.

We will start our casual bike ride with a trip towards South Jetty. The area was devastated (including our favorite ice cream shop) and is still closed. We can however check on the progress the city has made since.

After a quick break, we will turn around and ride through some of the picturesque neighborhoods and make our way past the airport.

From there we will follow the Venetian Waterway and take the spur to Caspersen Beach, the destination for our beach walk.

The beach is open to the public in the meantime and much wider than it used to be. But the area surrounding the beach changed dramatically! There won't be any open facilities (you might want to go where we started), the access road and former dunes no longer exist. From what we hear, many locals hope it will remain that way. We will see why.

After a walk along the beach (and potential shark teeth in our pocket), we can ride both sides of the Venice Waterway if we want to and return to the starting point.

Total distance should be around 19 miles. We will ride at 10 - 12 mph where possible and use roads, sidewalks as well as mixed-use trails. There might be sand on some, so hybrids are a good choice instead of skinny tires. We will also have to cross a bridge twice if we ride both sides of the Venetian Waterway.

Please bring along sufficient water, a bike lock and protect yourself from the sun. A snack is always a good idea. Make sure you check your bike before the ride!

Those who have time could have lunch with us in downtown Venice.
Our favorite place there is Mission Cafe but we might as well check out Bodrum, a popular Mediterranean restaurant with covered outdoor seating.

This is supposed to be a social event and no race. We don't want to rush the bike ride or beach walk. If you have to head back earlier, feel free to do so on your own but please let us know in advance.

As always, you can text or call us at (917)774-0941 if you have any questions or need directions.