Farmers Market in Venice, Bike (19 miles), Beach Walk & Lunch at Sharky's

About this event

Join us for a stroll through the well-known Farmers Market in Venice followed by a bike ride and a hike along Casperson Beach. 08:00 AM: Let's meet on the west side of Centennial Park (across from the restrooms). Leave your bikes on the rack or in your car, we will first explore the Farmers Market on foot! 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. 09:00 AM: After a casual stroll through the market we will head back to our cars and ready our bikes for the ride. 09:15 AM: We will start our bike ride with a trip along the Venetian Waterway, cross a bridge and head towards Shamrock Park. After a quick break, we will turn around and ride the other side of the Venetian Waterway until we reach the spur to Caspersen Beach, the destination for our Beach Walk (we can decide how far we want to go once we are there). The beach is much wider than it used to be as the area surrounding the beach changed dramatically! There won't be any open facilities (you might want to go where we started or use the restrooms at Sharky's), 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 will ride over to Sharky's Pier. The view from the pier is always wonderful. At this point we have done about 14 miles. 12:00 noon: We will stay at Sharky's for lunch. After lunch we head back to our cars. Total distance for the bike ride 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 a bit of sand on some. Remember that we will 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! This is supposed to be a social event and no race. We don't want to rush the stroll through the market, 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.