Set off this morning on the Legacy Trail in Sarasota with 30 miles in mind. With 22 being my longest so far I figured 30 miles in my third month of riding made some sort of numerical sense.

Legacy is a rails to trails project. I guess they left this as evidence.

It crosses over several bays along the way

And it even has a SW Florida hill, aka an overpass, which gives about 50 in elevation change

Legacy Trail ends at the old Venice train station


From here it connects to the Venice Waterway Park. This is a path the runs along the Intercoastal waterway. I think I'll skip this 2 mile section in the future. It's concrete sidewalk so you get that 'thump thump' every 20 feet that had me up off the seat most of the time.

The next point of interest and my turn around point is the Circus Bridge in Venice. The Ringling Circus used to winter in Venice and they crossed this bridge to get to the train station.

From here I rode back north 12.5 miles to the northern end where I began. There's a big push now to raise funds and get govt permission to add 8 more miles into downtown Sarasota

I really concentrated on keeping my cadence high today (spin vs mash is something I've read on here) and boy did it help. I found I was doing 13.5 to 14 mph without as much effort. A lot more cardio but less muscle burn.

Thankfully it it was a cloudy morning. With the "feels like" temp in the mid 90's adding the sun would have been almost brutal. Still had to wring out every piece of clothing.

However, I got off my bike at the end of the ride and walked somewhat normal and could still feel the area between my legs so it was a nice ride. Now, if I can figure out how to keep my hands and arms from going numb without having to shake them out every couple miles I'll be all set to go even further.