点评:I'm over the moon about this trail — one of the best-kept pieces of public infrastructure I've ever ridden.
I came in off the section adjacent to Oscar Scherer State Park, and the Legacy Trail runs right past it. Turn one way and there's an old railroad trestle, with a wonderful interpretive sign explaining how this whole trail started life as a rail bed — the Seaboard Air Line extension that reached Venice in 1911, freight running until 1992, and then the whole corridor reborn as a trail. The history runs deep out here: turpentine camps, the old Venice ice house, even Ringling Bros. wintering in Venice. You can feel the layers under your wheels.
Turn the other way and it's miles and miles of nothing but scenery on both sides. The trail does cross a few roads, but there are crossing signals at every one, and the drivers around here are used to the trail — they stop for you quickly. It's been very, very well thought out.
Head past the trestle and the surprises keep coming: a golf course on one side, apartment communities built right up to the trail so residents can roll out for a ride, a jog, or a walk, an overpass carrying the trail over the highway, and then a wide water crossing with benches to sit and take it all in — the water, the birds, the boaters drifting by.
And the amenities. Little rest areas every half mile or so — all shaded, all with a map and information about exactly where you are. Plus bike repair stations with real tools, in case of a mishap along the way. Somebody thought of everything.
Absolutely wonderfully thought out. I will come here as often as I possibly can whenever I pass through this area.
Kindest Regards
Kooliejoe
翻译:我对这条步道简直欣喜若狂——它是我见过的维护得最好的公共基础设施之一。
我是从奥斯卡·谢勒州立公园附近的路段进入的,而遗产步道就紧挨着那里。往一个方向走,就能看到一座古老的铁路桥;桥旁有一块非常棒的解说牌,详细介绍了这条步道的由来:它最初是作为铁路路基而建的——也就是1911年通往威尼斯的 seaboard air line 铁路线,直到1992年才停止货运,之后整个路段才重新被改造为一条步行/骑行道。这里的历史源远流长:松脂采集营地、古老的威尼斯冰库,甚至环球马戏团也曾在威尼斯过冬。走在路上,你能感受到这片土地深厚的历史积淀。
换个方向走,则是绵延数英里的绝美风景。这条步道虽然会穿过几条公路,但每处路口都有交通信号灯;这一带的司机们也早已习惯这条步道——他们会迅速停车让行人通过。整个设计真是考虑得极为周全。走过栈桥后,各种惊喜接踵而至:一侧是高尔夫球场;沿着步道两旁建起了住宅区,居民们可以随时出门骑行、慢跑或散步;还有一座天桥让步道得以跨越高速公路;接着是一片宽阔的水域,水边设有长椅,供人们坐下欣赏美景——流水、飞鸟,还有缓缓驶过的船只。
此外还有各类便利设施。每隔半英里左右就有一个小型休息区——全都绿树成荫,还配有地图以及关于当前位置的详细说明。设有配备各种工具的自行车维修站,以防骑行途中出现意外情况。真是处处都为我们考虑到了。
设计得极其出色。今后每次经过这一带,我都会尽可能常来这里。
祝好
Kooliejoe