Bateman Island Bike Ride.

An interesting ride in warm and windy conditions. Our leader Don Hogaboam having fallen while ice skating and injuring his rear end (the one he bikes with) came only to the warm up coffee and cinnamon rolls at the Sage Port Grille , took our picture and cheered us on. Dan Myers recovering from his cat-bite infection was in good enough shape to lead us on an interesting ride. The rest of the six riders were Verle Coleman, Jerry Johnson, Dennis Trimble, Rudy Allemann, and a new guest, John Decker. The route took us in a loop on Bateman Island out to the north “Asparagus Point” gravel beach, then back through some single track trail through trees. We then decided to see if we could cross under the new bridges along the Yakima River. The bike trail took us to the highway bridges and up the bike ramp. We dropped down to the newly planted and fenced area and were able to go under the bridge. There we had to detour around a newly fenced ditch between the highway and the railroad. Past the detour there was no trail for a short way and we had to push our bikes up to the railroad track. A short bumpy ride on the ties got us to the railroad bridge proper where we dropped down the embankment and crossed under. Soon we came upon the trail and jeep road which crossed Amon Creek and led to the park by the Yakima River where we could look downstream to the R.R. bridge. Returning to Columbia Park Trail it was an easy downwind cruise back to our cars at the S.P. Grille. Total mileage was only 10 miles but it had been an enjoyable mild adventure.