The Mid-Columbia's landscape offers visitors and residents a chance to explore on bicycles, whether trucking up hills or gliding along rivershore pathways. It's perfect for expert cyclists or beginners who want to try something new. You see places you didn't even know were there. A newly released map of Tri-City bicycle paths indicates the growing popularity of the sport. The last map, printed in 1990, offered fewer paths from which people could choose.
Bicycle maps are available free at bicycle shops, city halls and chamber of commerce offices.
The map also shows several routes, safety tips and riding rules. One of the newest routes on the map is an extension of Pasco's rivershore path into Franklin County. The path, which tops the levees, runs nearly 7 miles from the blue bridge west to Chiawana Park and onto Court Street, where it ends at a trailhead near the Interstate 182 bridge. Painter recommends beginning cyclists use the Pasco pathway or similar rivershore paths in Richland and Kennewick. They won't have to worry about traffic, but beware of walkers, people pushing strollers and in-line skaters.