Balazik (left) with an Atlantic sturgeon netted last fall in the James.

I’m not sure you could find two people that know the tidal James River better than Mike Ostrander and Matt Balazik. Ostrander, owner of Discover The James, offers guided catfishing, eagle watching and history trips on the river. Balazik is a fish biologist with VCU and one of the leading Atlantic sturgeon researchers in the country. I don’t know how you’d begin to estimate the number of hours these two have spent on that stretch of water in their lives.

Next Thursday (Sept. 4th), for the second year in a row, Balazik and Ostrander are teaming up to offer their first sturgeon watching tour of the tidal James. The tours will continue every Thursday evening in September.

Endangered Atlantic sturgeon are living fossils that have been swimming in the waters now known as the James River for 100 million years, and according to Ostrander, “the stretch of river between Westover Plantation and Presquile National Wildlife Refuge is a prime area to see breaching Atlantic sturgeon.”

Balazik’s research over the past decade has shown that the late summer/early fall, as they prepare for their fall spawn, is the best time of year to see them breach (leap completely out of the water). They remain in the James through September and into October.

“(You can) scan the river and watch as these ancient behemoths breach while Dr. Balazik shares information from his research on the sturgeon of the James River,” Ostrander explained. “We are incredibly lucky to have a spawning population of Atlantic sturgeon here on the James River, and this tour is a great way for you and your friends to come out, have an excellent chance at seeing them and learn from the James River’s top sturgeon researcher.”

This 2.5-hour tour will depart from Jordan Point Marina at 5 p.m. and return at approximately 7:30 p.m. You’ll ride aboard the Spirit of the James, a 40-foot, fully covered pontoon boat owned by the James River Association and used as an educational vessel for 1000’s of youths each year. The cost is $55 per person.

Don’t miss this opportunity to see one of the wonders of the James River. Click here to learn more or to book a spot on one of this year’s sturgeon tours.

When you care about the outdoors, the natural resources around you, it’s easy to focus on the bad news. This bird population is in decline. There’s too much pollution in this section of river. This fish is being harvested unsustainably. You get the picture.

And, look, I get it. Bad news galvanizes us to action. If something’s broken, we should fix it. But at times I think we get caught up in the bad news and ignore the good news that’s right in front of us.

Take this video shot by local boater and James River-lover Chris Hull. He just took a GoPro to one of his favorite spots on “the Jimmy,” set it up under water and started shooting. There isn’t anything overly dramatic about it. He doesn’t catch a catfish eating a bluegill, and a sturgeon doesn’t swim into view. The video simply showcases a profusion of underwater life on a river with its share of challenges in the middle of a large urban area. The fact that anyone with a GoPro and a snorkel mask could go shoot a similar video on the James tomorrow, seems like very good news indeed.

So consider this a chance to sit and watch three minutes of good news on America’s Founding River.

A new outdoor festival is coming to Mayo Island and the James River on September 27, and mountain bikers and paddlers should take notice. The Tour de Fall Line is a coordinated effort between Richmond-MORE and the James River Outdoor Coalition to show off everything they fight for as advocates for mountain biking and paddling in Richmond, while at the same time serving as a fundraiser for both organizations.

The Tour de Fall Line will highlight Richmond’s epic trails — like Buttermilk (pictured). Credit: Trey Garman

The day will consist of two separate events, both meant to be casual experiences open to all. For mountain bikers, there is a 50-mile loop that runs over virtually every trail along the James River — Buttermilk, Northbank, Forest Hill Park, etc. Meanwhile, whitewater enthusiasts will drop in at the Huguenot Flatwater boat landing and run the James River all the way to Mayo Island. That’s where paddlers and mountain bikers will meet at the end for an outdoor party, complete with a band and beverages. 

The bike and boat festival was the brainchild of Greg Rollins, president of Richmond-MORE, who was visiting Mayo Island one afternoon and realized that the 14th Street boat launch could be used to do a single event for both groups. “I thought, this would be a great place to combine these two events.”

The Tour de Fall Line takes its name from the rocky, hilly geologic feature along the East Coast — the Fall Line — that separates the flat, coastal Tidewater from the hillier Piedmont.

Rollins emphasized that this is not meant to be a competitive event, adding that it would be a great way for someone who is not familiar with Richmond’s trail systems to learn their way around. “It’s all about advocacy and altruism,” he said. “It’s a ride, not a race. Maybe you haven’t ridden the trails – we’ll show you where they are, and you’ll have the aid stations that will help you out.”

Rollins said he is working with a core group of Richmond mountain bikers, including Richmond trails manager Mike Burton and VDOT Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Planner John Bolecek, to set courses, which will also include a 25-mile and a 10-mile option. The shorter options feature reduced pricing. 

In the Tour de Fall Line, Paddlers will run the James through Richmond while MTBers pedal the trails around it.

Max Posner, Co-Vice President for JROC, echoed the sentiment that the Tour de Fall Line is meant to be a community event and not a competitive one. “We’re going to try and complement the mountain biking portion of the event,” he said. “We want to showcase the outdoor community here – the trails and rapids – and show everyone what they have to play with.”

Posner said JROC is working to make sure that paddlers have a shuttle in place to get everyone to Huguenot Flatwater Park. Posner also said that he and JROC president Patrick Griffin are working on a shorter option for paddlers who aren’t interested in running the whitewater at Belle Isle. Posner said he hopes to have course and pricing details ready later this week. 

According to a press release posted on the Richmond-MORE website, all participants will receive a souvenir pint glass, a well-crafted color map to use during the event and to keep, and an after party complete with vendors, a band, and food by Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. The 50-mile bike ride will cost $40, while the full-length paddle will cost $30.

The boat landing at Reedy Creek’s confluence with the James River.

It’s been over a month since my last post about RichmondOutside and Terrain360.com’s effort to create the first-ever surface-level, 360-degree image map of an entire river — the mighty James. At the last update, Ross Milby and Mike Harris were piloting the custom pontoon raft about 60 miles upstream of Richmond in the Cartersville area. (If you’re unfamiliar, click here and here to read more about the journey. And here to follow it on Twitter.)

Well, we’re not done yet, but we’re getting closer, and I’ve got some sweet screen shots to share of our progress. Ross and Mike gave way to Ryan Abrahamsen and I at Watkins Landing. We took the mapping vessel from there to Huguenot Flatwater in one day (the portage around Bosher’s Dam was beastly) and from Huguenot Flatwater to Reedy Creek in another. We’ve also spent a number of days on the tidal James, and we’re closing in on Norfolk along the north bank. Doing this in day trips has proven more logistically challenging than expected, but we’re getting it done slowly but surely. Of course, we’ve got to come back and finish Richmond’s famous falls, including Hollywood and Pipeline rapids, but that will likely happen once the tidal James is complete.

Looking back upstream after passing under the famed Atlantic Coastline Railroad bridge.

What does all this mean? It means in a month you’ll be able to go on RichmondOutside.com, Terrain360.com and, in October, the James River Association’s EnvisiontheJames.org site and experience the James River in a way that currently doesn’t exist for any body of water anywhere. You’ll be able to choose any section of the 340-mile river from Irongate to the Chesapeake Bay and see what it’s like there — pan around in all directions, move up and down the river, etc. Never seen the James where it passes through Lynchburg? Go check it out. Want to know what the river is like in the Blue Ridge Mountains or Jamestown. Soon you’ll be able to see for yourself.

These pictures should give you a sense of the final product.

Back in April we posted the first installment in a video series from Hunter Davis, Ben Moore and Home on the James — a mini-feature on Pipeline Rapid in downtown Richmond.

Well, now the local paddlers, moviemakers and James River lovers are back with their next feature. This one highlights First Break, a Class II rapid and the the first major one you’ll encounter when entering the downtown section of whitewater in Richmond. It’s a fun/easy wave train with a great surf feature just off the northern tip of Belle Isle.

Davis and Moore hope to work through all the major named rapids on the Falls of the James, and we’ll feature all of them here as they do. The final product will be what Davis calls the “James River Video Atlas,” and it will be sweet.

Recently at a restaurant I overheard a couple discussing their options for the weekend. They didn’t want to “just sit at home” or “just go to the pool.”  They wanted somewhere new to take the kids. I don’t think they were from Richmond, since they talked about nearby theme parks in phrases like, “What about this Kings Dominion place?” and “I think it’s called Water Country.”  I could tell by their defeated tone their hearts weren’t really into any of their suggestions, and each was hoping to hitch a ride on the other’s enthusiasm.

The quarry pond at Belle Isle.

The couple moved on, but I was left thinking…I wonder if they know about Belle Isle?

I’m a Richmond native, but I was almost eighteen before I visited Belle Isle. I was a West End kid, and most of my friends and relatives lived even further west of the city than I did. My parents took my brothers and me on our yearly trips to the Coliseum for the circus and Disney on Ice, and school field trips brought me to the Science Museum and Maymont, but that was pretty much it. My life revolved around Regency Square, Deep Run Park, and all the creeks, woods and playgrounds I could find in between. The world beyond Boulevard (Willow Lawn, really) was a whole other country.

I’d always loved mountain biking as a kid, and one day in high school a friend told me he’d heard about a place (an island, actually), in the city that was supposedly full of mountain biking trails. I knew practically nothing about the James River. The little bit of knowledge I did have came from a few cursory trips to Pony Pasture and whatever could be seen on the occasional excursion across the Willey Bridge. Still, I was skeptical. My friend had to be confused. The notion that, not only was the James River large enough to contain an island, but an island so large that we could ride our bikes on it, sounded crazy. I took a little convincing.

“So you’re telling me there’s an island in the river?”

“Yes.”

“The James River?”

Sunbathers on the Belle Isle rocks. Credit: Wikipedia

“Yes.”

“And it’s in the city?”

“Yes.”

“And on this ‘island’ you can go mountain biking?.”

“Yes!”

I didn’t get out much back then.

We drove downtown, parked (nervously eying the elevated railroad tracks above), and there it was! An actual island! An ‘isle’, to be more exact (the difference being that an isle is a small island and typically has no inhabitants – I looked it up later). But to me it looked huge and, like my friend said, more than capable of holding any number of mountain biking trails.

Since I was only eighteen, I’m sure I made some kind of attempt at acting cool, but inwardly I gawked. It was a picture-worthy sight (at a time when the bar for pictures was a little higher), but back then we couldn’t whip out a camera phone to snare every memorable moment the way we do now; if you wanted a photo you had to plan ahead (which I never did). But I’ll always remember the first time I biked across the suspended foot bridge, the way it evoked a sense of flight, making me feel like I was approaching the island by plane, the rumble of the bridge traffic above an evaded thunderstorm.

The first thing I saw, tucked away just left of the bridge, like a stranger hiding behind a door, was a creepy, rusted-out structure that looked like a bandstand for the undead. Placards reached up from the ground telling the grim history of the island. Canoes and kayaks slalomed through white water that looked to be more boulder than river.

The view across the James River from Belle Isle. Credit: Wikipedia

All afternoon we scrambled up hiking trails steep enough to warrant the use of a grappling hook. There was an abandoned hydroelectric power plant that, when approached, made you feel as if you were discovering an ancient ruin (and made visitors respect, if not always appreciate, the daredevil graffiti artists who’d tagged it). Sheer stone cliffs, as grand as those anchoring curves along Skyline Drive, rose out of a peculiar green lagoon that would send even the least ambitious archaeologists and treasure hunters running for a snorkel. And, as promised, the hilltop forest was a maze of single track trails perfect for mountain biking.

It was one ticking crocodile away from being Never Never Land.

I hope the couple knew about Belle Isle, and if not, that they discover it soon. It’s an amusement park without an admission fee, and, like an amusement park, it can’t be fully appreciated in a single day. After nearly two decades and countless miles of hiking and biking, climbing and running, rock-hopping and dog walking, I’ve learned it will probably take a lifetime.

When Jon Billman was in town two summers ago to write the Outside Magazine cover story on Richmond, Chris Hull, Pat Calvert and I took him down to the Pipeline to spend some quality time on the mighty James. We fished and snorkeled mostly, and Billman had a blast (at least based on the writeup).

Cheasapeak Bay blue crabs really do swim up the James to Richmond in mid-late summer. Credit: Chris Hull

I’ll never forget, when the fishing wasn’t going so well, Hull diving into the shallows along the Pipeline with a jagged spear he’d fashioned from a stick and coming up with a Chesapeake Bay blue crab for us to use as bait. The scene taught me two things: 1) There is an amazing abundance of life on and in the James in downtown Richmond — even life, like the blue crab, that most people have no idea is there; and 2) Chris Hull is the ultimate river rat.

The former James River Outdoor Coalition president is an avid kayaker. He regularly posts paddle flicks of himself, his son and others on regionals creeks and rivers shot with his trusty GoPro. Hull shot the above video over the weekend in that same Pipeline area, the highlight reel from a few hours of snorkeling. He shot it using a GoPro Hero3+. He said the ideal time to snorkel the slow-water sections of the river (underneath the Nickel Bridge, around The Wetlands, the islands across from Pipeline, etc.) is when the high in the sky. The direct light allows you to see farther into the water. Any old snorkel setup will do, he said. But, he cautioned, if you choose the Pipeline area, “You ought to be a pretty good swimmer before you try it.”

Anyway, enjoy the video. And, FYI: Those are flathead catfish he comes right up to and, right on cue, a blue crab seen scurrying along the bottom at the end of the clip.

The Richmond race has been part of the XTERRA U.S. tour longer than any other event. Credit: Trey Garman/XTERRA

A month ago the XTERRA East Championships off-road triathlon series came through Richmond. It was the 16th straight year XTERRA has put on a championship-level race here. But there’s a chance it could be the last.

“It’s our oldest concurrently-run location on the U.S. tour,” said Janet Clark, XTERRA president, in an interview last week. “We have a long history and a lot of good times and fond memories (in Richmond), and frankly, a lot of development of that trail system there.”

Why is Richmond in danger of losing XTERRA? After three years as the presenting sponsor of the XTERRA races — sport- and championship-distance triathlons and two trail races — Luck Stone is bowing out.

“We love those guys. They were fantastic,” Clark said, of the Luck Stone team. “They were extremely helpful in keeping that race in Richmond. They brought in some wonderful technology…We leave on very good terms with them. It just doesn’t really fit their overall marketing strategy at this point in time.”

So, Luck Stone is out, and, at least for now, there’s a void to fill. This has happened in the past, notably in 2011, when the city refused to offer XTERRA financial aid after local insurer Heritage Union did not renew as presenting sponsor. That’s when Luck Stone came onboard.

Clark said they’d very much prefer to keep the race in Richmond, “but reality is reality. Obviously, we have a vested interest in Richmond as a race location…and we’re going to be working to keep the race there. But, yes, we do need someone to help us do that.”

XTERRA pros navigate the bike course in this year’s race. Credit: Trey Garman/XTERRA

She added that she hopes to begin negotiating with possible sponsors sometime in the late fall or early winter. When I asked her if XTERRA absolutely needs a presenting sponsor to bring the race back to Richmond, she said that wasn’t completely accurate.

“But I would say we would need some assistance of some kind. Obviously, the more the merrier. We do rely on that local support to keep us in the region. It’s an awfully huge region that that race serves (the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic) and we’ve had some interest from some other locations as well.

“It’s never over until it’s over,” she said. “We have a vested in that race and there are some emotional ties and a lot of history that would certainly sway us in a push-come-to-shove situation.”

Ross and Mike and our custom pontoon raft made it to Cartersville on Friday before we gave them the weekend off to attend to some business at home. The James has been low, and that’s slowed our efforts to create the first-ever 3-D image map of an entire river, but we’ll be pressing again this Monday. It’s less than 60 miles from Cartersville to Richmond. Then it’s about 100 miles on the tidal James to Norfolk. We’re getting to close. (If you’re unfamiliar, click here and here to read more about the journey. And here to follow it on Twitter.)

The above video is of Ross and Mike taking the boat through Balcony Falls near Glasgow. Look at how she glides over that whitewater! (Thanks to Bill Wise for sharing the video.) Those other canoeists in the shot are from the JRA’s James River Expedition.

And while the boys are out on the boat, Ryan is back in Richmond processing the images from up in the mountains. Here are a couple of examples.

A screen shot from early in the trip as the James cuts through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Another screen shot.

A downtown RVA striped bass caught in July. Credit: Dave Valdimirou

Nothing like striper fishing on the James in July!

Dave Vladimirou, friend of the program and topwater angler extraordinaire, sent me this picture on Sunday night. It’s the smaller of two schoolie stripers he caught in downtown Richmond as the sun went down. Valdimirou was actually out after smallmouth bass. He parked at Diversity Park on the south side of the Mayo Bridge and walked upstream along the Floodwall to the train bridge. He rigged up a wacky worm on some six-pound test and “cast across to a little pocket where I thought a smallmouth would be waiting.” Nothing bit in that fishy-looking pool, so he began reeling the worm in quickly, dragging it across the surface.

That’s when the first striper hit. “It was awesome,” he said, though he wasn’t quite able to bring it in.

Valdimirou quickly switched to “the biggest topwater lure I had” — a skitter pop. On his first cast, a striper broke the line. He soon landed a 5-pounder and then the smaller fish (pictured). He also hauled in a nice largemouth before calling it a night.

Valdimirou said he’d heard that some schoolie-sized stripers will stay in the area until the fall before returning to the Bay, but catching them on the topwater in the middle of July is still a rare occurrence.