Riverside Outfitters, which runs guided raft trips on the James River, will open an outpost on Brown’s Island on June 15 that will rent mountain bikes, sit-on-top kayaks and stand up paddleboards. See the full details in my story today in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.Read More

The crowds were huge; the competitions were epic; the weather was perfect. If you didn’t make it down to Dominion Riverrock this past weekend. You missed one heck of a celebration of music and outdoor sports. I was down there for the Times-Dispatch covering Saturday’s and Sunday’s events. I also participated in the Urban Assault mountain bike race on Saturday. Good times were had all around. I think it’s fair to say Riverrock is, like the Folk Festival and the Monument Avenue 10,K becoming a circled date on many Richmonders’ calendars.

Here’s the recap from Sports Backers, who organize Riverrock:

The 4^th annual Dominion Riverrock presented by Subaru, the East Coast’s premier outdoor sports and river life festival, concluded this afternoon after drawing more than 65,000 spectators and 4,000 participants to Brown’s Island and Historic Tredegar in Richmond, VA, for the weekend’s festivities. This year Dominion Riverrock expanded its footprint and added a third day of competition. Dominion Riverrock is now the largest outdoor sports and music festival in the United States.

“The growth of this event has been tremendous,” said Megan Schultz, Dominion Riverrock event director. “To have more than 65,000 people come together to celebrate the riverfront is just amazing.”

Athletes and spectators alike crowded Brown’s Island and Historic Tredegar for an incredible combination of sporting events and music. New to Dominion Riverrock in 2012 were Slacklining, Bouldering Dyno Comp, a short course Dirt Crit mountain bike event, as well as demo areas for mountain biking, bouldering, and slacklining.

Other crowd favorites at Dominion Riverrock included the Subaru Ultimate Air Dogs, Boulder Bash and Native Freestyle Bikes. The Miller Lite Filthy 5k took place on Friday evening with more than 2,200 participants, a new registration record for Dominion Riverrock. The James River Scramble 10k presented by Goal Zero, drew about 1,000 participants and the Thule Urban Assault Mountain Bike race had nearly 300 riders.

Kayaks, stand up paddleboards, mountain bikes, slacklining and bouldering were available throughout the duration of the event for festival attendees to demo. More than 3,500 people took advantage of this opportunity.

On the music front, Keller Williams with the Travelin’ McCourys got the crowd on its feet on Friday. On Saturday, the much anticipated JJ Grey & Mofro took the stage at 7:30 p.m. followed by the New Orleans-based GALACTIC at 9 p.m.

Check out the feature at RichmondBizSense.com on RichmondOutside.com contributors Camille and Bryan Smith. The proprietors of Black Dog Paddle are constantly expanding their offerings. Case in point: yoga on a standup paddleboard. Of course, it might be a good idea to take a beginner SUP class before trying your sun salutations in the middle of the James River or Swift Creek Reservoir or wherever. They have those classes, too.

The City of Richmond’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Reedy Creek access has been set for 10 a.m. Friday, March 23.Read More

If you have been monitoring the progress down at the Reedy Creek takeout, much of the credit for the project goes to Sally Wetzler of the James River Outdoor Coalition, a paddler with a unique story, including the fact that she “uses a wheelchair to get around- most of the time.”Read More

 This is good news for paddlers in Central Virginia. I bought a 16-foot Mad River canoe at the Appomattox River Company a few years back and was sad to see the place shut down. Now they’re back.

 The below is from Richmondbizsense.com, which broke the news first.

 One of the Mid-Atlantic’s biggest sellers of kayaks has resurfaced in Richmond just in time for the holidays.

Farmville-based Appomattox River Company reopened its Midlothian Turnpike store Dec. 15 after shutting it down last year. Tom Detrick, general manager for the Farmville headquarters, said the company didn’t have the staff or the funds to keep the place going.

“We’re a small business, and the rent was high and we had a limited number of people who worked here,” Detrick said.

He said the company also spent most of last year trying to get an online store up and running. That website launched in May. Then Appomattox decided it was time to ramp up its Richmond operations.

Read More

Are you following the proposals for the downtown Richmond riverfront? There are plenty of things to like for outdoor enthusiasts, including some very impressive ideas for kayaking, biking, boating and more.Read More

The Sports Backers announced today that they’ll be enlarging their footprint, adding a day and three events to Dominion Riverrock — the popular festival and celebration of river-centric recreation.

The 4th annual Riverrock will run from May 18-20 (previously it was two days). It will expand onto the grounds of the American Civil War Center across the canal from Brown’s island, and it will include three new events…

Read More

Paddler alert! The Westham gauge is showing water levels in the James River at Richmond to be more that 14.5 feet, peaking at more than 15 feet on Friday.Read More

I went on a field trip down with Andy Thompson to the southeastern tip of Chesterfield County this week to volunteer with the James River Association at Presquile Island. Big adventure time!Read More