The mud run will go on as scheduled. Credit: Sports Backers

In light of the drenching, equatorial, Amazonian, monsoon rains Richmond has been and is currently experiencing, I emailed the Sports Backers’ PR maven Pete Woody about the status of Riverrock. Here’s what he, and event director Megan Schultz, had to say:

“Participant safety is extremely important, as is protecting the integrity of the trails in the James River Park System. We’ve worked closely with event staff and trail managers to come up with new courses for each event and believe they will offer great experiences for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy,” said Megan Schultz, event director for Dominion Energy Riverrock.

The festival is on rain or shine, and the complete schedule can be found at www.riverrockrva.com.

-The Mountain Bike Time Trial, originally scheduled for Friday, May 18, at 6:30pm, has been canceled. Registered participants have been notified by email, and full refunds will be offered.

-The James River Scramble 10k Trail Run and Urban Assault Mountain Bike Ride, scheduled for Saturday, May 19 at 9:00a.m. and 1:30p.m., respectively, will take place as scheduled with rerouted courses. The James River Scramble map can be found here, and the Urban Assault map can be found here. 

-The course for the Sierra Nevada Down River Paddle, taking place on Saturday, May 19, at 11:30am, has been moved and will now go from Pony Pasture to Reedy Creek, rather than Reedy Creek to the 14th Street Takeout. 

Richmond beer/outdoors lovers take not: Sierra Nevada has come up with a brew especially for you. Dominion Energy Riverrock, Sports Backers, and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. have partnered to create ‘Let’s Go RVA IPA,’ a session IPA brewed exclusively for the three-day sports and music festival set for May 18-20 at Brown’s Island and Historic Tredegar.

Sierra Nevada describes the Let’s Go RVA IPA as “light and refreshing, yet packed with hop flavor. Expect a burst of bright citrus and tropical fruit aromas, followed by a crisp finish that keeps you coming back for more.” The name is based on the Sports Backers slogan ‘Let’s Go RVA!’ which is meant to inspire and motivate active living and celebrate the region’s outdoor recreation opportunities.

Let’s Go RVA IPA Facts and Figures
4.8% ABV 34 IBU
Grist: Pale, pilsner, oats, wheat
Hops: Magnum, Citra, El Dorado, Loral, Nelson Sauvin, Mandarina Bavaria, Huell Melon

Let’s Go RVA IPA will be available during Dominion Energy Riverrock as well as at the 5PT Adventure Film Festival presented by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. on May 17 at The Broadberry. The film festival will feature an evening of inspirational adventure films followed by live music from the Larry Keel Experience. Sierra Nevada is donating a portion of beer sales during the 5PT Adventure Film Festival to rvaMORE, a local nonprofit whose mission is to enhance trail experiences through people, tools, and advocacy. Advance film festival tickets are on sale now for $10 and can be purchased online at https://ticketf.ly/2H6D3sC.

In addition to the 5PT Adventure Film Festival, Let’s Go RVA IPA can also be found at various locations around Richmond, including Boulevard Burger and Brew, Capital Ale House (Main St. location), Colonial Kitchen & Market (New Kent), Dash In Dash Out, Fat Dragon, Heritage, Independence Golf Course, Jack Brown’s Beer & Burger Joint, Kroger (14101 Midlothian Turnpike), Salisbury Country Club, Southern Railway Deli, Strawberry Street Café, The Caboose (Ashland), The Hop Craft Pizza & Beer, Toast, Whole Foods Market (11173 W. Broad Street), Wong Gonzalez, and Zzaam Fresh Korean Grill.

(Home page image courtesy of Riverrockrva.com)

Every year the Sports Backers have the challenge of keeping Riverrock, the annual outdoor recreation and music festival, feeling fresh for the 100,000 or so Central Virginians who will descend on the Brown’s Island area in mid-May. This year is no different. The three-day event will feature several new events and challenges over the course of the May 18-20 festival weekend.

Bouldering at Riverrock. Credit: Sports Backers

New events taking place on Friday, May 18, include the Mountain Bike Time Trial and Belle Isle Blitz. In the Mountain Bike Time Trial, participants will set out to get the fastest finishing time on a rugged course on the James River Park System trails. The time trial starts at 6:30 p.m., and riders will go off in one-minute intervals. At 7:15 p.m. on Friday, the Belle Isle Blitz is a chip-timed race over a roughly 5k course that will offer a fun and unique challenge to hard-core trail runners. Starting on the south side of the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge and finishing in the Belle Isle parking lot, the Blitz also features a dog wave for participants who want to take on the trails with their four-legged friends by their side.

On Saturday, May 19, the inaugural Sierra Nevada Down River Paddle takes place at 11:30 a.m. Using their kayak, canoe, or SUP, participants will take off in one-minute intervals, starting at Reedy Creek. They will battle some of the river’s most challenging rapids as they race to the finish at the 14th street takeout, with the fastest male and female times winning.

On May 20, the Sunday Funday Ride allows bike riders of all ages to take part in a casual cruise while exploring the best of RVA. Setting off at 1:30pm, the Sunday Funday Ride features a 10-mile and 25-mile course option, and, for those still in need of a little friendly competition, the ride will feature several timed segments through Strava, where riders can compete for bragging rights. Both courses will start in the Belle Isle parking lot and will include one on-course aid station.

These new additions to Dominion Energy Riverrock will also help form two new weekend-long challenges: the River Rumble and Trail Trio. The River Rumble, a combination of running, paddling, and biking, is comprised of the James River Scramble 10k trail run, the Sierra Nevada Down River Paddle, and the Urban Assault Mountain Bike Race. A male and female will be crowned River Rumble champion based on the fastest combined time in all three events, and the Rumble will challenge participants’ endurance on Richmond’s signature trails and rapids. River Rumble participants will also receive a discount on their overall entry and a unique River Rumble participant shirt, while the champions will earn additional, and well-deserved, bragging rights.

The Trail Trio, incorporating the Belle Isle Blitz, James River Scramble, and Bust the Banks trail half marathon, will be a true test of trail running skill over a three-day span. The Trail Trio offers challenges at a variety of distances and takes participants to the North Bank Trail, Buttermilk Trail, Belle Isle, Potterfield Bridge, and Brown’s Island in pursuit of the special Trail Trio finisher medal and legendary status, among other finisher items.

Registration for all Dominion Energy Riverrock events and challenges is currently open. Click here for more information and to register.

Matt Perry and I had a blast talking to Bethany Patterson earlier this week for the latest installment of our Views from the Treehouse podcast. Patterson had never run so much as a 5K until she took a fitness class at Liberty where the professor suggested she’d be a good candidate for running an ultramarathon. Amazingly, she finished a 50K at the end of that semester — the first race of her life. Four years later she landed on the cover of Ultra Running magazine for her exploits on the trails. Now the 39-year-old mother of three has a slew of ultra wins under her belt and a 7th-place finish at the 2016 Western States 100, one of the premiere ultras in the world. But you know what’s crazy? She might just be getting started.

Patterson in her natural habitat. Credit: Bethany Patterson

Don’t miss this interview with a crazy fast/strong/tough/accomplished Richmond athlete you need to know about.

From RVA MORE, Richmond’s mountain bike/trail building club:

Take your pick and come on out, there will be trail work projects happening at both Buttermilk Trail in the James River Park and out at Pocahontas State Park this weekend.  There’s plenty of work to be done. We need your help!

Buttermilk Access Trail (JRP):
This weekend we’ll be working on an access trail that provides a connection to Buttermilk from Riverside Drive between 25th and 26th streets. There is an old access via a steep set of stairs that will be closed after the new trail is put into place.

We will be meeting at 9 a.m. at the parking lot at Riverside Drive and 22nd Street right across from Canoe Run Park (https://goo.gl/maps/pND9snKWFLk) and will walk to the work site from there.

Pocahontas State Park Dual Slalom:
Saturday will be the first volunteer work day on the new dual slalom course going in at Pocahontas.  This is going to be a huge addition to the already wide variety of trails at the park. When finished we’ll have two side by side lines where you can race your friends from top to bottom!  Meet at the Swift Creek parking lot (7298 Courthouse Road, Chesterfield, VA) at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Sports Backers, in partnership with Ragnar Relay, announced a new event today — the ‘Run Bike Relay presented by Ragnar‘ to be held on June 22-23, 2018.

The overnight relay event will go from Richmond to Jamestown and back, utilizing trails in the James River Park System, the Virginia Capital Trail, the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge, and the Greensprings Greenway Trail in James City County, among others, as participants aim to complete this new relay event on foot and by bike.

Registration is now open for the event at www.sportsbackers.org, and the course map can be found at the following link: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/fullscreen/1969794191/. During the relay, teams of four, two, or even solo racers will bike and run a 120-mile route from Virginia’s capital city to Jamestown and then trek back to Richmond. There are a total of 12 segments made up of six running and six biking legs<https://www.sportsbackers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/run-bike-relay-format.jpg>. The running segments range in length from four to six miles and consist mostly of dirt trails, while the biking segments range from 13 to 20 miles and will occur on paved trails. Each participant will complete at least three sections of the course, with the specific order determined by each team.

Ragnar offers the largest overnight relay series in the United States, and the Run Bike Relay marks the second time that Sports Backers and Ragnar are partnering for an event, after the Ragnar Trail RVA event, now in its third year at Pocahontas State Park. Sports Backers and Ragnar share a goal of visiting inspiring and scenic destinations, and the James River Park trail system and Virginia Capital Trail, among other course highlights, will provide a challenging backdrop for Run Bike Relay participants.

The Virginia Capital Trail will feature prominently in the new race.

“The Run Bike Relay provides a unique opportunity for participants to experience great active living amenities in an exciting relay format,” said Jon Lugbill, Executive Director of Sports Backers. “We continue to evolve and keep innovation at the forefront of our events, and this is a great opportunity to work with a fellow industry leader in Ragnar to bring new events to the region.”

The Virginia Capital Trail Foundation is the official event charity of the Run Bike Relay presented by Ragnar. Their mission is to enhance, promote, and advocate for the continued development of the Virginia Capital Trail, a 52-mile dedicated multi-use trail connecting Richmond and Williamsburg along the historic and scenic Route 5 corridor. Registration for regular (four-person), ultra (two person), and solo (one person) teams is now available at www.sportsbackers.org, with a June 15 entry deadline.

A section of about-to-be-improved Buttermilk Trail. Credit: RVA MORE

… we salute you!

Full credit to the newsletter writers at RVA MORE, Richmond’s mountain bike/trail-building club, for that sweet headline. What’s it about? It’s about the epic new re-route of an eroded section of Buttermilk Trail. Those same headline writers are also rock luggers, and they need your help.

This Saturday we’ll start the process of building the rock features that will make up the advanced line option for the Buttermilk re-route.  We’ve got a lot of BIG rock staged along the trail, now it’s time to put it all into place.  There will be plenty of work to go around so we need your help on this one.  Don’t miss the opportunity to put your mark on the JRPS’ newest trail feature.  

We will be meeting at 9 am at the parking lot at Riverside drive and 22nd street, right across from canoe run park (https://goo.gl/maps/pND9snKWFLk) and will walk to the work site from there.   Please bring water, sturdy work shoes, and gloves.

Today we released our third “Views from the Treehouse” podcast, recorded in RO’s secret treehouse headquarters. Our first two featured Ralph White (one podcast cannot contain the greatness that is the former James River Park manager). In this one, Matt Perry and I sat down with Catherine “Cat” Anthony. The VCU grad hasn’t been out of college for a decade, but just last fall she was installed as the the new executive director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation. She’s charged with shaping the future of one of the Central Virginia’s most popular outdoor recreation resources — the 52-mile ribbon of asphalt that runs from Richmond to Jamestown and drew over 1 million visits last year. What’s her vision for the trail? What will it’s economic impact be? How safe is it? How will we fund its continued maintenance? All these questions — and our usual James Lipton-esque rapid fire session at the end — are a click away!

Check it out!

Editor’s note: The fall and winter are the lower usage times for trails in Central Virginia, and thus are when most of the trail building and rebuilding take place. This is the first in a seasonal series on the trail work projects taking place in the region.

If you’ve run, biked, walked your dog, or otherwise traversed Richmond’s North bank Trail in the past few days, you’ve probably noticed a gleaming new wooden bridge spanning the small gulley near the trail’s eastern end. (The area in question is where the flat gravel trail meets a steep, rocky section behind the Dominion headquarters. It’s the first bridge heading west from downtown.)

The entrance to the new North Bank Trail bridge heading east toward downtown.

City trails manager Mike Burton said he and his crew had originally hoped to keep some of the structure intact and repurpose other pieces. They realized that wasn’t possible once they removed a few boards and stringers.

“We were able to just push the entire frame over,” he said.

The bridge was as old as the North Bank Trail itself — more than a decade — and was built entirely by volunteers. It saw tons of traffic, as the James River Park System trail usage has exploded in recent years, but it was becoming a danger.

Burton said they spent about $1,800 on materials to rebuild the structure. Some of that money came from mountain bike/trail building club RVA MORE, and some came from the Sports Backers’ James River Park Fund, which racers are prompted to give to when they sign up for some Riverrock events and the SB’s Trails and Ales.

The new bridge looking west.

Burton said the bridge is “real similar” to the old one in terms of how users enter and exit it. The line hasn’t really changed, just the structural integrity.

North Bank was closed for a few days while the work was completed, but it’s back open now. Next up for Burton, Andrew Alli and the rest of the trail crew: completing the already-in-progress jump park in Gillies Creek Park next to the BMX racecourse.