RIVERROCK 2013 : Part 3

 Until going to Riverrock I did not know about slacklining. Slacklining is a sport that combines skateboarding style tricks with gymnastic flips and jumps, all while balancing on a 3 inch wide strap suspended four feet in the air. The competitors are judged on trick difficulty, style, and of course staying on the slack line.

 Random trivia about this guy you don't know - he was a backup dancer on one of Madonna's recent tours.

 The slackliners maintain intense focus on the end of the high tension line to monitor where in space they are while they flip, spin, and bounce.

 The Boulder Bash was fun to watch. Class eliminations were held through out the day to establish the roster for the night's final event. Between each event the wall builders changed the location of the holds. The whole group of climbers in the class were given five minutes at the start of their event to view the new hold positions and plan their route to the top. The climbers were then escorted to a holding area without a view of the wall to wait for their turns. Two climbers went at a time, usually the Men's class on one side of the split wall and the Women's class on the other side. Each climber had six minutes to get as high up the wall as possible.

 Nothing like hanging upside down, twenty feet above some thin safety pads.

 This girl made two of the most exciting moves of the night. Here she saves a fall by hanging off a single hand hold for almost forty seconds before she managed to propel herself to a hold that is out of the top of the photo.

RIVERROCK 2013 : Part 2

 Riverrock 2013 offered attendees many activities. The festival is free with the only cost being the purchase of an alcohol bracelet should you choose to drink. There were many vendors there but the atmosphere was pretty relaxed - it was more like you and your buddies hanging out talking about gear instead of a trade show 'gotta sell something' type thing.

Redbull brought a tricked out International truck that converted into a giant video game system complete with a mega watt stereo. The truck was surrounded for most of the day by twenty-something year old males playing the video games.

 Ruffwear makes some neat stuff for the outdoor dog on the go.

 Subaru brought a handful of new cars to tempt the crowds including this very nice WRX. 

I was very interested until I looked at the price tag!

 Jackson Kayaks held demos for you to try a kayak or a stand up paddleboard.

 This girl was handling the SUP (stand up paddleboard) quite well until about five seconds after I snapped the shot. She noticed me taking the photo, smirked, and promptly lost her balance. She was still drying out two hours later.

 There were dog dock jumping contests. I talked to the guy running the jump for a good bit in the morning. He travels the US with his truck and jump trailer attending festival all summer long. The 35 foot trailer ramps up to the edge of a large pool that he sets up at each event.

 This is the dock jump guy's dog. This dog was FOCUSED. Once he knew it was his time to jump his eyes never left the ball. Not once. 

 Just like any festival, there were plenty of people to watch.

 Some of those in attendance had a unique sense of style.

This girl brought her hoop to dance with.

 Yes, she is wearing a set of fairy wings.

 This girl drew a few looks.

 This is one of the racers waiting for his group to start. He rides an Airborne bicycle - the same brand I own. To see another Airborne rider around here is fairly unusual as Airborne is a small company that sells very small numbers of bikes each year.

 More colorful attendees.

 There were bands playing from about 10am until the festival ended at 11pm. I don't know the name of this band but they played pretty early, to a small crowd of about 20. I felt bad for them because they were quite good.

 Anders Osborne. I had never heard of Anders before but I am now a huge fan. About 9pm, a guy stepped onto the stage looking like a roughneck fresh off the rig and proceeded to rip through some awesome rock-n-roll. Sweet sounding, hard driving rock-n-roll!

 The view from the sound 'booth'.

RIVERROCK 2013 : Part 1

Back in May I went to check out the Dominion Riverrock festival in Richmond, Virginia. This annual event, sponsored by Dominion Power, is a celebration of the outdoors and outdoor sports. The festival is held on Brown's Island which sits in the middle of the James River in downtown, big city Richmond.

 The two bridges above connect Brown's Island to the City of Richmond while the footbridge below connects the city with Belle's Isle. Belle's Isle played a deadly role in the Civil War - as the site of a prison camp where many thousands of prisoners died due to weather exposure and starvation. Today Belle's Isle is a treasured park within the heart of the James River Park System that caters to all outdoor enthusiasts.

 The footbridge allows walkers, runners, and bicyclists to access the island without dealing with the dangerous flow of traffic crossing the highway bridge above. The footbridge steps across the river in graceful arcs that at one point place people more than 45 feet in the air above the water.

By arriving at the festival location super early in the morning I was able to get a wonderful parking spot - and was able to access almost any place I wanted. Apparently when people see a guy walking around early in the morning with a camera they assume that guy is a paid professional with an All Access Pass. Score!

This is the calm before the storm. Literally. The series of mountain bike races held throughout the weekend started on this lonely stretch of pavement before winding quickly into the surrounding dirt trails. Two hours after this photo was taken, the road was covered in four inches of swiftly running water from a very serious storm. Where was I during the downpour? Underneath the railroad trestle trying to keep my camera dry. My socks and shoes were soaked within seconds but the camera stayed dry!

 A local artist created this "LOVE" statue with event related items.

 This is the Start/Finish of the Mud Run. Best it looked all day. By noon, runners were losing shoes and getting stuck as deep as their knees in the muck and mire.

 One of the old bridges across the James. This bridge was constructed with iron from the Tredegar Iron Works that is located less than 200 yards away. This bridge was built to replace one of many burnt by the Confederates as they fled Richmond in 1865.

 Yes. Yes that IS a tractor trailer with beer taps all the way down the side. This was a very popular place all weekend long!

 Stand Up Paddle Boarding. For when plain 'ol kayaking has lost it's edge.

 Due to the streets being blocked off for pedestrian traffic the kayakers had to carry their boats about a mile to get them to the water's edge. 

 This group is holding a yoga session on paddle boards. They did not remain seated and did a full range of positions. This crew did things that made the Stand Up Paddle guys look like weenies!

 There were plenty of food vendors.

....to be continued.