No sooner had I gotten home from a 2 week road trip when I heard that a crew from the Appomattox River Company - Farmville and Ashland stores was headed out with Riverside Outfitters in Richmond to get a taste of whitewater paddleboard SUP on the James River. I was stoked! Though tired from traveling the Louisiana to Tennessee to Virginia circuit, for the Kayak Fishing Boondoggle and the Jackson Dealer Summit, this was something I'd wanted to do for a long time. I was psyched to go paddling with all the fellas from work!

*I'll have write-ups on the Boondoggle and the Summit soon.

We met up at Riverside Outfitters camp in urban RVA. It's a little slice of outdoor heaven.

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Ben Moore, BIC SUP / Werner Paddle Pro, and "Get Mitch Or Die Tryin" Davis from Riverside were on board to guide us down the James River. Not sure you could ask for two better trip leaders. These guys are top notch.

We drove to the put-in and Ben launched into his safety talk, outlining what we could expect and what he expected from us.

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Soon we were in the water, on our boards, and testing out our river legs. We played a little paddle-board chicken, seeing who would stay on their feet the longest in a head on collision before dropping to the safety of their knees.

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After a short on-the-water instructional period, we started paddling down the beautiful James. We came up on our first ripple and Brian Graham and Brian Vande Sande immediately jumped in and started trying to surf it. They did pretty darn good too!

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We were all paddling Jackson Kayak SuperCharger SUPs while our guides, Ben And Mitch, paddled BIC SUPs. We all had Werner SUP Paddles. Most of the guys were decked out in various dry-suits, etc from Immersion Research, Kokatat, and Bomber Gear.

I did not do as well surfing, but it didn't stop me from smiling.

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And the Immersion Research Zephyr Jacket was a fantastic fall paddling jacket. It was comfortable, warm and stylish. Style is pretty important, you know, "Look Good, Paddle Good."

We took a brief respite above Choo-Choo Rapids to soak it all in and get ready for our first big test on the boards. Who would make it standing up? But first, the views of RVA and the James River.

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And then it was time to charge!

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First Ben Moore got in place to point us in the right direction.

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Then Mitch Davis showed us the line, with style.

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And then it was on! Sterling Beagle, one of the top-dogs in ARC-Farmville Kayak Shipping, scored the most style points by riding his edge through the wave train.

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Coltin Cosby, ARC-Farmville and ARC-Ashland, had the bumpiest ride, almost lost it, but stayed on the board.

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And Big Al, whose been with us for 15 years and been on this earth for much longer, chose the wise move of just riding it out on his knees. I personally love it when Big Al joins us on these adventures, though I'm not always sure he does. ;) ....(He stated that he had a blast and would do it again.)

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We all made it through safely thanks to our great guides, Ben and Mitch. There were more fun little wave trains along the way, including Mitchell's Gut, and everyone did awesome. It was such a good time and all of us walked away saying we would do this again and more importantly, that we wanted to do it again very soon. It is a blast!

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The crew at Riverside Outfitters is fantastic. These guys and gals carry a lot of passion for the James River scene in Richmond. They are advocates, ambassadors and die-hard users for and of this amazing resource. I urge you to contact them and get in on a trip. The water is cool right now, but with proper gear, some sunshine and the help of guides like Ben and Mitch, you are guaranteed a great time. The leaves are falling, and there is color everywhere. Get outside. Seriously, do it. I wasn't fully a believer until this trip. River SUP is a smile inducing good time. You might just find yourself screaming with excitement.

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I'll post the rest of our trip photos on our Facebook Page tomorrow. Check them out there.