Paddling the Rivanna River –the whole thing

I hate the phrase “bucket list,” but yesterday I was able to check off an item that has been on my bucket list for a couple years.

Paddling buddy Dave and I jumped in our kayaks and paddled the entire length of the Rivanna River from just below the dam at the South Rivanna Reservoir in Charlottesville to the James River at Columbia, VA.  This was a training run for our upcoming 100-mile James River Rundown.

I paddled my new-to-me Prijon Beluga and Dave paddled his Epic V7 surf ski.  He definitely, once again, had the boat advantage and I probably pushed myself a little too hard trying to keep up.

We started at 6am but paddled through the heat of the day on a very hot day and it has taken me most of today to recover.  Maybe a little heat stroke or maybe a little sinus infection, I remember rolling on my side in my sleep last night and waking up and feeling dizzy.  And again this morning, when I bent over I felt dizzy.  So I took it easy all morning and early afternoon and am back on track this evening.

Nutrition yesterday consisted of bacon and eggs with coffee for breakfast, a couple of Epic bars and water along the way, a “cheat” snack of a MusclePharm Combat Crunch bar at one point when the heat was getting to me and I felt weak, and 1 Nuun tablet in water.

Now I’m feeling good and I have a sense of accomplishment.  It took us 7-3/4 hours of paddling at 5.8mph over the 44.1 miles and we saw countless turtles, Herons, heard a few beaver tail slaps, and were even treated to two American Bald Eagle sightings.