Signs of an Urban River’s Revival in Virginia

Ten years ago, bathers in the James River, which wends through this old Southern city, wore ear and nose plugs to stave off infections from sewage runoff. Now, the river is stalked by blue herons and shad — symbols as potent as the belching riverbank ironworks and factories of the unfiltered, blue-collar past.

After huge cleanup efforts, unprecedented numbers of tubers, kayakers and fishermen converge here, steps below downtown skyscrapers. On a sunny weekday morning, preparing for his gallery exhibit opening, Aaron Pavelis, 29, was trying to capture the river — his river, an artist’s vision, present tense — with paint and palette: a shimmering contrast of old railroad bridges and trees deep in shadow.

Inspired by the Dutch masters, Mr. Pavelis spread hand-mixed paint “with no modern additives” and delighted in the splashing of the shad. But he was a realist about the river, too. He said he would eat the shad, which have come in from the Atlantic for their spring spawning mission. But what of the catfish that inhabit it year-round?

“I still have my doubts,” he said, watching as a freight train thundered overhead.

Residents remain cautious, too. To protest water pollution in February, a University of Richmond student floated the “James River UFO,” a disc made of feathers, downriver. And in April, the public utilities’ Twitter account warned: “Green water in the James tomorrow is a V.C.U. art student project. Don’t panic. Don’t call. Don’t worry.”

Bathers needed reassurance as well when shad were seen floating on the surface of the river, looking like so many textured brushstrokes of paint. As it turned out, biologists from Virginia Commonwealth University and state agencies were sending electric currents into the water, momentarily stunning but not harming the fish so they could measure the shad’s resurgence.

After almost 20 years of restocking and a fishing moratorium, the fish are a food source for the herons, now some 200 strong, with a rookery on an island in the river. Observant visitors — a record one million are expected this year — can spot the rookery by parking under the elevated train tracks and walking along a narrow gangway built atop a city water pipeline.

Ralph White, the manager of the James River Park System for more than three decades, has watched the river’s transformation from a dammed and divided symbol of Richmond’s Confederate past to a point of modern union. Because of mercury, the biggest catfish — some run to 50 pounds — are still not yet fit to eat, he concedes.

But “a five-pounder,” he adds reassuringly, “is quite excellent.”

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Urban Athlete: Hop, Skip and a Jump to Fitness

 

In a few meetings he showed me how to skip rope properly and created a workout that I could do on my own. I started with a basic jump, two feet at a time, and eventually graduated to fancier moves. It turned out that a child’s idea of playground fun could be an effective fitness tool for an adult: after two months of jumping several times a week, I was lighter than I had been before my wedding.

Mr. Jackowski, who also wrote the book “Jump Into Fitness,” describes jumping rope as an intensive cardiovascular workout that has one-fifth the impact on the back and the knees as running and burns more calories in less time.

“Jumping rope for 10 minutes at 150 turns per minute is equal to 30 minutes of running between six and seven miles per hour,” he said.

Exude offers one-on-one sessions at your home or at one of its eight locations in the city, but there are other places to jump in a group setting.

Aerospace, a boutique gym in the meatpacking district, incorporates ropes in many of its classes, including boxing and sculpting. It also has a dedicated class called Aerojump offered in 30- and 60-minute sessions.

Classes start with two-foot jumps and progress to jumping jacks, arm crossovers, forward and back steps, jumping on one foot and making double turns that require exercisers to jump up and spin the rope twice before landing. The only short breaks involve the use of light weights for upper- and lower-body work. Classes, for 10 to 15 participants, take place in a spacious room.

Michael Olajide, the former boxer who teaches the classes, said that skippers of all levels were welcome and that there was no pressure to do every move.

“It’s natural to start slow and take breaks,” he said. “But eventually you will build up your endurance enough to be able to do the whole class.”

Jeremy Abelson, a 30-year-old from the West Village who works in finance, said that he had been attending twice a week for the past two years and that the program had transformed his body. “I lost more than 15 pounds right away and went from undefined abs to an eight-pack,” he said.

The Sports Center at Chelsea Piers offers two rope-heavy classes for aspiring jumpers: the hourlong Interval Box intersperses five to seven skipping sets with boxing moves, like punching in different directions, and the 30-minute High Velocity features constant skipping with stops for a few exercises for the arms, abs and legs. The instructor of both, Pamela Carton, said that she blared house music and turned out the lights to simulate the feeling of a nightclub.

Those touches make the workout less painful, said Dana Morgenstern, 32, a fashion designer who lives in Chelsea. “The time goes by so fast that I don’t realize how hard I’ve worked until it’s over,” she said.

As for me, I still swear by my plastic purple jump rope. It helped me slim down seven years ago and has even inspired my husband, Mahir, to start skipping. After all, we want to add years to our marriage, not pounds to our frames.

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