2009 Jefferson Cup – Charlottesville’s Premier Cycling Road Race
This past Sunday, was the annual Jeff Cup bike races run on the rural roads of Albemarle County south of Charlottesville, VA. This road race has been going on forever and is hosted by the Monticello Velo Club and run by a bunch of cycling friends of mine. I raced in this a few years ago and had a wonderful time – I’ve also photographed the last four editions. This year’s weather looked iffy for the morning races (wet pavement, etc) but it cleared out and the day ended up being glorious.
The one thing I was really disappointed by this year was the behavior of the locals whose houses line the roads that the 10 mile course loops traverses. Apparently someone, the night before the race, broke glass all over the roads – resulting in numerous flat tires. Not only is this really disappointing but it’s pretty damn dangerous for the riders — there were several that had flatted and were rightfully pissed off. The second issue I had was with the farmer who threatened me with trespass charges for photographing on the side of the road — I had a really nice view set up, with great lines (see below)
Then a guy rolls up directly facing me / blocking the road with his Ford pick up truck and insists that I and the others near me leave. We tried to explain that he doesn’t own the shoulder of the public roads but he was having none of it. It was clear that he was going to do whatever he could to ruin my shots and not wanting a confrontation, I moved to the other side of the course – a nice spot but not as scenic as this — it would’ve been really nice to have the peloton stretched out along that hill. Oh well.
My Cycling Photography page… with photos from races since 2006
The Longest Lacrosse Game Ever – UVa defeats UMD 10-9 in 7OT
Yesterday’s NCAA Men’s Lacrosse game between UVA and Maryland was epic. Not because these two rivals were playing or because UVA is undefeated and ranked number 1 and Maryland is #9… but because the game went on forever. Virginia was down 9-6 with 6 or so minutes left in the game when they went on a three goal rally to tie the game and force sudden death overtime. The game seemed over 9 seconds into the first OT when Maryland quickly won the face off and put the ball in the net. UVA got a gift from one of the officials who blew his whistle (twice) just before Maryland shot the ball. The official thought Maryland wanted a timeout as soon as their player entered the box — apparently they didn’t. That then started a long afternoon – Virginia fought of several man-down penalties, while their GK Adam Ghitelman made tremendous save after tremendous save. Finally, in the 7th overtime, a NCAA Division 1 record, UVA’s Brian Carroll scored and ended the game. There were ~5,000 people in attendance — and it was a nice (long) afternoon of lacrosse.
Cavs crush Big Red… sweet save by Ghitelman
Adam Ghitelman made this ridiculous save in the fourth quarter as the #1 ranked UVA men’s lacrosse team dominated #4 Cornell in the second half to seal up a 14-10 victory. I’m still in awe of how UVA’s goalie was able to pull this off — he made the initial save off a Cornell shot, was on the ground and was able to throw his body/arm up enough to keep the ball from hitting net and/or bouncing back off the cross bar. A pretty sweet athletic move.
This was one of the more enjoyable sporting events I’ve covered in the past month or so — mainly because it was sunny with some clouds, a nice wind, and about 80 degrees. I got my first rays of sun for the year, hung out with just about every sports photog in town, and just enjoyed the afternoon. Spring sports are much more relaxing for me than Fall and Winter versions — in the fall football is very stressful (and fun) and in the winter basketball takes a large portion of my life (7 hours+ per game for set up, shooting, tear down, etc… but is still fun)…
Hopefully the weather will stay like this (my pear tree has started to bloom) and the snow of last week is behind us until next year.
Amazing comeback…
The #2 ranked Virginia women’s lacrosse team was down 11-5 with about 15 minutes remaining in the game… it looked like Penn State was going to walk out of Charlottesville with the upset. The UVA ladies battled back, scoring several goals in the final minutes… it was 11-10 with 15 seconds left when the Hoos scored to tie it up and force overtime. Then first-year Julie Gardner (4) scored the go ahead goal in the second overtime period to wrap up the 12-11 win. The cool thing was that there were already several thousand folks in the stadium because the men’s team was due up next to face Cornell. The above shot was the celebration, taken after the tying goal.
Men’s Basketball… having some fun
Today’s UVA v UMD basketball game was the last of the season for me at the John Paul Jones Arena… there’s still the ACC tournament in Atlanta later this week, but as far as home games in the place where I probably spend as much time between November to March as I do my own home, this was it. Maryland came into the game at 7-8 in the league, very much needing a W to keep their chances of a NCAA tournament bid alive. Virginia’s had a pretty rough year with only 3 conference wins prior to today’s 68-63 victory over the Terps.
This shot is of Calvin Baker, who was pretty happy once UVA took the lead over UMD in the second half. After trailing by 13 in the first half, the Wahoos clawed back within one at halftime and built a sizeable lead in the second half… only to have Maryland tie it at 61. Then, on senior day, Mamadi Diane swished a three pointer to seal the victory. That and he had 23 points — not bad for a guy who spent most of the season on the bench.
I was surprised at the number of Maryland fans that invaded the UVA-spring-break-absent-student-section… they were loud and impressive for a road crew. Lots of red clashing with orange in some parts of the stands.
Lots of fun all around….
Women’s Lacrosse… 66 degrees = spring time
This is a shot of Virginia first-year Julie Gardner scoring a goal against Maryland last night. UVA fell 17-11 to the Terps, but it didn’t matter because for me it was the first warm night of the spring sports season — a most excellent occasion that I look forward to each year. In fact, this entire weekend is going to be in the mid 70s including tomorrow’s women’s and men’s lacrosse doubleheaders. It will be nice to get some sun and enjoy an early spring, especially considering that there were several inches of snow on the ground just a few days ago.
Snow Day… photos from around Charlottesville
It took until March, but we finally got a significant snow here in Virginia. I spent my morning and parts of my afternoon driving around Charlottesville and surrounding Albemarle County taking photos. It’s pretty rare that we get a good snow around here (maybe a couple times year) so there were a bunch of places that I had on my list to cover. First I headed on Grounds to UVA where I did a quick shoot of the Lawn/Rotunda areas. The clouds had cleared and left nothing but sunlight and blue skies — pretty cool.
I then headed towards Monticello and stopped at the mill next to Michie Tavern — not much there as everything was closed off. I then went up to Ashlawn-Highland, home of President Monroe, where I took the photo above at the entrance. Took a quick trip up to Afton to see if Skyline and/or Blue Ridge Parkway were open… nope.
Most of the major roads were cleared by this morning, but secondary and some spots of the big roads were covered in snow/ice. Glad I had my Jeep Grand Cherokee instead of a two wheel drive rental car this time. 
Shenandoah NP: White Oak Canyon
Today I decided to get a jump on the approaching winter storm and go for a hike with Sherlock, my Irish Setter, to Shenandoah NP. Problem is that because of snow/ice last night Skyline Drive was closed. This left a few choices — the best of which was White Oak Canyon, just south of Old Rag Mountain (my favorite hike). I was hoping that the moderate dusting of snow that I had in my front yard was an indicator that there would be a little bit more up in the park… not so much – only traces here and there.
Unlike the last “hike” I took, I decided to bring plenty of food and water, and was quite warm with appropriate gear. Sherlock wore his backpack and carried his own water. I just brought my 1Ds w/ 24-70mm lens and took mostly shots of Sherlock. The weather was less than ideal for getting any spectacular shots, so I considered this as mainly a scouting hike to wear the puppy out and determine whether or not it is worth a return trip later in the spring/summer/fall. It absolutely is.
About a mile and a half from the trailhead are the lower White Oak Falls — pretty neat. I was surprised at how tall they were and how much water was flowing. A truly beautiful place. The hike is pretty much an out and back — up hill the entire way and down hill back… there are several amazing falls on the way up each providing really sweet views. Near the top of the falls it started getting colder and the sky got a couple of stops darker, so I figured the snow storm was getting close and turned it around. 15 minutes later it started snowing — my dog enjoyed it and the downhill hike made for a speedy return to the parking lot. I look forward to heading back soon!
Jeff Teague gets the job done for Wake Forest
#13 ranked Wake Forest came to town yesterday — Virginia, who had knocked off previously ranked #12 Clemson a few weeks earlier, hung around for most of the game, but Wake pulled away in the final minutes to seal the ACC road win. This shot was my best remote shot from the game… I’m pretty happy with it — I had the same frame from all my remotes, but this was by far the best angle. Only one more home game this season…
