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