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2007 Jefferson Cup Bike Race - Charlottesville VA
A friend of mine was in this race, so I hung out with his wife and took shots. The Jefferson Cup kicks off the Bike racing season for a lot of folks in the Va-Md-Dc area. It's held just south of town on a selection of great roads. Although there were a ton of riders, it was one of the most laid back races I've seen. Really, in most cases everyone looked like they were out for a ride, as opposed to a race.
We got there JUST as the womens race was finishing up.
Some of the racers looked beat...
...Others looked like they had just hopped on the bike, rather then racing for 40 miles.
...And a few looked ecstatic to have finished - what a smile.
As luck would have it, I was close by when the winner of the Womens Heat was announced. The lady on the right took 1st. Funny part was she did not hear the announcement, but was swarmed by her teammates.
The racers were surrounded by a rolling barricade of motorcycles and support cars. BMW was well represented... only 1 of the 7 or so bikes I saw Marshalling the race was NOT a BMW.
After the two lead bikes would clear, the pack would crest the hill. I took a few wide angle on the road shots that didn't really come out the way I wanted. Cool thing about trying was laying there in the grass as the leading wind was being pushed from the front of the pack.
Excuse me sir... do you know your being followed?
Wonder what he's thinking?
After the pack leaves... you wait. Watching an entire 40 mile Bike race is mostly boring... there is not the same energy level as watching / shooting a time trial or a cycledrome - but we had 2 things going for us: 1) It was a wonderful day to hang outside
2) There was a Winery nearby that the race went by.
(Random little tree on the Winery counter as we collect a glass of sparkling wine.)
This Marshall looked kinda annoyed the whole race
This guy seemed to move between heats. There were 3 groups on the road as we waited to catch a snap of Erica's husband. Musical Ride Marshalls made it really hard to predict what group was coming up the hill.
Regardless of what pack was coming, most folks kicked it up a notch on the last lap
...Except this guy. He saw some friends hangin out at the winery and pulled over to chat.
After the pack left, we cut back over to the finish line. I got into a nice spot juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust as the group was coming in to finish
This guy was ultimately the winner... he and the two other racers in the frame got into a screaming sprint for the end.
Now, the main reason I was there was to catch a couple of snaps of Chris... but since he stuck inside the pack for the entire race doing the team thing, I could only get him at the end, but I think it's a pretty cool shot as they go.
This is but a tiny, web friendly sample of what I shot that day. I took home about 500 shots, about 300 are usable. I learned that shooting a bike race is a hellava lot different then shooting an Enduro. Although I was typically pleased with my telephoto shots, I now have a big case of glass envy - time to upgrade to the pro-sumer level.
We got there JUST as the womens race was finishing up.
Some of the racers looked beat...
...Others looked like they had just hopped on the bike, rather then racing for 40 miles.
...And a few looked ecstatic to have finished - what a smile.
As luck would have it, I was close by when the winner of the Womens Heat was announced. The lady on the right took 1st. Funny part was she did not hear the announcement, but was swarmed by her teammates.
The racers were surrounded by a rolling barricade of motorcycles and support cars. BMW was well represented... only 1 of the 7 or so bikes I saw Marshalling the race was NOT a BMW.
After the two lead bikes would clear, the pack would crest the hill. I took a few wide angle on the road shots that didn't really come out the way I wanted. Cool thing about trying was laying there in the grass as the leading wind was being pushed from the front of the pack.
Excuse me sir... do you know your being followed?
Wonder what he's thinking?
After the pack leaves... you wait. Watching an entire 40 mile Bike race is mostly boring... there is not the same energy level as watching / shooting a time trial or a cycledrome - but we had 2 things going for us: 1) It was a wonderful day to hang outside
2) There was a Winery nearby that the race went by.
(Random little tree on the Winery counter as we collect a glass of sparkling wine.)
This Marshall looked kinda annoyed the whole race
This guy seemed to move between heats. There were 3 groups on the road as we waited to catch a snap of Erica's husband. Musical Ride Marshalls made it really hard to predict what group was coming up the hill.
Regardless of what pack was coming, most folks kicked it up a notch on the last lap
...Except this guy. He saw some friends hangin out at the winery and pulled over to chat.
After the pack left, we cut back over to the finish line. I got into a nice spot juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust as the group was coming in to finish
This guy was ultimately the winner... he and the two other racers in the frame got into a screaming sprint for the end.
Now, the main reason I was there was to catch a couple of snaps of Chris... but since he stuck inside the pack for the entire race doing the team thing, I could only get him at the end, but I think it's a pretty cool shot as they go.
This is but a tiny, web friendly sample of what I shot that day. I took home about 500 shots, about 300 are usable. I learned that shooting a bike race is a hellava lot different then shooting an Enduro. Although I was typically pleased with my telephoto shots, I now have a big case of glass envy - time to upgrade to the pro-sumer level.
--Kres
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