All week the forecast was for rain. Status quo? Not for the 2000 edition of the Jefferson Cup. Some good weather blew over the Eastern Continental Divide and brought with it some windy, warm weather and the areaÕs top Cat 1/2 teams (Snow Valley, Pax Velo, HDK, NCVC, MVC, Lifetime Results, ecetera). Oh, and Brian Walton (Saturn) and some very strong collegiate riders, well into their season, rounded out the field of 100 riders. Said one contestant, "I enjoy it when he [Walton] shows up to local events. He alone adds a whole new dimension to the race. Everybody watched and talked (on their cute little radios) about Walton the whole time he was there (in the bunch)".

As the peloton snaked out of the parking lot of the Walton Middle School; John Boy waved goodbye and the riders made their way, neutrally, to the start of the ten-mile circuit. The race was seven times around the rolling circuit. The par cours was a triangle; out, up and down some rollers; with a tailwind on the first side; always stretching the pack out; there was no advatange to hanging out trying to catch a draft. At the end of this long rolling stretch, the road goes downhill to a sharp right turn and into the only real climb. This short, big-ring climb would drop people toward the top and was where the winning attack was launched. However, the following downhill and the headwind would slow things up in the front, enabling riders, who had been dropped, to catch back on. From there, it was rolling and turning back to the finish line. Scenic farms, meadows, picket fences, and forests; the whole way.

The rolling enclosure really makes this road race a gem on the East Coast. "The Jefferson Cup is always one of those prestigious races where the riders come out of the woodwork to race", said Jon Wirsing (Snow Valley). This year, the weather and terrain made the race, which turned out something like this: Many attacks and the field would go two-by-two, single file; small breaks would form; even with good combinations nothing got anything more than a tiny gap on the first four laps before being brought back. The warm weather incited hard racing; and the wind made it hard for anything to get away. No sooner was one break caught, but another one was the launched. The better the combination, the longer it would stay away. However, since none of the breaks on the first four laps had Walton in them, everything came back together. Gruppo compacto. This was classic Euro-style racing. Textbook. Strong teams and riders controlled the race; they made it hard. They stacked the deck in their favor, expending energy to set the stage for the final laps where the race would be decided.

On the fifth of seven laps, Skip Menard (Snow Valley) and James Marsh (Pax Velo) were clear with a small group. Sensing that the end was near, Brian Walton bridged up to the lead group with Jon Wirsing (Snow Valley) and others. After the break got a gap, some sorting out was done by an attack by one of the collegiate riders and Walton. The difference between a top finish and being swallowed up by the pack was small.

This first group contained Walton and the two collegians, whom Walton would eventually drop for the win; the second group was Menard and Glen Randall (Lifetime Results. Randall would outsprint Menard for 2nd with Wirsing coming in later to take 4th after being caught by MVC's hard-charging Roger Friend (5th).

After the lead break was gone and out of sight on the fast, tight course, the main pack quickly turned into the laughing group. Any riders that had come to race had already tried their hand at getting into a break or two and were now shot; tried to escape the Autobus (and its chattering conductor, Ed Shephard); or simply were hanging on for a quick ride to the finish. With one lap to go Ralph Muoio (MVC), John Holmes (LSV), and James Wagner (DC Velo) bridged up Dean Rittenhouse (Snow Valley) and Tommy Holland (HDK) who had already escaped the peloton. Another small group that included Mike Davis (Pax Velo), Steve Lusby (LSV), and others got away on the finishing stretch while others were content to setup for the field sprint.

Results:
1st Brian Walton (Saturn)

2nd Glenn Randall (Lifetime Results)
3rd Skip Menard (Snow Valley)
4th Jon Wirsing (Snow Valley)
5th Roger Friend (MVC)
6th John Holmes (Lateral Stress Velo)
7th James Wagner (DC Velo Club)
8th Ralph Muoio (MVC)
9th Tommy Holland (HDK)
10th Dean Rittenhouse (Snow Valley)
11th Steve Lusby (Lateral Stress Velo)
12th Mike Davis (PaxVelo)
13th Chris Schmidt (NCVC)
14th Michael Stearns (HDK)
15th Mark Light (Snow Valley)
16th Gary Anger (Lifetime Results)
17th Pedo Hijar (Lifetime Results)
18th Joe Cline (Snapdragon)