Zoar

Chilly and damp. Hot and humid. Drizzle. Chilly and torrential rains. Mild and humid.

All in a bit over two hours.

That was the weather cycle today during the Zoar road race.

In the 1-2-3 race, I found myself in the lead break of six riders at the base of the final climb, about 3 miles from the finish. The charging bridge group then caught us, and I was unable to hang with the fast guys to the top of the hill. Even the perfectly timed playful romp of the horses in the pasture near the top of the hill couldn't inspire me to turn the pedals fast enough to stay with those guys. So I settled for 16th, which could have been 15th, had I cared enough to contest the "sprint" with an ambulance coming through the finish line the other way en route to tend to the pileup that occurred at the end of the Cat 3/4 race.

Hopefully those guys are all ok.

Thanks again to the Stark crew for putting on this race, which has evolved from a bike race to an institution since I started racing around here.