By Jonathan O'Keeffe
Published 01/26/2023; Updated 01/26/2023

Week Four of our Thursday night race series took us to another Tour de Zwift stage, this one on the “Everything Bagel” course in New York’s Central Park. This is a tough course, 21+ miles, with an ascent up each side of the KOM, and a smaller sharp climb in the middle.

We started with about 160 riders, and the field shattered immediately on the first climb, which comes just a mile or so into the race. A few riders went off the front and were never seen again. Dusty settled into the first chase group, and Zinj and I the second, with Melissa, Henry, and Tim not far behind. About halfway through, the first two chase groups merged, and I briefly caught sight of Dusty, before he dropped me again on the second time up the KOM. Melissa dropped her chain near the top and had to hop off the bike to fix it, covering herself with grease in the process, but still managed to hold on to a pretty good position. Dusty stayed up front close to the leaders and turned in an impressive 11th-place finish, while Tim, making the most of his Category-C status (while it lasts), took the win on points, and extended his overall lead in the series.

Results for Week Four:

  1. Tim Downey (C) – 29 of 113 – 97.8 points
  2. Dusty King (B) – 11 of 113 – 95.7 points
  3. Zinj Guo (B) – 14 of 113 – 92.9 points
  4. Melissa Warwick (B) – 39 of 113 – 90.6 points
  5. Jonathan O’Keeffe (B) – 18 of 113 – 89.2 points
  6. Henry van den Broek (B) – 25 of 113 – 82.7 points

Season Standings after Week Four

  1. Tim Downey (4 races) – 398.2 points
  2. Dusty King (4 races) – 376.8 points
  3. Zinj Guo (4 races) – 375.5 points
  4. Melissa Warwick (4 races) – 371.2 points
  5. Jonathan O’Keeffe (4 races) – 362.3 points
  6. Henry van den Broek (4 races) – 344.8 points
  7. Chris Stratton (2 races) – 140.6 points
  8. Charlie Bailey (1 race) – 74.4 points