This year’s Vuelta a España has been chaotic, with moments of real brilliance and monumental dumb bunnyness. About a week ago, Andy Schleck, one of the best bike racers in the world, got tossed out for a late night of drinking, which has got to be the very height of What were you thinking? Yesterday, a crash took out race leader Igor Anton, who got up from the ground but didn’t even get back on the bike. The weather in southern Spain was sunny, with temperatures between 90 and 105 degrees, but at the start of today’s Stage 15, there was rain, fog and about a 50 degree temperature drop. This evening, it’s rained here in New Jersey and the fire’s gone out of the summer. Topaz rests on my lap, content to hold very still, watching, watching.