Over and over again this season I have been impressed by the effort exerted by race organizers to put on quality races. People are losing sleep, shoveling snow, working for months and months beforehand, and collecting sponsors just so we can race. The sheer effort required to put on the Capitol Square sprints here in Madison is more apparent than at any other race so far. They had to close off city streets, deal with tons of bureaucracy, make snow, truck it in, and set up a ski course. It's as though someone decided to build a playground for me this weekend, put me up for free (top 4 of each gender in SuperTour rankings get free lodging at the next supertour), AND pay me to race. I've entered some kind of altered reality.

and i like it