First, a thank you. Readership at Chicago Bike Racing is at an all-time high, and we’re still two three weeks away from our first outdoor race. It helps me keep doing what I do knowing there are so many of you following along.

Second, some news: I spent the weekend changing content management systems here at CBR world headquarters. Good-bye, Movable Type. Hello, Expression Engine.

Here is a new RSS feed, and here is an RSS feed of the comments.

Most changes will be invisible, but you will notice this: You must now register in order to post comments.

Why? I got tired of having to monitor comment spam. Also, a recent spate of anonymous posting made me sad. I don’t mind people being anonymous. I don’t mind people who are jerks. What I can’t abide are people who are both. You can still remain anonymous, but you must have a valid e-mail address on file in order to post.

The upside is that comments will now appear instantaneously. You can also edit your personal information so that your team appears with each comment, and you can select a Web site to include instead of your e-mail.

You may already have an account! If you commented at any time over the past year and included your e-mail address, the system has automatically created an account for you. Submit your e-mail address at this page and your password will be mailed to you.

To create a new account, go to this registration page. Accounts are automatically approved. This should not take more than a few seconds.

I have a few kinks to work out (categories did not transfer well) but please feel to report any bugs. This switch should make my job easier, and it should help introduce new features in the future. Expect a major overhaul sometime in the next few months, depending on how much training I want to cut into.