FRIDAY UPDATE: Lemont’s Christian Vandevelde (Garmin-Chipotle), 5th place in this year’s Tour de France, will be among the stars in Sunday’s USPRO championship. Neat! Check out the preliminary start lists for this and other fields at the race Web site.

Seems like yesterday we were getting snowed out of races in Kenosha, and now already the season’s most prestigious local races and the final major crits are at hand.

Just like at Elk Grove, amateur races at Downers Grove are longer than in the abbreviated 2007 schedule. On Saturday, 4’s will again be racing with the 3’s, but the 3’s get their own race Sunday, so many may opt to do only that. Saturday evening’s pro-am doesn’t start until 7 p.m., and I’m curious how dark things will get.

Expect the races to be fast, wild and woolly on this figure-8 course. This is a very technical course, so it’s crucial to be up front and out of danger. One can get through these turns without braking up front where it’s single-file, but in the bunch it can be a mess.

For God’s sake, do not bomb these corners, people, unless you keep a stack of “Sorry I crashed you out” cards in your glove compartment. That hole you see on the inside is not really there.

Because of the turns and climbs, it won’t take long for the 5’s races to splinter. Keep an eye on the gaps and always be ready to jump across. And if you fall off the pace, don’t be surprised if officials pull you from the course.

If you haven’t seen it already, find a way this week to watch “Race Day,” a training video shot from within the 2005 masters race. It’s oh so very Robbie Ventura (Vision Quest), but it’s an unbeatable way to preview the course.

Someday someone should make a video for how to survive the “race before the race,” a spectacle that at Downers Grove is as pivotal as it is absurd. Watch! As riders abandon their warm-ups to crowd the barriers 20 minutes before their races! See! The officials insist on pre-riding the course! Laugh! At the suckers who do so! Behold! The riders who cruise down Main Street and insert themselves at the front of the waiting pack, as if they had called ahead for reservations. Listen! As everyone else grumbles and curses!

A few notes about the course:

Turn 1: The best way to do well is to get to the front and stay there. This means sprinting for the first corner like it was the end of the race and not the beginning. Fortunately you’ve been practicing your clip-in.

Between Turns 2 and 3: Here’s a long, shallow climb. If there’s room, it’s a great spot to make up some ground. Keep an eye out for people moving up the sides and grab them for a free ride.

Between Turns 3 and 5: At Turn 4 there’s a short, steep kicker. If you’re going to attack, do it here. My admonitions against riding the inside notwithstanding, it’s sometimes safe to squeeze by there since the pack isn’t taking the corner at speed. Better, however, is to take it outside and come around everyone. You can advance a lot of positions on the wide, fast descent, but the trick is going to be getting back inside the pack by the time you get to Turn 5, an obtuse angle that can be taken super fast. You don’t want to have to create your own line and risk running out of room. If you see you can’t slide behind someone’s wheel by Turn 5, go ahead and eat the wind by going all the way to the front so you have the entire road at your disposal.

Turn 5: On the last lap and on any big prime laps, the pack may bunch up ahead of this turn. Nobody wants to be in the wind too early, and some will still be recovering from the climb. You can exploit this hesitation by jumping hard. Don’t even look back to see if you’re clear.  Ride it like you stole it and there’s a chance you’ll stay away. Not a good chance, but a chance, and even if you fail, this can be a good way to create opportunities for your team’s sprinter.

Between Turns 7 and 8: Turn 7 is slightly less than 90 degrees, and I recall there being some dodgy pavement on the far side of Curtiss Street, so don’t take Turn 7 too wide. Even the legendary Steve Tilford (HRRC/Trek Stores) hit the curb coming out of this corner last year. Depending on the wind, you’ll probably want to ride up the right side, however, so you can get the right apex at Turn 8 and to block people from charging up that side.

Turn 8: From the last corner it’s 150 meters to the finish line. Good luck! There’s a climb through the start/finish area, so be sure not to be overgeared coming out of Turn 8. If it’s the last lap, you’re going to want to be first or second coming into the turn. Keep in mind that you’ll be going faster on the last lap, so you might not be able to take the same line as on other laps -- keep your inside pedal up. No, really, I mean it. Even the pros will wipe out here, as Ventura demonstrated in spectacular fashion on the last lap of the 2004 national championship, and about 30 others demonstrated in the rain-soaked 2007 edition.

As always, your mileage may vary. Feel free to consult last year’s wrap-up to learn from other racers’ experiences.

Have fun, ride safe and enjoy all the weekend’s races. Sunday’s pro race is always a treat, and the crowd will roar waiting to see which Canadian, Australian or Cuban will win and which American will come in 2nd. And don’t forget to play the national championship drinking game: Take a swig of Southern Comfort every time an announcer refers to the “Stars and Bars” on the line.

Saturday and Sunday
Downers Grove National Criterium Championships
USCF criteriums
Downers Grove, Ill.
Distance from Chicago: .5 hours