Everybody’s favorite reason to call in sick returns this week when the Tuesday Night Criterium Series resumes in Matteson. From April 8 until September, races will start at 6 p.m. at the Ace Hardware paint factory, and with construction completed on the Dan Ryan, it should take less than an hour to get there from the city.

Opening night will be special: We will first pause to remember Pieter Ombregt (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), whom we lost in September. We’ll celebrate him with a few words, a moment of silence and a memorial lap. Our hosts the South Chicago Wheelmen ask that people arrive and take care of paperwork early so that the memorial -- and then the racing -- can start promptly.

(We won’t be the only ones honoring Pieter this week. His father, Ludwig Ombregt (XXX Racing-AthletiCo), will honor him by riding the Ronde van Vlaanderen route Saturday. “I plan to do about 180 km,” he says. “The whole trip as Pieter used to do will be a bit long.” God bless the Belgians, for whom 180 km is the “short” route.)

Just $7 gets you three races each night at Matteson. Lengths will be announced before each race and will largely depend on the available daylight. Racers are split into two fields: A for 1’s, 2’s, 3’s and ambitious 4’s and women, and B for 4’s, 5’s, juniors and women. The two groups race concurrently. Don’t be surprised if one group passes the other. Likewise, don’t do any surprising of your own: If your group is about to surpass another one, call it loud and clear, especially in the corners.

The course is a flat, .6-mile rectangle. The last corner is a bit over 100 meters from the finish. You’ll want to be out of the saddle as you exit the turn and launch yourself toward the finish line.

Have I ever mentioned how valuable these races are? I’ll mention it again: Making visits to Matteson part of a complete training plan will shave a year off the time it would otherwise take you to go from Cat 5 to Cat 3.