Some of the hottest tickets of the year go on sale at 8 a.m. Saturday when pre-registration opens for Hillsboro-Roubaix, our popular spring classic and one of the best road races the Midwest has to offer.

With only 50 slots available to them, Cat 5’s will need to be on the ball. Skip the group ride and stay home to register. Cat 4’s shouldn’t dawdle, either. My current prediction is that the 5’s will reach capacity by noon, the 4’s by Sunday evening.

Pre-registration also kicks off for the March 28 Spring Super Criterium in South Beloit. In its second year, this is an excellent early-season tune-up on a course that’s very forgiving to beginners. The schedule is such that nearly everyone will have at least two opportunities to race. I strongly encourage taking full advantage.

It behooves us to get in the pre-registration habit. As we discussed earlier, most races in the Illinois Cup will be using BikeReg. The pre-reg costs are now absorbed by higher entry fees, and by doing so you avoid the $5 late fee for registering same-day. Super Crit race director Jason Knauff (Burnham Racing) reminds riders to confirm that their information at BikeReg is current, as this data will be used throughout the season. Knauff also says he’s looking for volunteers in exchange for discounted entry fees. E-mail him for more information.