Seems like quite a few people took this weekend off from racing. Given the weekend coming up, I can’t blame them for saving their legs for some of year’s most fun courses.

Action starts Saturday afternoon with the Winfield Twilight Criterium.  It’s an interesting course with a long, gradual climb on the backstretch. The residential course brings out the neighborhood tifosi, traditionally including a block party on the climb that will call king-of-the-hill primes. They are good hosts, generous with their cheers (and sometimes their beers). Lower-category races should expect to shatter in the first few laps. Stay near the front from the gun so you don’t have to play catch-up, but be ready to bridge to a forward group. Meanwhile, the course is just difficult enough to facilitate breaks in the 2/3 and 1/2 races.

The next day the action moves to a different part of Winfield for ABR’s national criterium championships. Jerseys are up for grabs in some categories, but good money and great racing are available to everyone. The milelong, rectangular course has a false flat on the backstretch and a nice kicker at Turn 3.  Recall the advice of Winfield veteran Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies) from his CBR interview: “It’s good to notice that the the hill doesn’t end until sometime after Turn 3.  A lot of people race to Turn 3 and then think that the effort is over.  After Turn 3 is an excellent place to launch an attack.”

Sunday’s state road race championship in Wisconsin is a rolling 6.5-mile rectangle with high exposure to the wind. Senior fields will do between four and 12 laps. There’s a steep but short climb before the start/finish, pictured above, that can crack the legs of even the lightest riders, yet it’s not quite long enough to eliminate the fatties. (Alas!) Each time up is liable to cut a field in half

be up front, be on guard and be sure to anticipate the climb by being in your small ring before Turn 4. Shifting on the climb will lead to unnecessary hardships.

Save something for the top, because there’s a long false flat up to the finish line.  Theoretically this can be the perfect spot to attack,  but a long, straight descent following the finish line will give chasers a window to catch. If you attack, you need to commit early, and you gotta get yourself organizized. All it will take is for one mope to not pull through and your break will be, well, broken.

For people desperate for another road race, there’s also Indiana’s state championship Saturday in Fishers, Ind. So far this is the only event 2009 announced for Benga Sports.

Saturday Winfield Twilight Criterium ABR criterium Winfield, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 1 hour Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008

Indiana State Road Race Championsips USCF road race Fishers, Ind. Distance from Chicago: 3 hours

Sunday ABR National Criterium Championships ABR criterium Winfield, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 1 hour Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008

Spring Prairie Road Race USCF road race Burlington, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 2 hours Previous wrap-ups: 2007, 2008