With the advent of online pre-registration I’ve noticed a peculiar tipping point with some fields. Categories showing the faintest possibility of selling out will experience sudden runs on registration. Meanwhile, fields with less demand will sit dormant, which in turn stifles demand even more. After all, if only one person has registered for a race — I’m speaking completely hypothetically here — should we be surprised if only, say, four showed up on race day? Who on earth wants to race against just one person? (Besides match sprinters, of course.)

And so it is that we welcome the inaugural Ronald Reagan Criterium in Dixon this Saturday, a figure-eight course with a bit of elevation change. It’s late in the season, it’s an unknown course far from the city, and many of us will be spending Saturday meditating over tire pressure and admiring our cyclocross skinsuits in the mirror. So it’s not too surprising that pre-registration has been light, but I hope enough people jump on board to make the racing interesting and perhaps even justify a return in 2010. (Pre-registering before Thursday night saves $5. Entry fees are modest, and overlapping categories provide ample opportunity to double or triple up.)

Elsewhere there is a curious two-day road race in Indiana, and we get one more chance to race in Kenosha.

Saturday Ronald Reagan Criterium USCF criterium Dixon, Ill. Distance from Chicago: 2 hours

Huntington Bicycle Challenge USCF road race Huntington, Ind. Distance from Chicago: 3.5 hours

Sunday Huntington Bicycle Challenge USCF road race Huntington, Ind. Distance from Chicago: 3.5 hours

Kenosha Business Park Criterium ABR criterium Kenosha, Wis. Distance from Chicago: 1 hour