Since the first post, I've thought of this thread as something that would be helpful to non-racers who were getting into CX just for fun but still wanted to do their best. I picture at least some of the racers as back-of-the-pack guys (or gals) like me. Two of these next four tips are for people like that. If you're doing well in the race, this won't help you. The first two are more general, but may be obvious to anybody with a clue about racing.

1. Look for places to pass, even when you aren't passing -- Ideally, you'd do this during the pre-ride, but keep doing it during the race. The good places to pass aren't always obvious. When you hit fast/paved sections the guy you want to pass is going to speed up too. Figure out which sections are your particular strengths. I like long slightly uphill sections and barriers. Something else might work for you.

2. Work hard for a pass if you need to -- Most courses have a section or two where everybody rides the same line and slow riders impose a pace on the guys behind them. You can use this for recovery, but if you don't need to you can burn matches and gain ground. For instance, sections of gravel road typically get a single smooth patch worn in them and everybody wants it. Look at the edge of the road and see if there's a little grass in bounds. It might be enough. Sometimes you don't even need to burn matches because the alternative isn't as bad as it looks. There was a semi-narrow section of the course this week that was about half hard-packed dirt and half bumpy looking weeds. Everybody was riding the dirt. During my pre-ride I rode the weeds and had no problems. During the race, I passed someone there on almost every lap.

3. Pass every chance you get -- Last year I made the mistake of following people around for half a lap or more before convincing myself that I could pass them. Do that and you'll only pass 5-10 people in the whole race. (I speak from experience.) Instead, pass as soon as you can. If the other rider is fast enough, he'll pass you back. If not, go after the next guy.

4. Latch on when you get lapped -- This is kind of an evil trick that will work best if there are a lot of riders on the field. In a big group, once you start to get lapped, you end up getting lapped a lot. As a courteous racer, you give the faster riders the best line and let them by you. You don't know who they are. When this happens to you, it's about to happen to the guys in front of you too. So, when a couple of fast riders blow by you, kick it up a notch and try to grab their wheel. There's a good chance that the riders in front of you will unwittingly let you by. You probably only want to do this if you've got enough in the tank to keep putting at least a little distance on them.