For a few roots you can just lighten or lift your bike like a mini bunny hop instead of hitting the roots hard. I’d select pressure based upon the majority of the course, or if there a difficult adverse camber you may want more grip.
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Yeah I tried to be careful about where I was weighting/unweighting but in a couple of sections the roots were on an uphill that you arrived into at speed and it was tricky. Anyway, no punctures but an unpleasant feeling. I am reluctant to go any higher in pressure for the soft conditions we race in.
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That’s a tough call. I had the same issue this weekend. I didn’t flat but kept worrying about it. Also was worrying about damaging the rim. Looking back I would have raised my pressure by 1psi to protect the rim and hope for similar grip.
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If I don’t smack a rim once or twice a lap, I ran too much pressure is how I think about it.
I’ve flatted twice in cross races, sliced a sidewall on a rock and ripped my front tubeless tire off on a fast down then up corner that I sent it a little too hard down.
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I run about the same on tubular tires, still don’t have to guts to go lower.
I try to ride cleans lines when I can and float over roots and rocks but still bottom out a few time during the race.
A bit less with wider rims but I feel that it’s normal.
The tires still pass the finger with body weight across the tires test.
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Second to last race this past weekend and it was a hoot. Very slick with frost/dew melting off before and during our race. Finally had a great start and moved up 30 spots in about 20 seconds had me sitting top 5 for the first two laps. Amazing, but I knew I was writing checks I couldn’t cash. My goal was just to ride clean for the remaining three laps and push on the flats. That didn’t happen as I had a mishap in the sand being too close to a rider who fell and a lil crash on the last lap. 5-9th were all riding together and was fun and having some dynamics with the other age category mixed in with us and making passes to put the older category in between riders. Eventually rolled it in for 9th.
All in all it’s been a fun season back racing cx. My power numbers/pacing and skills have been great, but I know I could/should shed some weight (truth be told, I’m far from my race weight when I was over 4w/kg and you’d think I love drinking beer) to make things more interesting for next year.
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Had my second to last race today and I wasn’t sure how I want to race this thing.
I know that my body is ready for a break so I didn’t think I had a super hard long effort in me.
I thought try and keep it zone 4 if possible and go from there.
Race was on wet grass and some mud, super fun.
At the end I never had such consistent lap times other than the traffic jam from the first lap.
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I finished my cx season this past weekend and although I can’t make it to National’s this year, I can’t help but be happy with my year.
11 races
4 wins
3 more podiums
Cat 1 upgrade
But almost as fun as winning, I got my new custom painted Ridley X-Night RS a few months early and was able to race it this year. It’s such a great bike.
I’ve enjoyed keeping up with this thread this year and it’s been fun reading about everyone’s experiences. Congrats to everyone on their seasons and best of luck to those of you with races left. Can’t wait for next year. #cxiscoming
PS - Apologies for the gratuitous race pic but this bike is just so fun and fast
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That bike is sweet 
. Love the touch the hubs gives it.
Congrats on a good season and the upgrade.
That Ridley is a great looking bike. It is on my list! Maybe in 2026…. 
Congrats on a great season!
Great freaking job on the season! Wins and podiums - whoo hoo!
Thank you! It was definitely a good season.
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Thank you! Yeah, definitely go for it. The custom paint and build options make it an even better experience. My previous bike is a crux and making the jump to a true cx bike has been refreshing to say the least.
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Thank you!
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Presume you ordered it direct from Ridley if you got the custom options? They have very limited stock through the US store unfortunately. Competitive Cyclist are supposed to stock them, but they are completely sold out - makes me think they are not shipping to the US at the moment.
I ordered it through a dealer in Jersey - pure energy cycling. They were really great to work with and shipped the frame to me in Baltimore.
The tariff was insane but the horse was out of the barn at that point and I was too excited to not go for it.
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Good to know!
p.s. your signature info is showing on this post, so you might want to delete/edit
Ugh. thanks for letting me know!
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Well my last race was today and a bit of a disappointment.
4-6 inches of snow on the course, it was Bambi on Ice CX edition.
I finish the race but never really got momentum, oh well guess I try again next season.
Next for me is The Tour de Sofa for the next three weeks. 
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My first CX season almost done, just debating whether or not to do national champs …
Finished 7th out of 25 riders at regional champs, happy with that (M40 category).
My goal was to get close to the pace of guys I know I can match in XC but who are much more experienced than me at CX, which I accomplished.
It was a particularly wet and muddy couple of months here, so the races were tough with plenty of running. I have been mountain biking for many years but the cleanup after a muddy CX race is on another level!
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