Pre-Riding.

From watching people's first laps, and watching people pre-ride, I can see there are a lot of ways to improve this part of the race.

Racing is supposed to be fun, it is not supposed to feel like work. Most people work all week and then race for fun...so I am  not trying to make cyclocross not fun...but maybe 10 minutes of "work" may make your race go much better.

Riding the course once, at a slow speed, chatting at friends, taking corners long, wide, and slow, ignoring wind direction, tire pressure and temperature are what I see people doing.  

I also hate it when I see people bobble a turn, or take a turn super slow for fear of turning, then go on ahead to the next section, basically ignoring that challenge.  

The ditch at colavita cup before the start finish line, I road it 9 times before I was comfortable at race speed doing it, and I wasn't going to stop riding that section until I had it right.  Same with the run ups after the barriers.  If I felt uneasy about a section, made a u-turn and tried it again until I had it right at race speed.  

Race speed, and warm up-practice speed are very different.  Tire pressure, wind, and speed give huge variations to each obstacle of the course.

I'd just like to see more people challenging themselves.  If you don't ride a section clean, don't ignore it, make yourself better, go ride it over and over until you can do it right.  On that first and 2nd lap, it will probably mean the difference between being in the top 10 or not being there.  

If you are still uneasy about a section, watch others.  See the lines they are riding, and try different lines at different speeds until you have right.  

Then it's a good idea to take a lap at 80% or so before your race.  You don't have to "crush it" on the power sections, just go smooth, and then take all the turns and obstacles at full speed to make sure you got it.