I'm with John on this one, except I go one step further. I carefully drill a 1/8" hole in every fourth or fifth vertical riser strip, on into the rim, being careful not to go too deep and come out the other side, and then tap in wood glue coated pegs (pieces of 1/8" hardware store dowel rod), saw flush, sand as usual, to nail the rim-to-riser connection for all eternity. I originally expected the dowels to be visible, and add to the overall visual texture of the finished product; but they mostly vanish utterly, and are just plain difficult to locate afterward. Which eliminates the fear of accidentally drilling all the way through.....

: I no longer glass the underside of the rim to the riser. Fillet
: only. Never had a failure, so I'm sticking with it.

: John