I have received quite a few questions on my Twitter account, and wanted to answer them all individually. Hope this helps, and sorry for the long winded post!

#1: Body position on the bike is key for climbing and descending to maintain traction and stability. Basically, on a steep uphill your body must come forward over the handlebars and front wheel to keep it from popping up and to help maintain climbing grip. If it's technical, standing usually gives you the most control. If it's steep, but non technical, staying seated and crouching your upper body over the handlebars is more efficient and saves energy. One mistake I made early on is seeing a big hill and immediately going into my granny gear. On technical climbing, you need a slightly harder gear to give you the power to push over rocks and other obstacles. If you are in too easy of a gear, you won't be able to power over the tough stuff. Body position for descending is opposite. You need to have your weight back over the rear wheel to avoid stuffing the front wheel into obstacles and going over the bars. A light front wheel on descending helps the bike roll over stuff. Relax and try to let the bike do the work instead of wrestling it yourself. Ned Overend gave me some tips early on and I'm still working on my technical skills, The biggest factor in improving is practice. Find a short stretch of technical terrain and do it over and over again until you learn it. Upgrades for a lower end bike: Drive train and brakes (disc for sure!)

#2 Ha! Good question! Winning's great, but it's not always about that. You never know who is going to show up to a race. Instead focus on doing your best and ignore the competition. It's wasted energy in an endurance race to focus on someone else. I keep tabs on the other racers, but really try to stick to what I know works for me instead of chasing someone else around. You can gain the most time by being consistent in your riding and doing fast pit stops, or not stopping at all. If you have a good crew who can take care of nutrition for you, then you can roll through the pits and exchange food/drink on the go. Even if you have to stop, have your bottles pre mixed and all your food laid out for the whole race so that you don't have to waste time digging through bags and mixing bottles. I have done many races without crew members and I just had my own cooler staged with my stuff in it. Food/drink is very personal, so you have to practice eating on training rides and find things that go down easily, taste good and that you can eat while riding. In a super long race, much of your blood flow is going to your legs, so if you put something difficult to digest into your stomach, your body has to work harder to digest it and it takes energy away from your legs. Simple carbs, proteins and fats are the essential fuel. Minerals and electrolytes are also key. Hammer Nutrition website has some great articles on how much fluid, calories, electrolytes you need in an endurance event. As with the technical riding, you must practice your nutrition as well.

#3 Dressing for different conditions: layering, layering, layering. Over dressing is just as bad as under dressing. Too many clothes and you lose precious fluids in sweat, then the sweat cools and you freeze. Under dressing wastes precious energy shivering and trying to keep warm. I think wool is a great sock and underlayer because it's warm even when wet. I also always ride with a Buff because it's super small and can be used under a helmet really easily. Very thin shell gloves that can come on and off are crucial. I usually have a pair of surgical gloves and a shower cap in my saddle bag or Hydrapak for emergencies. These thin plastic items have been lifesavers many, many times. If your head/hands are warm, it's alot easier to keep moving on a bike. I even stopped by the side of the road in La Ruta one year at the top of a super cold climb and picked up a plastic garbage bag and put it on my head! It was clean and it was so warm! I recommend planning ahead so you don't have to put garbage on your head, but it worked. I also almost always carry a super thin Specialized windbreaker. It's super small and light, so I don't hesitate to put it in my pocket. The bottom line with all this stuff is to find items that are small, but affective so that you will not worry about bringing them with you. In my seatbag: EMT mini multi tool with chain tool, 2 tire irons, tire boot, derailleur hanger, SRAM quick link, Specialized tube, plastic shower cap and surgical gloves for emergency weather, co2 cartridges and co2 inflator head. This is for racing and shorter training rides. If I'm going into the back country for a multi hour ride or doing a stage race, then I use a Hydrapak and have another tube, a Specialized mini pump, Buff, shell gloves, windbreaker, wool undershirt, extra food, cell phone and a small Adventure Medical Kit. I consider this stuff essential and I don't mind the training weight. I use Hydrapak for racing and for long rides because in an endurance event, just reaching down to grab a bottle is too tiring. I will always drink more if I have a hydration tube right near my mouth. The Chute and the Flume are super minimal and light. I use either of these for long races. For more substantial rides, I like the Reyes. These packs are simple and light and the bladder can be turned inside out to clean. The valve on the hose is the best one I've used. If your drinking system is annoying, then you won't want to use is and will not hydrate well, so this was a big research project for me. Cornering/Descending skills. As I mentioned above, you must practice a section of trail over and over again to master the body position. Cornering is tricky because if it's high speed, low speed, good traction or bad traction, you will have to vary your technique to get through it. I have found that my 29er is incredible at making me feel really stable in high speed corners. The bigger wheel surface grips super well and inspires confidence. Tire selection is pretty key too. Sometimes a super light race tire might make you ride more slowly because you lack confidence in your traction. Experiment with tire selection, pressure and speeds on your home trails and go out and practice. That said, I've run up and down many technical sections of race courses and sometimes it's just faster for me to jump off my bike and get through the nasty stuff. There's nothing wrong with a little self