Excellent tips!

Greetings,
I am a newbie. I joined the gym on Jan 2nd, haven't looked back. Have increased spinning classes to 4x/wk. This forum has been so helpful. My main spin instructor has been encouraging me to get out on the road and try out my new skills. So....yesterday DH and I shook the dust off our MTB, grabbed some water and rode off. WOW! I have never felt so strong on a bike. We had one decent hill on our route that I was curious how I would handle. DH was riding ahead, was too slow for me, and I blew by him! Haaaa!! When he rejoined me at the top, he quietly mentioned that "perhaps those passing cars might have been people he knows, thanks!"
I am more excited now than ever to continue interval training in class and to work on changing gears and understanding bike technology. I had my eye on a pretty Trek bike until I started reading threads re:new bikes. More to research.
Thank you to all who post. The information has been extremely useful to me. :)

yay keep it going!!! and don't forget to look around when you need a pick me up!!! these women are great!

you rock!

Ditto the spinning class. On the bike, a small voice said, "Conserve. You have to get back to the car!" In spinning class, you can go full out. My instructor pushed me farther--I would never had stood and sprinted for an hour on my own. Plus, DH joined me and never left my side! After our first outdoor hill ride, DH said spinning did me good--he wasn't "totally" laying back :-) And now he doesn't get as long a rest at the top of hills (waiting on me) as he used to.