When I first started, I used to joke to my friends who introduced me to the sport that it was more mountain bike pushing than riding. We would ride at lunch behind where I worked on the NV/CA line and the first thing you would hit is this HUGE hill complete with loose rocks, etc. I was way overweight, but I kept at it. After one year of riding (alot!) and a knee surgery, I finally rode from the bottom of that hill all the way up. And the down part was just as pathetic, I was so scared...

I didn't go to a class or anything like that, I just rode. Alot. I rode every day. I would visit my hill by myself and get as far as I could. I set little goals "ok get to the first big rock..." and I would see progress. If you are really going out once a week and for the warm weather, I would say 'seat time' is against you. It takes alot of practice to get even half decent, to where you build your confidence. And it definately builds upper body strength!

I would ride with a group of people too and was soooo slow, I just told everyone to go ahead of me and I would turn around when they came back. Sometimes they would wait at the end for me and then we would all turn around. I think the main thing is for you to go at your pace, not try to keep up with his. Find stuff that challenges you and keep going for it, go on your own and ride it over and over and over. Practice going over small logs and build up to bigger logs. CO is similar to what I ride in Tahoe and Nevada, so I know there are some great places to work on your skills. hit up your local bike organizations (IMBA should point you in the right direction) and look at trail recommendations for novices. Also, are you shifting all the way down to the granny gear (the easiest gear) when going up hills? Believe it or not I was trying not to do this because I thought I would get stronger and tried to stay in the middle ring. HA! Hit up the granny gear when you need it!! And learn how to pace yourself-go slow don't try and climb a hill at some crazy pace!

As for the descent, I have a really strange recommendation. Load up an mp3 player or iPod with your favorite 'kick butt' music (mine is techno, Beck, POD, and Better than Ezra) and put your headphones on while you descend. This gets part of your brain to just relax on over examining and getting bent out of shape of being out of its element. This is what got me to go up and down the big hill, no amount of cheering would get me to push off. It almost sounds like a crutch but for me, it worked. It got my mind off of screaming "STOP"...after that I told a couple of people and they tried it and found that they had luck with it as well (for snowboarding and skiing!). I know that music gets people through hard parts of their workout, so to me, that was a hard part of the workout.

Lastly, is mtn biking really for you? Do you really want to do it? I used to think that running equated fitness. And since I wasn't a good runner and HATED IT I just sat on the sidelines. And got really overweight. I used to laugh at the guys at work because they spent *so much money* on their bikes...that's nuts! But they kept on me, talking about their riding and how much fun it was...and one day after lunch they took me to a bike shop and I sort of was curious about it, so I plopped down my $350 for a Specialized Hardrock and rode that thing into the ground. If your heart isn't in it, it's hard to really get good at it, because to me, you have to spend time in the seat to get that practice and stamina that you need.

And a roof rack...can't you get a different rack for your car that you can actually reach? I have a hitch rack, there is no way I could reach my roof.

There is my story...It is good that you are taking this time out to figure out what is going on. I found my frustration of being slow eased up once I just got out there and rode alot more. I probably rode every other day and one long ride on the weekend. No shame in walking either! I still do it when I am learning a new trail or...just because...I have some parks here that I go to that are out of my element and challenge me, so there is walking involved but the same thing applies. Set little goals and keep going!!!