I forgot to mention that I learned to:

Ride the flats
Until I started riding with some other women, I didn't realize that I was only riding the hills and mostly coasting through the flats. I saved all of my effort for the climbs. I was so impressed with the women I met this summer because they flew through the flat sections. Once I got used to riding hard in the flats, I had more momentum and became a better climber and a much faster mountain biker