Quote Originally Posted by SadieKate
What Irulan said.

Sometimes you just have to power over an obstacle. No easy spinning with a high cadence over everything. Being a veteran of sore knees (chondromalacia), this year's TE Girls' Hill Climbing Program put me in the best shape ever for mtbiking.

Seems like I built a lot of strength by climbing hills on the road that translated into happier knees on the trail. Spinning only early in the season. You could lift weight to get some strength benefits also but I'm not the one to ask. I hate weight lifting.
Thanks Irulan and SadieKate - I will keep doing the pedal circle exercise recommended by Ned on his DVD and hope this will improve my pedal technique (just in case Im mashing without knowing it). I also have Chondromalacia in one knee but have had no problems when road riding and my routes do include a fair amount of hills.
Knee ache aside I had a wonderful time out riding on my mountain bike.It was also the first time I have had someone to ride with which made a nice change to the solo thing.
Im looking forward to more rides with my friend and learning more about MTB as I go.