I do have a road bike, well a very nice and light Trek hybrid. Between the 2 of those, I have 10,000 Miles! Been doing that for about 5 years. Just got starter mountain bikes last fall. The husband wanted us to do Iceman. I'm as trained as much as I can get without hurting myself. I've had the chance to ride on varying terrain. I actually sort of hate technical trails, and we went to Custer State Park yesterday and rode some of those. I was a sissychicken and had to walk some of it. Some of the parts that were hilly and sandy were a lot easier for me with the 29er, and I felt more confident. I really like the dirt roads around here, we do have to drive a little to get to them instead of starting out at the house like we do with our road bikes.