Originally Posted by
stapfam
They are different disciplines and not knowing Aruba- I can imagine it with steep muddy rutted trails that take a lot of competence to ride. If you did not get off and walk the hills then it shows how much brute force and ignorance you had to use instead of skill. That takes energy so you definitely deserve the beers.
+1. The good news is that mountain biking has a favorable learning curve.
There's the fitness required for the climbs and there's the technique. As your fitness improves, you can roll over obstacles that used to stop you. As your technique improves, the required degree of fitness decreases. As you gain experience, you develop both at the same time so, in the initial stages, you can improve pretty fast.