Mountain Biking - New to the sport

Hello,
I am a 17 year old australian. I have had a mountian bike most of my life and done a bit of off road stuff but havent really started getting in to it seriously recently. I am not asking about which bike to buy since i wont be buying a new bike until start of next year probably when i finish school and can earn enough money to buy a decent bike (Only currently riding an Apollo Ozark). I was wondering if anyone could recommend any tips for getting serious about riding or websites with just general techniques, tips, etc...
Like what is a good way to build up my endurance?

To build endurance, the best thing to do are some long road rides. Mountain biking is a great cardio workout, but tends to push my heart rate to the anaerobic side of the scale. I find that a steady long road ride is a great workout for increasing my endurance without going anaerobic.

L8R

Endurance building - Ride on a road bike to work up endurance...

Tip: Look where you WANT to go, not where you are going.

TIP: keep your arms and legs bent, don't lock out your elbows or your knees.

TIP: don't focus on the trail 2' in front of your tire, but more like 10' down the trail.

TIP: Use more front brake for controlled stopping. Rear braking causes skidding skidding=no control=trail damage=BAD. Learn to feather your front brake and overcome a fear of going over the bars. On descents figure 70% front 30% rear braking.

TIP: Ride with people better than you!

TIP: Don't take it so serious that it stops being fun!

L8R

Really the solution to your question is simple. All you have to do is ride as much as you can, the rest will follow ;)

To hopefully clarify what someone else said, make sure you spend time on your bike. In other words, when you go for a ride (especially when you are just building endurance) make sure you are on for at least an hour. Don't worry about miles, average speed, just be on there. It helps to have a relatively flat route for this.

Most people will initially go too hard and run out of steam before then. Learn to roll back to the point that you are feeling like you got a good work out but still able to stay on your bike for a while. Then slowly increase the speed over the weeks.

This tends to work a lot better for building endurance than shorter, more intense efforts where you blow up after twenty or thirty minutes.

After you build a decent base, add some hills or periods of high speeds on the flats into the mix.

Most people will initially go to hard and run out of steam before then. Learn to roll back to the point that you are a breathing a little bit but still able to stay on your bike for a while. Then slowly increase the speed over the weeks.

Actually this is a good recommendation. I still have problems with this. I tend to push myself really hard and get into an anaerobic mode which reduces my energy quickly. Its a mental disease I call "Sports induced ADD" ;) I really have to focus on pedalling consistently and slowly enough to maintain any degree of endurance.

Although I have to throw a few single track sprints in or I would fall asleep at the wheel :)

Tip: Look where you WANT to go, not where you are going.

Holy scrap...I can't hit that tree...I can't hit that tree...I can't hit that tree......crash...ouch...."I hit the tree" :D

Holy scrap...I can't hit that tree...I can't hit that tree...I can't hit that tree......crash...ouch...."I hit the tree" :D
This is the thought running through your head, but what your body hears is "--------------------tree...----------- that tree...-------- hit that tree......crash...ouch...."I hit that tree" You never quite get to "can't"