I just started riding on mtb trails last fall. The pucker factor at first is constant but it does decline as your skills develop. The descents are still challenging as I'm learning to let the bike do the work and to look ahead. Logs, rock piles, roots and switchbacks that stopped my bike before are now an afterthought as I now ride right through them. My 29'er is a tank that seems to be able to ride over almost anything. My falls and crashes have been minimal other than the hard punch to the ribs from a metal bridge railing a few weeks ago then falling on the same ribs the next day when I crashed on top of a log pile obstacle.

I did get to ride mtb's with my brother in the Denver about 10 years ago. We rode the trails at White Ranch, Watertown Canyon and a few other locations including one near the dinosaur track's rock. It seemed that we spent most of the rides climbing up the mountainsides on sketchy narrow trails with big rocks thrown in to stop any progress, then bombing back down the trail to the start. Having never been on a mtb until that week along with the high elevation taking my breath away I was not an immediate fan of mountain biking.