well if you neighbourhood has a group of cyclist you can join em like me, my group rides are on sunday morning ^^ and next month I will be going to a 45km Felloship Ride ^^ anyway besides sunday, since Im living in a hilly area, I practically practice my stamina around my neighbourhood and sometimes I go into the trail, im improving though, heavy bike rocks for training ^^ my hardtail weights 15kg+ and the bicycle manufacturer is saying that bike is a XC bike, maybe a XC bike but NOT a XC racing bike, haha