Bike Forums - Hello!

Hi, I'm getting into mountain bikes hopefully to start doing downhill courses and such up in the Rocky Mountains. I'm from Denver. I lost my license until 2018 so I'm pissed off but I got chance to get into biking more and I received a nice cannondale for riding to work and I've begun to research for maintenance and being able to understand if something goes wrong and all of the basics. I'm sure it isn't hard at all. I've turbocharged cars and done mechanical stuff. Just hoping to work my way into getting the bike that suits the needs for shredding the bike courses out here and pick up a new hobby.