Remember you childhood bicycle?  It had to be the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.  Do you also remember when you first had your training wheels taken off?  The mixture of excitement and fear of what might happen.  It opened a whole new dimension to your childhood life.  Now you could go further and faster than ever before.  Imagine all  the new places to explore; all the mud to ride through!  Well, with mountain biking, all the excitement is back.  The new bike, learning to fide again, the new places to go, and seeing things you might never have seen before are just a few of the experiences you get from Mountain Biking.
Mountain Biking is done be a wide variety of people.  You really see this when you are on the trails.  Riders range from clean cut to down and dirty.  I know doctors and lawyers that bike, as well as middle school students.  One of the best aspects of this sport is that almost anyone can do it.  There is no real window of opportunity that will pass you by.  All you need is the desire to have fun.  This does not mean that everyone is going to be able to ride at the same level, just that it can be enjoyed by everyone.
This page has been designed to help you, the new rider, get the most out of your first mountain biking experiences.  It may also be able to answer some questions that have stopped you from taking up the sport.  Since I myself am a new rider, I will include information I received from veteran riders, salespeople, magazines and other things I picked up along the way.