I've been mountain biking for about 4 months now and recently have been consumed with downhill riding.
Only good things are happening (accept for injuries) since I've been riding.
Lost 20 LBS in the first month, drinking LOTS of water, better sleep, more energy, perspective on surrounding socal mountains, and most important I get to build/mod/tune my bike and enjoy rinding it. I really wish I had been introduced sooner.
Here's my ride. It's an 05 Haro X1. Mod list includes : Fox DHX rear shock, Marzocchi Jr.t forks, Magura brakes 8''front 7'' Rear, Sram x-9 deraileur, Maxxis Minion tires 2.7 front/2.5 rear. It's considered an "all mountain" bike which it truly is to me. I like to pedal up hills on weekdays, and do shuttle downhill runs on the weekends. Hopefully someday I'll be able to fork out 2-3 grand for a nice downhill spec bike. For now this will do, or until my riding buddies with DH bikes can pass me going down.
I'm really looking forward to riding mammoth lakes next month for some DH action.
Here's an awsome vid of one of the trails called velocity:
BTW if anyones interested in riding the LA area PM me.