On a 43km ride through the forest today I managed to stay upright and keep going for several miles in deep, loose, dry sand (my pet hate), bounce over quite a bit of rough singletrack ditto (the wild boar had been digging it up, rooting for grubs and, er, roots), and even score a personal max speed on the MTB. I'm still a long way from being a rufty-tufty mountain biker, but I'm pleased about my new-learned sand skills (it's just confidence to keep going, really).