Ride-a-lot says:

Novice, my dear. Beginner is such an insulting word.

I always preferred "acolyte". It has the advantage of being comfortingly
mediaeval-monkish, with the implication that this here mountain-biking is just
as good as religion as any.
My cousin Herb used to walk in the woods on Sundays, because he said that God
had done a much better job than Man did in building a place to worship. Never
worshipped outloud, either. Nice walks. ;-)

Steve "just yer basic agnostic, but I used to enjoy the walk"