I think a long ride is dependent on who is doing the riding.
If you want to ride farther, I don’t know any tricks… I’m new too. But I would say that the main ingredient is to have fun. The more fun that you have, the longer you will want to ride. Only you know how hard to push yourself before the fun ends.
I’m a beginner, but I’m also in fairly good shape. This past weekend was my longest ride so far, 2 laps about 8 miles each. I felt pretty much done after the first lap, but the ‘young’ guy that I rode with wanted more(he is semi). He rode the first lap with me because it was my first time there, and it took about 80 minutes. I had so much fun the first lap, that I decided to go ahead and do another. My second lap was slightly quicker and the guy I was riding with did two laps faster than my one. So pace, I would say, is dependent upon stamina, strength, equipment, technical skill, type of trail you are riding…….
Just do what feels good for and have FUN.