Start Small !
It's all about repetition BigLou.
The more you do it the better you get.
(at least that's what she said !)
I'm 35 and started riding 7 years ago.
I found a small table top about 35 feet and just kept hitting it.
after an hour or so I moved up to a 40 foot double...
We hit the ramp in the picture for about 3 hours that day. After a while the gap seemed small.
Repetition makes you comfortable, just find a jump you feel good on and hit it untill yu can do it without thinking. Then move up to somthing a bit bigger.
Learn to use the throttle and brake to correct yourself in the air. If the front starts to get high pull in the clutch and hit the rear brake, if it drops dont touch the clutch but pin the throttle.
I have some jump footage here if you want to take a look;)
http://www.fastbydesign.com/pics.html