Mountain Biking, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

My son started riding a two-wheel bike at the abnormally young age of three-and-a-half. It's a skill that I'm proud to say I taught him all by myself; a feat that stands second only to potty training when it comes to motherly pride.

It wasn't too long before I realized that running after your son on his bike while trying to tote a little sister is as fun as a stick in the eye, so a couple years ago Zach and I invested in bikes of our own. I was your average bike rider as a kid -- I sported the ten-speed that I rode back and forth to friends' houses and occasionally jack-knifed on the curb. Then in college I rode a $18 second-hand Huffy to get back and forth to class.

We aimed a little higher on the bike chain this time and got some pretty nice mountain bikes with the thought that maybe we'd try to hit some trails one day.

My bike: a Fuji Odessa

Zach's bike: a Jamis AL6061

Last summer we left the kids with their grandparents to try out a mountain bike trail, and it took about 2.5 minutes before I was hooked.

Now, I should say that I'm no adrenalin junky. As sacrilegious as it sounds to most people, I've only been skiing a handful of times despite growing up in Colorado. This is the result of my dislike of a) being cold, b) being out of control, and c) spending six months' worth of babysitting income on ski rental, lift tickets, and transportation. For me, skiing was a wicked combination of all three. So I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the mountain biking.

Turns out it's just the right amount of crazy. It's definitely not cold out there, and I feel in control enough of myself and the bike that I'm not going to careen into a ravine. (I hope this post is not tempting fate...I've not had a terrible fall yet. After a good tumble the title of this post very well may be changed to "Mountain Biking, You Miserable Hag.")

This weekend we went for our third mountain bike ride of all time, the first for the year. All three times we've ridden the DORBA Trail at Cedar Hill State Park. DORBA stands for Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association, and I could kiss the members of this group for their dedication to creating and maintaining such an awesome mountain bike trail.

Much of the Dallas Metroplex is flat and tree-less, but the Cedar Hill area is blessed with a forest of cedar trees (obviously) and "mountains" (I am contractually obligated as a former Coloradan to put the term mountain in quotation marks when referring to any hill in Texas) made of limestone. At 850 feet above sea level, Cedar Hill has the highest elevation between the Red River and the Gulf Coast.

The bike trail has an awesome mix of hills and flat sections, forested areas and open areas next to Joe Pool Lake. It didn't take me long to get back into the groove this year of using my legs and body to balance my bike and guide it between trees and over the skinny bridges that terrified me just a little last year.

Never been mountain biking before? Here's a taste of it from a guy who filmed himself riding the trail at Cedar Hill State Park. (I should note that I think he rides much faster than me. I'm generally the one in back of the group, taking my time.) This video looks exactly how it feels to ride the trail:

It's kind of like riding a roller coaster, right? But mountain biking is better exercise -- in our 8-mile, hour-and-a-half bike ride my average heart rate was solidly in my target zone at 135, and I burned well over 500 calories. My legs felt strong throughout the course, and I think next time we get the chance to ride we'll attempt the 12-mile route.

I am so glad that my fitness level is such that I can take on a new sport at 32 (now 33) years old. Powering through the sharp turns, rocketing down the hills, hitting rocks and skidding out, and taking the occasional fall is so exhilarating. It makes me feel like a kid again.

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Workout of the Day
RevAbs: Power Intervals and Pull Ups. This Fifty Pull Ups thing is no joke, man. It's getting hard! I had to do sets of 6, 6, 5, 4, 3 today -- Zach's was 10, 10, 9, 7, 5. I was out of gas pretty quickly and it got ugly.