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How do you get on your bike and take off? Remember when you were 10 and you put on foot on the pedals, swung your leg waaaaay over and mounted the sadle and took off all at the same time? Does anybody still do this?
Or, do you stand over your bike, put one foot on the pedal and slip up on the seat, putting the other foot up and take off.
DH still does that running start like when he was a kid, but he doesn't have clipless pedals. I straddle my bike, clip in on the left, push off with the right foot, settle into the saddle, then clip in on the right...I think.
I've never been able to do that whole swing the leg over moving start!
I do step over the top tube, clip right foot in, push off with left foot and settle into saddle. I then clip left foot it. So pretty much the common way
I just learned how to do a running mount (and dismount for that matter) on my cross bike, but I don't think I'd attempt it on my road bike :rolleyes:
I'm a clip in on the left-er like you myself.
Clipless pedals make it harder to do that put your left foot on and swing over all in one step. Clipless are pretty slippery for that move and then there is the woops got clipped in already and can't maneuver well enough to get the other leg thrown over and clipped in.
I also can do a running fling ala cyclocross, but again, this would be sort of hard with road clipless since they are slippery and might slip out under you on the road before you could get enough lift to get over your saddle.
I only do the cyclocross start with mountain bike type shoes so I don't slip out.
I was kidding my DH because he does this. I wondered if anybody else did it.
I do the second one. If I tried the first one, I'd end up with the bike as a heap on the pavement- I'm clumsy LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by sandra
:rolleyes: Jenn
My husband does the running start every time he rides, with Speedplay pedals. I do the stand over thing, clip in right first and then push off with my left.
For the past 3 years I've started by putting one foot on the pedal, push off with the other and then swing that leg over the back or fold it over the front (depends on what bag I have on the bike and how flexible I'm feeling). By the same token I'd do a rolling side dismount....stand up, swing one leg over to the other pedal until the bike is almost stopped and then step off. It felt really good to do that.
Until I got the road bike with clipless pedals. Now every once in awhile I still have the body memory of the mount and dismount. I only have had one really really strong urge to do the side dismount and luckily I squashed it in time. But some times I look at my road bike and have a moment of confusion on how to get on. I've only had the road bike about month so I'm sure that it will pass.
Well......I guess I could try one of those fancy mounts. But then, I'd have to add another embarrasing story to the discussion. :o :D
I hop on one pedal and swing over and I'm surprised that I can still do it from either side, with or without clipless pedalsQuote:
Originally Posted by sandra
However, when I was hauling the dog in the baby trailer, I whacked my shin more than once on the arm of the trailer (and there were screw ends there, too!). I retrained myself to straddle and then take off...since I've been home from that trip I'm having a hard time remembering that the trailer is not there.
I prefer running starts over straddles. They're more fun!
Karen
Hey Sandra:
What kind of bike did DH get? Did I miss the post?
Yes, you missed it and the pic. He got the Trek Pilot and loves it!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Silver
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=18320
I am not very flexible at all so I can't swing my leg over the saddle. I sort of lean the bike towards me and bend my leg up and over the top tube. I put my right foot on the pedal, push off with my left, and lift myself up onto the seat. This works great unless the back of your shorts gets caught on the nose of the saddle. I've been WAY too close to mooning folks with this method.
I've done that a few times too. Usually catch the top of the chamois:oQuote:
Originally Posted by sara
I swing right leg over bike, right foot on pedal (strongest leg for take-off), settle onto saddle (if I haven't attempted to moon the traffic first), left foot on pedal and away.
It took me forever to get the swinging the leg over without hitting my top tube bit. I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was closer to 10 so fancy theatrics were never for me. :D
Sandra, it sounds like the wrong sequence here to me...Quote:
Originally Posted by sandra
I stand over my bike. I put my right foot in the right pedal (into the strap).
I then pull that right pedal up to its top position. Then i push off by standing my weight on that right pedal- that gives me a good shove off and gets me going forward pretty good. THEN I sit down on the saddle and THEN I put my other foot on the other pedal and start pedaling faster. LASTLY I put my other foot into the other strap. I do not sit in the saddle until after I am in forward motion. The idea is to not be sitting high up on the saddle when you are stopped or almost stopped, because that is when you can't reach the ground with your feet and will be in danger of tipping over.