A bit too one-sided

[Catrin]

I feel SO glad to read that I am not the only one! Granted, I've only been riding on the road just a little over 1 year, but I HAVE to mount from the left side. I MUST start with my right foot on the pedal and my butt on or almost on the saddle. This is how I roll

The latter isn't actually a concern on my Gunnar because I have proper leg extension. The mountain bike is a different story...

[sarahkonamojo]

Interesting, I have just been obsessing about this short coming in my riding. I am always on the left of my bike. That means all of my crashes are on the right side. Not good for the derailleur hanger. I have recently been trying to ride my commuter bike from the right. It is very difficult, but i feel I need to develop that side a little. And it is very difficult, even on on flat pavement, to get on and off the bike on the right side.
S

[jessmarimba]

I'd like to take back what I said. I still always mount/dismount left, but I can apparently start or stop with either foot wherever and clip in/out with either foot first (as i learned in a race this morning).

[Velocivixen]

I ride with platform pedals and I don't have a kickstand, so I dismount whichever side works out the best. I am left foot dominant on a bike and am ambidextrous with my feet in regard to things like kicking a ball.

[Sardine]

I've just read this thread and it makes me feel a lot better. It seems that it's not uncommon (among TE members at least) to struggle to mount the bike from the right side. I also always unclip on the left when I need to stop during a ride. It helps that we drive on the left, although I've done the same thing when I've toured in France.

Does anybody find it more difficult to do a 360 degree turn bearing left too?

[cosc]

I mount and unclip from the left, too. Several years ago, wearing new shoes and clips I found I couldn't unclip my left foot no matter what I did, so I thought, good thing I've got plenty time to stop, I'll just unclip with my right and put that foot down first. Clipping out- easy beans- slowing,stopping- put foot down - stumble and down I go.
Thankfully that has only happened once.
On my trainer I'll mount and clip in on the right but still not confident enough to try it on the road.

[Catrin]

I've just read this thread and it makes me feel a lot better. It seems that it's not uncommon (among TE members at least) to struggle to mount the bike from the right side. I also always unclip on the left when I need to stop during a ride. It helps that we drive on the left, although I've done the same thing when I've toured in France.

Does anybody find it more difficult to do a 360 degree turn bearing left too?

For some odd reason I turn left easier than right - on pavement. On the trails it is opposite which makes NO sense

[OakLeaf]

It's easier for me to turn left also, on bici and moto both.

Part of it is just that my vision isn't as good out of my right eye, and when I turn to the right, all of a sudden I can't see in the direction I'm going, out of the left eye that I've been relying on otherwise.

Part of it (and I'll bet it's part of your issue too Catrin) is the crown of the road. When you're turning into a downslope - as you do when you're turning right from the right side of a crowned road - your contact patch is reduced in size *and* it's on the wrong side of your center of gravity. Makes for a very unsteady turn.

And then part of it is the smaller imbalances that we all have that I can't quite put my finger on. I expect it's a rare person who does everything with equal ability on both sides.

[Crankin]

I have no issues turning left at all, but my right turns are spazzy.
I can barely do a 360 degree circle to the left and to the right is absolutely out of the question. I think I am going to practice in the school parking lot near my house.

[ShubieGA]

Funny, when I cracked my ribs it was because I tried to unclip on the right. I mount my bike on the left (must be the sword thing - love that!) start up with the right, and unclip with the left. And yep, my crashes (fall overs), have always been to the right. Interesting!

[Catrin]

The other night I was on my Gunnar and took a shortcut across some grass to try and grap a gap in traffic on a very busy street in front of where I live. Normally it wouldn't have been a problem, but there was a couple of feet of pretty steep stuff and I didn't realize until it was too late that I was in far too hard a gear for it...

I've wondered if I could get out of my Frogs in an emergency, and I did indeed get my right foot on the ground in time. I couldn't unclip my left foot however - I think due to the angle of the grade and my body position. I just could not turn my foot to get out and I finally fell over and very slow motion.

Once I fell over I STILL couldn't unclip for the same reason. If it had been a normal fall my foot would have come out automatically, but this wasn't a "normal" fall and my body was pointed downhill so I couldn't move my leg easily to unclip. I felt a bit like a turtle in the grass and my Camelbak just added to that feeling

A walker was coming my way who I could tell was getting more and more concerned when I didn't bounce back up. I finally managed to shift my bike enough that I could move my leg and get out of the pedal.

If I wasn't so blasted one-sided I could have unclipped from the OTHER side and then I would have been more balanced and likely wouldn't have been "stuck". No harm done and am thankful there isn't a blackmail video - though it would have been very funny

[sarahkonamojo]

Uh, yes recently I fell into a yucca. (Fell to the right, of course.) But I couldn't unclip, my foot was pushed into the dirt below the yucca. I had to remove my shoe. Lucky the velcro straps were easy. And getting my shoe out of the cleat was easy, too.
Embarrassing. And kind of funny.