I have a confession...starting the bike

[Catrin]

This really should not still be a problem considering my weekly mileage and the fact that I've put about 1,500 miles on my bike since June. That isn't that much for many cyclists, but I am pretty pleased with it since it is my first year Before my hamstring problem I was averaging 110-130 miles a week.

My recent hamstring injury seems to be related to my saddle height. Currently it is rather lower than it should be because of how I have to start. I KNOW it is some mental thing... I simply must start the bike with my butt on the saddle. I know this is bad, I know it isn't right. However, there you go. Every time I try to do it the other way my body just freezes and I don't get anywhere except to perhaps fall over.

I understand the concept well enough, with the bike in a gear high enough to give me some power, I simply need to stand on the ground and use my dominant leg to start the crank and lift myself up on the saddle all in one movement. I've watched people, and it looks so very easy. I've watched You Tube.

I just have been unable to actually DO it - and this is frustrating. I thought the saddle height was high enough as my knees have not bothered me.

If I can't get this figured out soon then I am considering hiring a private instructor to help me, but it would certainly be best if I don't need to go to that expense. Has anyone else had this problem and, if so, how were you able to solve it?

I know there are other threads related on how to do it, and I started one of them. I will go back and look at them - it is the whole body-freezing-when-I-try-to-do-it that I am trying to figure out. If I can just do this ONCE I think the problem will be solved

[OakLeaf]

Y'know, I thought about Knott's new kick scooter...

Probably too expensive for you to buy for the purpose, but if you know anyone with a kick scooter you could borrow, it could get you used to the feeling of rolling in standing position with your body slightly off-center ... just like you do when you start a bicycle.

[lph]

Forgive me while I bombard you with questions. But this makes the situation clearer to me, and may possibly give you tips to exercises to try too:

- do you ride clipless/with straps or with "loose feet"
- can you stand and pedal?
- if so can you stand and pedal only with a lot of opposing force (uphill, hard gear) or can you stand and pedal also when the pedals are spinning quite easily?
- can you stand and coast?
- can you stand and coast on one foot, with the other foot unweighted or completely off the pedal?
- sitting on the saddle, can you take both feet off the pedals and still feel in control?
- roughly how much percentage weight would you say you have on your hands, when riding seated normally?

Just trying to get a feel for how your balance is. Personally I have quite low handlebars, and won't put my butt on my saddle until I know I'm up to speed and well-balanced.

[Catrin]

Forgive me while I bombard you with questions. But this makes the situation clearer to me, and may possibly give you tips to exercises to try too:

- do you ride clipless/with straps or with "loose feet"
- can you stand and pedal?
- if so can you stand and pedal only with a lot of opposing force (uphill, hard gear) or can you stand and pedal also when the pedals are spinning quite easily?
- can you stand and coast?
- can you stand and coast on one foot, with the other foot unweighted or completely off the pedal?
- sitting on the saddle, can you take both feet off the pedals and still feel in control?
- roughly how much percentage weight would you say you have on your hands, when riding seated normally?

Just trying to get a feel for how your balance is. Personally I have quite low handlebars, and won't put my butt on my saddle until I know I'm up to speed and well-balanced.

Until about a month ago I rode BMX pedals with no toe clips. I now ride clipless with spd/platform pedals and clip in all the time now.

I have never tried to stand and pedal, or to stand and coast. I have started to coast from time to time with my butt raised off the saddle a bit to relieve it. I am trying to get to the point where I can stand and coast.

I have never tried to take both feet off the pedals deliberately - though I suspect that would be quite scary However, back before I got my BMX pedals, my feet bounced off my original plastic platform pedals on a regular basis so I learned how to deal with it - and was quite thankful for my BMX pedals when I got them

My riding position is quite upright, most of my weight is on my saddle. I've arthritic hands and I can't put a large amount of weight on them (hence my expensive conversion from road to mountain bars).

My fitter is reluctant to raise my saddle to where it should be until I can solve this. He is afraid that I will fall over & hurt myself if we do this too quickly - and I think he is right. So we are trying to, basically, trick my head by raising it just a few mm at a time. If I can solve this before then then hopefully it won't take quite so long to get there.

[Melalvai]

I think you need to get this solved before you go back to riding 100+ miles a week. I know you are persistent and I'm confident you'll get it figured out.

Here are my suggestions:

Straddle the bike. Put your dominant foot in the DOWN position on the pedal. Use your other foot to push yourself a long like a scooter. That might get you more comfortable with that starting sequence.

Do the same thing, only this time your dominant foot in a HALF-UP position (so that you don't go too fast), and instead of using your other foot to push you along, use the 1/4 pedal stroke to push. In other words go from the half-up position to the down position but no further. Since you have clips you can immediately get the pedal back into the half-up position for the next push. Keep your other foot down, lifting it just enough to move along a little.

I think someone else mentioned practicing standing on the pedals while you're riding. That might be challenging at your comfort level and ability but give it a try.

I saw someone do an unusual bike mount, which looks more difficult to me, but maybe it's natural to some people. He did NOT straddle the bike, but put his one foot on the pedal, pushed down and in one smooth motion while he was moving, he swung his other leg up and over the seat.

You said you know you're supposed to start off in a high enough gear to get some momentum. Try a lower gear. It'll start you off slower.

Good luck! I know you'll find something that works!

[hebe]

I've been doing some practice of this earlier today. My sticking point is worrying about my calf being hit by the pedal as it whizzes around, which of course has never actually happened. I straddle the bike in front of the saddle, with my dominant pedal at about 2 or 3 o'clock, push down hard and hope. I'm a bit wobbly when setting off but hopefully that will sort itself out with time. It's a great thing to practise in a carpark or on a cul de sac with hardly any traffic. My instructor gave me 10minutes work on it at the end of a lesson when it became clear I was struggling to set off on a short steep uphill gradient. I agree with gradually raising the saddle too, my riding is so much more comfortable and I'm sure I can go a little higher still once I'm comfortable with starting and stopping unseated.

[ny biker]

with the bike in a gear high enough to give me some power

I start in a low gear so it's easy to pedal with only one foot clipped in.

I start with my left foot clipped in at around 1:00-2:00. Push the left foot/pedal forward and slide back onto the saddle. Once I'm seated, I clip in with the right foot.

The benefit of having it in a low gear is that if I have trouble clipping in, I can just keep pedaling with the left foot so I have some momemtum.

[OakLeaf]

She's right that you don't want it in TOO low a gear though. IIRC, Catrin's bike is geared quite low. I think for learning, you want it in a middle-ish gear. You're only going to be pushing the pedal about 1/3 of a revolution before you get on, so you need that to propel the bike fast enough that the gyroscopic forces of the wheel will keep you upright.

Here's a little game that might help you understand that the bike WANTS to stay upright.

Take your front wheel off. Hold it in both hands by the ends of the skewer, and have someone spin the wheel, kind of hard. Now try to tilt the wheel side to side.

That's what keeps your bike upright.

[Catrin]

I start in a low gear so it's easy to pedal with only one foot clipped in.

I start with my left foot clipped in at around 1:00-2:00. Push the left foot/pedal forward and slide back onto the saddle. Once I'm seated, I clip in with the right foot...

You start with it that far back? I thought it needed to be more like 10-11:00. I am going to try these things tonight and see how it goes.

She's right that you don't want it in TOO low a gear though. IIRC, Catrin's bike is geared quite low. I think for learning, you want it in a middle-ish gear. You're only going to be pushing the pedal about 1/3 of a revolution before you get on, so you need that to propel the bike fast enough that the gyroscopic forces of the wheel will keep you upright.

Here's a little game that might help you understand that the bike WANTS to stay upright.

Take your front wheel off. Hold it in both hands by the ends of the skewer, and have someone spin the wheel, kind of hard. Now try to tilt the wheel side to side.

That's what keeps your bike upright.

Yes, my LHT is geared quite low - it has that lovely full mountain bike rear cassette (11-32). I have taught myself to start in whatever gear I happen to be in, but of course this is different. Will play with a middle gear.

I do have a trainer for a few more weeks until it goes back home. I thought about trying that first - but that is so-not-like-the-real-thing when it is so nice and warm outside today. Seems better to go play in the 70+ degrees while I can

Part of the problem in the past may have been from not trusting my foot to stay on the platform pedal - but of course - I am attached to the pedal now... Someone also suggested that I may well be faster once my legs can extend properly. That is another incentive

[sarahspins]

You start with it that far back? I thought it needed to be more like 10-11:00.

I think it depends on which side of the bike you're looking from.. I generally start with mine at about 2 o'clock... if you were looking from the right side (I start with my right foot on the pedal).

[Catrin]

I kind of sort of did it I suppose it depends on how much one's definition - but it was a good beginning.

So there I was, in an empty parking lot. Clipped in my right foot and pulled the pedal up to about 1:00. Then my body just froze. My mind knew what to do but my body said "no I am not doing that". Then I remembered what someone said about it perhaps being a matter of muscle memory and I thought of a middle approach.

I brought my pedal back up to 1:00 then pushed on the pedal and somehow slid the saddle under my butt and just took off. It was certainly my fastest start of all time - normally I have to situate myself on the saddle, shift my butt or my left foot that is on the ground around and finally take off. This was fast once I actually committed, and I did the same thing again when I stopped at an outhouse.

Once the ride was over I tried to start more "properly" and almost succeeded, but my saddle got caught in my shorts as my butt wasn't clearing the saddle. THIS is where the muscle memory comes in I think.

During my ride I tried to get as close as I could to standing while coasting - and I got pretty darn close. I remembered what someone said about allowing the saddle to lean a little against my thigh and that was quite helpful. I think once my body is more accustomed to standing on a moving two-wheel object in motion that the problem will solve itself. Kind of like the clipless thing took care of itself in time

You know, my saddle is only an inch or so too low. It is amazing to me that small distance could be such a bother to the joints and so forth. Someone also suggested in an email that I may well be faster once my legs are extended properly.