My friend Jeffery and I teamed up to create some cartoon sketches to capture the idea of the remount. I hope you noobs find this to be helpful and clear. If you are an experience crosser you might find the cartons to be fun. :)

The remount (http://cross.velocommunity.com/staticpages/index.php?page=remount)

This looks like a beer meeting that I was not involved in. Very helpful graphics for those of us who are new to CX.

Great cartoon. Could you do something with the Kama Sutra? There are some alternate remounts I've been reading about that I'm having trouble sticking.

Also, you left off the most important step: While pushing off with your left foot, hit a pothole and go on a slow motion voyage to the land of the horizontal.

That's funny. I've been practicing dismounts and remounts this week for my first CX race on Labor Day. Not quite there yet.

Hey - 3dw - I really have trouble with remounts and having my hands on the brake levers I think my arms are short for my body size. I have much great success remount with my hands up on the flat part of the bars. It turns out with my hands on the bars the bike was too far forward. On the flats/tops, I am more comfortable.

Try and go with whatever works best for you. 95% of the time that rehearsed method will work. Watch out for those weird 5% times when things break down.

Try to practice in all the positions. Flats, brake hoods, and hooks. You never really know where your hands will be when it comes time to remount due to momentary race confusion/at thresh hold/ violent breathing/running.

Good to hear the the kinks are getting worked out though. That will pay dividends come race day. Sprint hard, and leave it all out there on the course. :D

Jimmy Mack good job :)

How about one for dismount? Most people have trouble dismounting, for me it was always the remount.

Hey Jimbo, you and Jeffery should print these out for the CX clinic at the Kitchen. Sorry I'm going to miss your B-day, I'll be in Fort BRagg. I'll throw one back for you there.

Cheers
Chris

Good points all!

The dismount can be a bit difficult and a bit freaky. When I was starting out the remount was much more intimidating and difficult to learn to do quickly and smoothly.

Text for the dismount
1. Hands on the brake hoods – scrub your speed before you begin the dismount
2. Unclip the right leg. Swing the right leg over the rear wheel and between the frame and your left leg.
3. Brace your hip against the saddle. Now you have created a tetrahedron using your bicycle for support. You are supported with your hands, clipped foot, and hip braced against the saddle.
4. Escape from the bike. Unclip your left foot and land on your right foot. You will probably roll an ankle if you try to unclip your left foot and land on your left foot.
5. Maintain control of the bike with on hand on the handlebars and one on the top tube.
6. RUN!!!!

It's good form in #2 to actully put that right leg forward and ready to take the first step. That always seems to be a hard one for most beginners.

JimmyMack's description of the dismount is good. His Step #3 is crucial for maintaining stability, although he forgot to mention that you should move your right hand to grip the top tube, not the brake hood.

Sometimes you don't want to thread your right leg through and forward. If you're going really slow towards a barrier, which often happens in bottle-necks during the first lap, or when you approach a barrier on a hill, or when you're just too tired to go fast, you might want to leave that right leg back, otherwise you could get jambed up and fall over before you can unclip.

I have a few comments regarding Step #5: One, if you push down slightly on the top tube while you unclip, it helps unweight your left foot, and makes unclipping a bit easier. It also gives you a little boost when your right foot hits the ground. Two, if you intend to dismount and shoulder your bike, as you unclip your left foot and step down with your right, as soon as your right foot hits the ground (or thereabouts), slide your right hand down past the left side of the top tube and grab the down tube. From there it's just one quick motion to get the top tube up on your shoulder.

Some people (like me) prefer to switch around the brake cables, so the left brake lever operates the rear brake. This allows you to apply the brakes while standing alongside your bike without the threat of locking the front wheel -- this has saved my butt a number of times.

Remount is easy, just pretend you're stealing a bike in front of the 7-11.

Ron