Dumb Question?
 

Not too dumb I hope. How do you mount an upright bike? Safely that is. No jumping over the rear wheel the way Gene Autry used to do with his horse.



Right now I lay the bike almost down,hold the handlebars like they were a pole, swing the off leg over, then lift the bike upright. That is way too much drama. Then start off with a wobbly 1/4 diameter pedal stroke to get moving.

Gotta be a better way.

Somewhere on one of the boards there's a recent thread about mounting a bike complete with names and step-by-step directions for several different methods.

This is 50+ so I'm going to say "Do whatever it takes." What you're doing now is fine. If you ride a lot, you may develop a short cut. If you do develop a short cut, that'll be fine too. If anybody makes a negative comment about how you get onto your bike, tell them to get off your lawn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UutOQjY-NKU

The traditional way to mount a bike. No drama involved.

If you aren't limber enough, due to age or whatever other reason, then obviously this approach won't work and you're doing fine.

I get on much like the OP. My spouse, who barely rides at all and is overweight can get on the "old time" way of putting his left foot on the left pedal, pushes off to start rolling and swings his right leg over the rear of the bike. It looks very elegant but I could never do it, even when I was a kid.

Here is what I do.I mount from the left side.If no one is around i place my left foot on the left pedal when it is at 6 oclock,while holding onto the handle bars and push off with my right leg and swing it over the seat onto the right pedal. If some one is around and one wants to impress I do the same except start the left pedal at 9-10 o'clock ,it gets you moving faster but I really don't see much of a difference.I also try to remember to leave the gears in low so I'm not starting off and down shifting.

There are other styles of bikes that can be easier to mount, such as step-through frames, recumbents, some crank forwards, mixte, etc.

That's what I do, but I do it even if other people are around. :) For me, standing on the pedal lifts me up just enough that it's easier to get the old right leg over the saddle and anything I have on the rear rack. Otherwise, I have to tilt the bike WAY over to swing my leg over the back.

I used to dismount by swinging my right leg over behind my left as I was stopping, but I don't trust myself to be able to complete that successfully these days.

You can also swing your leg over the handlebars. This is good when the cargo on the rear of the bike is piled high.

That's what I used to do when we had a conventional tandem. That may be part of the reason we've stayed married for so long.

Or maybe not.

You do have to be pretty limber for this. I'm not very limber, so it's not the easiest way for me, but I thought it should be listed among the ways to mount a bike.

The video posted above does show one of the easiest ways, perhaps the easiest of all.

Very impressive if done on a moving start.

when I used to ride my tandem a lot, I swung my leg over the handlebars. Nowadays, I swing my leg over the captain's top tube. A little awkward, but at least I can actually do it.

^^^^^This way. ^^^^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVIGhYMwRgs

Since I have those honking huge grocery panniers on the back of my bike, I have to sort of hop/high-kick my foot over the top tube. I give thanks for the relaxed geometry of my bike.

Oh, and there is no such thing as a "dumb question." There is only the "rude answer." ;)

Thanks everyone.

Pre-trauma I used to mount from the left with the pedal in about the 8 o'clock position. Step on with the left foot and kick off with a very small push from the right foot. Then swing the right leg over the saddle, clip in and off I went.

Now, I have very limited strength in my feet from the insteps forward and the right leg is pretty weak. I was looking for maybe some other way than what I am doing. From your inputs it looks like what I am doing is best for now. Of course I am NOT clipping in. I've put bearclaw style pedals on my bikes and will add them to my road bike this coming week.

Thanks

OK - considering you can't swing a leg over the saddle - which you might have mentioned in the beginning ;-) - you're doing it right.

I think I mentioned this before on another thread. My brother has really long legs. He hold the bike in front of him with the back wheel on the ground and the front wheel at head height. He then pushes the rear wheel back between his legs so the saddle winds up right behind his butt. He then sits and off he goes..........

Sorry. Didn't mean to omit or mislead. Thought I'd covered this before.

I can swing, or maybe drag, my leg over the saddle. But is a lot more drama than I'm happy with.
Before spin class today I practiced mounting and dismounting.

There is hope.

Hmmm. I only mount from the left side. Maybe a throwback from learning to mount a horse before learning to ride a bike. I'm thinking I see almost everyone I ride with also mounting from the left side exclusively.

run jump and leap on it....no I just lay mine dowm part way..works for me