Originally Posted by
aggiegrads
Did you go to Tonkin's clinic at the Dairy? How was it? I'm thinking of doing the one on the 5th.
Yeah, that's the one. I thought it was very good. I ended up in a group that was being led by Erik's wife, Rhonda Mazza, and another guy (whose name, I'm sorry to say, didn't stick in my memory). For the first week, they broke down the dismount/remount process into small steps (getting your right leg over the saddle, coasting on the left pedal, finding the balance point on the top tube and getting your hand there while coasting, etc., etc.) and we practiced each bit on its own and then gradually put them together. It may sound pedantic and/or dorky, but it's actually quite helpful. I seem to manage to rediscover the "hop step" remount every year, and these clinics help get rid of it. We ended up actually going over barriers just at the end of the evening. They said next week we'll reviewing this stuff and then add some new stuff -- probably shouldering technique and run-ups.