In a game of soccer, I would use whichever foot and whichever strike was optimal under the immediate circumstances. For distance from a set position, it's the right foot, though.

As for mounting - I just climb over the bike and begin from standing, with one foot clipped in for the first downstroke. And I do remember all of the crazy mounts we invented as kids. Some of them resulted crazy falls, too.

We used to ride no handed with a squirt gun in one hand and a trash can lid in the other as a shield, with a close head-on pass as in a joust. That was fun, and produced it's own kind of excitement.

Fortunately, I grew up.