Originally Posted by
antimonysarah
I'm generally holding the brakes until the last second doing this so that the back foot has something to push against as I try to lift myself up; I'm not pushing forward on the ground at all, I'm pushing straight upwards jumping up trying to get enough height to get to a point where I can either lock my elbows and/or clear the saddle. Speed might be an issue if I were wobbling/falling over as I tried to get going, but I'm not getting off the ground to begin with.
Don't jump ... just stand.
Do like rm -rf says ...
Move the pedal into the 10:00 position, and just gently push down to get rolling and stand on that pedal when it reaches the 6:00 position. Your other foot will be dangling. Then apply the brakes and move the dangling foot to the ground. Repeat that several times in a nice flat parking lot or something until you get comfortable with it.
Then, when you feel comfortable standing on the pedal, just ease back into the saddle.
You should not have to jump into the saddle because the saddle height should be right so that if you are standing on the pedal in the 6:00 position, the saddle should be right there, ready to sit on.
The only time I've had to sort of jump into the saddle is if I'm trying to start certain bicycles (my Bike Friday, for example) on a hill where I've got no coasting to work with at all. If I can coast, there's no jumping.
Originally Posted by
rm -rf
A couple of questions:
Are you doing the "stand on one pedal and push off along the ground a few times" method?
Once the bike is moving, are you standing on the downward pedal, then straightening your leg, moving up and back into the saddle?
...
Try this experiment
Find a slight downhill quiet road.
Shift a couple of clicks to a harder gear before stopping. That will give you more speed for the first pedal stroke.
Set the pedal a little above horizontal.
Go, pressing down to the bottom of the pedal stroke. You should have enough speed to not need to push off with the ground foot.
You should be coasting and standing up on the one leg. It sounds like you have trouble getting to this point.
Now, see if you can straighten your leg and move up and back into the saddle.
If that works, more practice to get the muscle memory working will help.
After a while, as this becomes an automatic, smooth motion, you need less start up speed from the first pedal stroke, since you can get into the saddle quickly and start pedaling with both legs.