canklecat

From the non-drive side. I have limited mobility on the right side from injuries -- mostly the hip and lower back -- and if I don't force myself to use that leg more it'll get stiff and achy. So I mount/dismount from the left side, swinging my right leg over. It would be easier to do it the other way 'round but I'm a knucklehead.

I also always unclip the left foot first, or set down the left foot from clipless, toe clips or platform pedals. Always have. Hard habit to change. At this point I'm more comfortable using the left leg to prop myself up during brief stops, due to the aforementioned right leg/hip problem.

JaccoW

NDS

bikingshearer 

Mount from NDS. Left foot clips in first. Right foot unclips first. Dismount to NDS. I try not to fall over at any point in the process. The older and less flexible I get, the more I have to lean the bike over to swing my right leg over on the mount and dismount. It isn't pretty.

fujidon

I always assumed that everyone mounted from the left. It's where the kickstand is/was. It's how to mount a horse (the horse expects it). It's the side where you would walk a bike from (to avoid brushing the chain). On motorcycles with center stands, it's necessary to stand on the left side to get it up on the stand. It's the side that drivers (in most countries) enter their vehicles. It just seemed intuitive.

But, I see that my assumption, while generally true, is not always true. Interesting.

I will admit to usually mounting cowboy style. On and moving in one motion.

Wileyone 

Agreed, but I might add I try and do it when no one is looking.

Prowler 

I always stand on the NDS and throw my right leg over the saddle (so my sword/scabbard does not strike the horse bike) then pick up the right pedal and backpedal to the 1:00 position. Then, like a musher, "ready?" and "alright" and away we go down with the right foot while I pick up the left pedal. I always stop with my left foot forward then off the pedal and down.

Corralary question: when you coast which foot is forward? For me it's the left foot but I retrained that when I learned to track stand. Used to be right foot forward and, maybe, right foot down when I stopped. I don't recall.

SJX426 

Mostly the DS. The tandem is always the DS
2020-07-30_09-08-03 on Flickr

T-Mar

I'm ambidextrous. Being able to mount, dismount and run or carry the bicycle on either side was a useful skill in ATB and CX competition.

martl

I understand evaluating the preferred bike-mount side is one puzzle piece in finding "hidden" left-handed people, an issue in regions of the world where "re-education" of left-handed children still happens.

cranky old road 

My brother does it this way. He rides a tandem much of the time and doesn't want to kick his wife in the face.
Me: NDS left foot on pedal at 12 o'clock, go and swing right leg over.

Iowa10Speed

Usually NDS "rolling "cowboy style" (love that phrase. Thanks Fujidon!).

When doing "Non-cowboy", I'm slowly losing the flexibility needed to gracefully clear the saddle. Not so back in the day ...

Wildwood

What a silly thread. Not enough choices.

Sometimes I swing the non-curbside leg.
Exiting the ferry, I use the non-bulkhead side.
Edge of the trail, I swing the grass side leg.
etc.

CargoDane

I clicked the "right leg over first", but although true now, it wasn't in the past.

I'm a lefty, and before my (left leg) amputation I used to swing over the left leg first. The reason it is now the right is that while using test holsters/sockets (they're made from slippery polycarbonate), sometimes the leg would fall off if I swung the left leg, leaving me to hop around the bike on one leg to reattach the damn thing.

So, while this won't happen with my CF socket/holster, I have now learned to do it with my right leg. Which, btw is often easier because we drive on the right, so the bike is often placed up a wall to the right too. I suspect things might be slightly different for UK, Oz, NZ, and other citizens from left driving countries.

seypat

I grew up with equines as well. Generally I lean the bike to the left and the right leg goes over. Straddle the bike with the right leg down and bring the left pedal to 9 o'clock. Left leg connects first. Right leg pushes off then connects. Left leg comes out first when stopping. Then right leg goes down and left leg connects again waiting to resume. Dismount can vary.

BFisher 

I mount from either side, but like my left foot on the pedal first, and coast left foot forward.

Because of my either/or status, I'll just throw this up.


And this thread doesn't have enough pictures, C'mon, guys.

RobbieTunes 

Sorry, the question confused me.

I swing the R leg over, which means I mount from the L side.

It’s about clipping in.
On the road, stand on the L, swing R over, clip in R first, because my L leg doesn’t always cooperate.

On the trainer, the bike doesn’t move, so I stand and clip in on the R, swing L leg over, and then clip in.
There’s a wall on the L, gets in the way.

With flat pedals, stomp on the L, swing the R over, and go.

Wildwood

Pics, OK.
With some bikes, NDS or DS = Depends, on which bike?!?

seypat

Here you go. I need to put a twist in the straps.

texaspandj

Always 100 percent the left (NDS). But how I mount depends on the bike or circumstances.
Road bike, I throw right leg over, clip in, pedal once, clip in left foot, then away.
Mountain bike, place left foot on pedal, push with right foot (still from Left side), then throw right leg over on to pedal and away.
Triathlon, (similar to my mountain bike mount), I place bare left foot in shoe already clipped in pedal (still from Left side), push with right several times, then throw right foot over on top of shoe, then after getting up to speed I slip right foot into right shoe.

seypat

Saaayyy, I just noticed this is one of them there special left drive side bikes! It must be European.

Kobe 

NDS always for mounting and dismounting ( took me 10 minutes to find a NDS picture).

billnuke1 

I’m getting older...not as limber as before...some days I lay the bike down and crawl over it and then like a Transformer, I slowly rise to the riding position...then Boom! I’m off!

Wildwood

Not a European issue, just bass ackward!

Unless on the USA Track team, they did left hand drive, apparently less air resistance on the inside of all the left side turns. Don't ask me why, probably too incremental for logically realistic road riding performance.

noglider 

I think my method is probably inefficient. I stand on the left side and swing my right leg over. Then I put my right foot down and put my left foot on the pedal and push off with that. I could be quicker if I pushed with the foot that I swing over. Dismounting seems even inefficienter. I put my right foot down, then lean over to my left foot while picking up my right foot and swinging it over. Maybe that's just the reverse of mounting, but it seems worse.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who starts pedaling with the left. I don't know why I do that, as I am right handed.

billnuke1 

There is an old British touring short where this gentleman somehow steps over the handlebars to dismount!
The short is somewhere on this site...
it’s the one with the train cars specifically set up for the touring bicyclists.