I do both. What's odd is that had to think about it for while. OK, really, I had to tough the bike to check.

I start on the drive side, and plant my right foot on the pedal, push with the left, then swing over.
OR
Kick my leg over, plant it on teh ground then start with stepping on the right pedal.

I always use the left foot on the pedal, swing the right leg over while starting to move forward method. Never occurred to me to do it any other way. Did that as a kid and when I returned to riding 30 years later it was just the natural thing to do. Until reading BF, I would have just assumed everyone did it that way.

I clip in my left foot, push off with my right, then throw my right leg over the saddle and clip the right foot in - all in basically one natural motion.

To dismount, I usually unclip the right foot and throw my leg over after stopping, though sometimes when I know I can, I will unclip the right an throw it over and coast to a stop with both legs on the drive side.

I too have always done this and never thought about it and had to actually check that this is what I do on my commute home LOL.

Swing right leg over saddle, etc., first, stand still with upright bike under me, clip in left foot, lift up right and start pedaling with left then right. Clip in right quickly or in a few revolutions. I used to do the other way as a kid.

How real athletes do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1hDKNqnUuM

I'll give this a try, but as I ride a bent I'm not too optimistic. OTOH, I did take it on a mountain bike trail today....

I do not have any problem swinging my leg over the saddle, lean the bike over a bit. However, on my Surly CC and my Stumpjumper, both have the double sided SPD platform pedals and wearing my Shimano SPD MTB boots, I generally just set the left crank at 8 o'clock and step on it with my left foot and as the bike rolls forward swing my right leg up and over and I am rolling. No need for a clumsy push off. I do a rolling dismount as well. I do similar with my road bikes, I lock in on the left again with the pedal at about 8 o'clock and same thing. Dismounting is similar, swing my right leg over and then step off the left with a slight twist to unlock. No big deal.

LC

The "ugly" guy could have eaten lunch during the transition quicker!:lol:

I mount by clipping in my left foot, push off with my right and then swing the right leg over... I always thought this was the 'natural' way. Since switching to clipless, when I stop I let my left foot down first and then after I stop I swing my right over; before clipless I would swing my right leg over as I stopped with my left foot still on the pedal.

Made me smile!
:)

I do this about half the time and DouG's rolling cowboy mount about half. I have done it all my life and am much more comfortable doing this that climbing over a stationery bike. I simply reverse the movement when stopping. I generally don't have a problem with this but once in a while, when riding my old beater with my grandkid's seat on the back I forget and start to mount or dismount cowboy style. I quickly abort those moves when my right leg gets stopped short but so far it hasn't resulted in any unexpected catastrophic dismounts. :)

Thinking about this I dislike getting off a stationery bike even more than mounting one. When I ride with my grandson I just accept the fact that I have to do it that way because I don't want to take any chances. When I occasionally ride my new bike with a clip on trunk rack/bag that rides to high to swing my leg I have been lifting my right leg forward over the top tub and down on the left as I coast and brake to a rolling stop. That feels a bit awkward so I should probably stop it at my advanced age. I have read about increases balance issues as we get older so maybe I should start practicing statioery mounts and dismounts now to get used to them. I'm 65. Anyone here doing cowboy mounts past 70?

Making fun of traithletes mounting bikes is like shooting fish in a barrel

Yes, I'd kick the ball using my right leg....well, actually, I'd use my right foot which of course is attached to my right leg.

Then mounting from the right does sound weird. If you kick with your right, you use your left leg as a point of balance and support and would tend to rely on the same stability with left leg support in mounting the bike. You're probably just more coordinated than me!

Beach it solidly, backwards. Unsnap skirt, place both hands behind you along the sides of the hull, push yourself up and out and sit on the back of the combing, lift legs out to either side, stand up. No beach, all bets are off, have dry towel in the car. :-).

It depends...
 

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.

Interesting thread - for a long time (like most of my life) I too always did a rolling start/stop. For some reason I have limited flexibility in the hips so swinging my right leg over the seat is always a bit of a stretch (literally). I thought that taking up yoga was going to help that, but not yet. I did figure out that tipping the bike to the left (the side I always mount from) works well in those situations where a rolling start isn't practical, like in a congested group ride start.

The clips never caused a problem - I used to use Power Grips (see pic below) and when I switched to clipless I use the Shimano M324 pedals, so I don't have to clip/un-clip simultaneously with mounting/unmounting.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=336240

No problem with mounting/dismounting with this semi-bent.
It's adult sized.

http://www.highrollerusa.com/hrwp/wp...e1-150x150.jpg

When I started riding again a few years ago, I quickly discovered that leaning the bike over was by far the easiest way to get my leg over the frame.

I've been doing the "cowboy style" rolling mount and dismount much like GeneO described since I got my first road bike 42 years ago. Doesn't matter what pedals the bike has, platform, rat traps with clips, half clips, Power Straps or clipless. No other method feels natural to me. As to putting side pressure on the spokes, I keep the bike nearly vertical, the top bar isn't more than an inch or two off center at the most and only for a few seconds. I just replaced the original wheels on my 16 year old MTB, not because they were out of true but because they had become corroded and stained and looked like crap. I have never had a broken spoke, no loose spokes and the old wheels are still as true as the day I bought the bike new. I'm putting together a foul weather beater MTB from left over parts and I'll be using them on it just the way they are.

Whoa, cowboy! I also grew up in the Cowboys & Indians era and know that you never, ever try to mount a horse from the right side. This has carried over to motorcycles and bicycles as well and the thought of mounting from the right seems just plain weird. For someone whose avatar is wearing a cowboy hat, how can you do it? ;)

That's the way most, if not all, riders got on the bike in Japan - at least male riders - while I grew up there. I was clumsy and couldn't do it, and I was always picked on for that. It sure looks cool, though. I probably should try and learn how to do it now. :)



Is there any reason for this? Just curious.

I assume that horses would feel more comfortable if the person always mounted from the same side. They don't like change. So at some point, someone said "Hey, let's always mount from the left." That way, when you mount a new horse, you don't have to ask whether he's used to the left or the right.

Thanks! That makes sense. I still have a lot of things to learn about the American history. :)

I really doubt it. If the dominant neuromuscular pattern is right side dominant, with right hand and right foot doing the majority of the tough bits, you plant with your left foot. No one makes a decision to do something differently than the way the vast majority of people do it naturally and get it to stick. Unless you're the federal government.