Bike Forums - Mounting and dismounting

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I still mount my bike alone in my driveway as if shoulder to shoulder in a Criterium start:

Engage proper starting gear for grade conditions. Swing right leg over the saddle from the non-drive side w/ brakes engaged & hands on the hoods, clip-in and raise right pedal to "start". Look where the bike needs to go. Wait for the gun if appropriate. Push smoothly down on the right pedal with your weight while simultaneously releasing brakes, seat oneself and clip in the off-side as the left crank comes up. Proceed without monkey-motion, drama or deviation from your line.

This was always an interesting time pre-clipless pedals. A good clean start could get one out of all of the wobbling, lurching, leaning, shoulder banging confusion as riders tried to engage & tighten their off-side toe-straps while some dim-wit pulled a foot out and crashed on the start line. Ah, "the good old days....." Detto 74's, Binda straps, Christophe toe-clips and road-rashed Superlegerra pedals.......

-Bandera

Quote:

Originally Posted by daihard (Post 15991328)

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

That's OK, so do a lot of Americans.;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terex (Post 15987447)

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!

I'm lefty (both hand and foot), so mounting from the left should be weird. The thing is, everyone else did it from the left when I was a kid, so it was natural for me to follow suit. I also assume the chain and gears are all on the right side for the same reason. If most people mounted from the right, they would have probably placed those components on the left side of the bicycle.