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Need Help Learning to Free-Mount

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01 / Original postNeed Help Learning to Free-Mountaquaman · 8 Nov 2007 02 / This pagePosts 1–20Page 1 of 2 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #35aquaman · 13 Nov 2007

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rec.sport.unicycling
Published
8 November 2007
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13 November 2007
Original author
aquaman
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Crank arm length

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  1. Original post
    aquaman
    Archived post
    #1

    Just to give you a background of my experience, I have practiced for a
    total of about 14 hours spread out over time. The longest distance
    I've ridden was 1/5th of a mile unassisted on a Torker CX 24" unicycle.
    I'm still getting the hang of riding and I can ride along my street
    and turn around the perimeter of my cul-de-sac, but I'm getting tired
    of walking over to a mailbox and pushing off. It's time for me to learn
    to free-mount.

    How long did it take you to learn to free-mount and then ride a couple
    feet? Also, did you use any shin guards? Did you get any really
    painful shin impact from your pedals while learning? My first couple
    of attempts to free-mount have resulted in my second foot getting on
    the second pedal, but my pedals lock in the 6 and 12 o'clock positions
    and it's hard to move forward. Any suggestions? BTW, you can call me
    Philip.

    --
    aquaman
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  2. anton005
    Archived post
    #2

    It took me a couple of hours once I finally decided I was going to do
    it. That got me from not being able to free mount to about 50%
    success, then another week of doing it and I was up to 80/90%.

    I didn't wear any shin protection, only took one hit to my shin and it
    was a bad one. Gave me my first gnarly scar 🙂 Doing it again I would
    wear some if I had some, but not go out and buy it just to learn
    mounting (although you'll need em down the road anyway most likely).

    Start more in the 3 (or 4) and 9 (or 10) o'clock positions that may
    help. Also a bit of a downhill slope could help.

    --
    anton005
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  3. anton005
    Archived post
    #3

    It took me a couple of hours once I finally decided I was going to do
    it. That got me from not being able to free mount to about 50%
    success, then another week of doing it and I was up to 80/90%.

    I didn't wear any shin protection, only took one hit to my shin and it
    was a bad one. Gave me my first gnarly scar 🙂 Doing it again I would
    wear some if I had some, but not go out and buy it just to learn
    mounting (although you'll need em down the road anyway most likely).

    Start more in the 3 (or 4) and 9 (or 10) o'clock positions that may
    help. Also a bit of a downhill slope could help.

    --
    anton005
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  4. anton005
    Archived post
    #4

    It took me a couple of hours once I finally decided I was going to do
    it. That got me from not being able to free mount to about 50%
    success, then another week of doing it and I was up to 80/90%.

    I didn't wear any shin protection, only took one hit to my shin and it
    was a bad one. Gave me my first gnarly scar 🙂 Doing it again I would
    wear some if I had some, but not go out and buy it just to learn
    mounting (although you'll need em down the road anyway most likely).

    Start more in the 3 (or 4) and 9 (or 10) o'clock positions that may
    help. Also a bit of a downhill slope could help.

    --
    anton005
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  5. aquaman
    Archived post
    #5

    anton005, how long did it take you to finally get the hang of
    free-mounting? I guess I forgot to mention that I set the pedals in
    the 4 and 10 o'clock positions, but they end up in the 6 and 12
    positions.

    --
    aquaman
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  6. aquaman
    Archived post
    #6

    anton005, how long did it take you to finally get the hang of
    free-mounting? I guess I forgot to mention that I set the pedals in
    the 4 and 10 o'clock positions, but they end up in the 6 and 12
    positions.

    --
    aquaman
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  7. aquaman
    Archived post
    #7

    anton005, how long did it take you to finally get the hang of
    free-mounting? I guess I forgot to mention that I set the pedals in
    the 4 and 10 o'clock positions, but they end up in the 6 and 12
    positions.

    --
    aquaman
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  8. anton005
    Archived post
    #8

    Probably about 2 or 3 days of riding (maybe an hour or two a day) after
    I "learned" I felt pretty good about it, unless someone was watching me
    (nothing could make me miss more than that). What I did was used a
    small stick to put behind my wheel, that helped with keeping the wheel
    moving back when I put too much weight on the back pedal. I did this
    for a day or two, then was able to do it without the stick and could
    hold my foot on the pedal without it moving more than an inch or two.
    If you concentrate on putting your weight on your seat and not so much
    on your foot it will help.

    Oh and with the shin guards... sometimes wearing them helps with
    confidence (which is usually all you need).

    --
    anton005
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  9. anton005
    Archived post
    #9

    Probably about 2 or 3 days of riding (maybe an hour or two a day) after
    I "learned" I felt pretty good about it, unless someone was watching me
    (nothing could make me miss more than that). What I did was used a
    small stick to put behind my wheel, that helped with keeping the wheel
    moving back when I put too much weight on the back pedal. I did this
    for a day or two, then was able to do it without the stick and could
    hold my foot on the pedal without it moving more than an inch or two.
    If you concentrate on putting your weight on your seat and not so much
    on your foot it will help.

    Oh and with the shin guards... sometimes wearing them helps with
    confidence (which is usually all you need).

    --
    anton005
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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  10. anton005
    Archived post
    #10

    Probably about 2 or 3 days of riding (maybe an hour or two a day) after
    I "learned" I felt pretty good about it, unless someone was watching me
    (nothing could make me miss more than that). What I did was used a
    small stick to put behind my wheel, that helped with keeping the wheel
    moving back when I put too much weight on the back pedal. I did this
    for a day or two, then was able to do it without the stick and could
    hold my foot on the pedal without it moving more than an inch or two.
    If you concentrate on putting your weight on your seat and not so much
    on your foot it will help.

    Oh and with the shin guards... sometimes wearing them helps with
    confidence (which is usually all you need).

    --
    anton005
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  11. idiorythmic
    Archived post
    #11
    aquaman said:

    I guess I forgot to mention that I set the pedals in the 4 and 10
    o'clock positions, but they end up in the 6 and 12 positions.

    Whenever I have trouble with mounts it's often because my dominant leg
    locks after it hits the pedal. I use my right foot first, and when
    that foot gets down to the 6 o'clock position my leg locks, stopping
    the wheel and holding the pedals in the 6/12 position you describe.
    The leg is not supposed to lock, this is just bad reflexes, bad habit,
    getting tense.

    To overcome this, one thing I do is to use the second foot to pull the
    top pedal back. Of course I have to relax the right leg so the wheel
    can turn, but if I time it right - pull left pedal back while relaxing
    right leg - the wheel rotates so I have pedals horizontal and I can
    pedal from there. Trying to keep the legs relaxed so they don't lock up
    is a constant effort for me.

    I practiced this mount about four hours a week and was getting it
    almost 100% in about two months.

    [EDIT: I just saw anton's remarks and realize that we're thinking of
    different styles of mounting. Anton is describing the mount
    demonstrated 'HERE'
    (http://www.unicyclist.org/cont/play.cfm?pi=f320240mountLf). I am
    describing what is often called a "roll back" mount, in which the wheel
    rolls backward about a half revolution so it ends up underneath me.]

    --
    idiorythmic
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  12. idiorythmic
    Archived post
    #12
    aquaman said:

    I guess I forgot to mention that I set the pedals in the 4 and 10
    o'clock positions, but they end up in the 6 and 12 positions.

    Whenever I have trouble with mounts it's often because my dominant leg
    locks after it hits the pedal. I use my right foot first, and when
    that foot gets down to the 6 o'clock position my leg locks, stopping
    the wheel and holding the pedals in the 6/12 position you describe.
    The leg is not supposed to lock, this is just bad reflexes, bad habit,
    getting tense.

    To overcome this, one thing I do is to use the second foot to pull the
    top pedal back. Of course I have to relax the right leg so the wheel
    can turn, but if I time it right - pull left pedal back while relaxing
    right leg - the wheel rotates so I have pedals horizontal and I can
    pedal from there. Trying to keep the legs relaxed so they don't lock up
    is a constant effort for me.

    I practiced this mount about four hours a week and was getting it
    almost 100% in about two months.

    [EDIT: I just saw anton's remarks and realize that we're thinking of
    different styles of mounting. Anton is describing the mount
    demonstrated 'HERE'
    (http://www.unicyclist.org/cont/play.cfm?pi=f320240mountLf). I am
    describing what is often called a "roll back" mount, in which the wheel
    rolls backward about a half revolution so it ends up underneath me.]

    --
    idiorythmic
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  13. idiorythmic
    Archived post
    #13
    aquaman said:

    I guess I forgot to mention that I set the pedals in the 4 and 10
    o'clock positions, but they end up in the 6 and 12 positions.

    Whenever I have trouble with mounts it's often because my dominant leg
    locks after it hits the pedal. I use my right foot first, and when
    that foot gets down to the 6 o'clock position my leg locks, stopping
    the wheel and holding the pedals in the 6/12 position you describe.
    The leg is not supposed to lock, this is just bad reflexes, bad habit,
    getting tense.

    To overcome this, one thing I do is to use the second foot to pull the
    top pedal back. Of course I have to relax the right leg so the wheel
    can turn, but if I time it right - pull left pedal back while relaxing
    right leg - the wheel rotates so I have pedals horizontal and I can
    pedal from there. Trying to keep the legs relaxed so they don't lock up
    is a constant effort for me.

    I practiced this mount about four hours a week and was getting it
    almost 100% in about two months.

    [EDIT: I just saw anton's remarks and realize that we're thinking of
    different styles of mounting. Anton is describing the mount
    demonstrated 'HERE'
    (http://www.unicyclist.org/cont/play.cfm?pi=f320240mountLf). I am
    describing what is often called a "roll back" mount, in which the wheel
    rolls backward about a half revolution so it ends up underneath me.]

    --
    idiorythmic
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  14. aquaman
    Archived post
    #14

    So what I should do is push off the ground with my second foot to get my
    weight over the seat and foot on the second pedal rather than pushing
    on the first pedal to get over the seat and land my second foot on the
    second pedal. Did I get that correctly based on that video clip?

    --
    aquaman
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  15. aquaman
    Archived post
    #15

    So what I should do is push off the ground with my second foot to get my
    weight over the seat and foot on the second pedal rather than pushing
    on the first pedal to get over the seat and land my second foot on the
    second pedal. Did I get that correctly based on that video clip?

    --
    aquaman
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  16. aquaman
    Archived post
    #16

    So what I should do is push off the ground with my second foot to get my
    weight over the seat and foot on the second pedal rather than pushing
    on the first pedal to get over the seat and land my second foot on the
    second pedal. Did I get that correctly based on that video clip?

    --
    aquaman
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  17. anton005
    Archived post
    #17

    yup, exactly right. I guess I should have mentioned I was talking about
    a static mount.

    --
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  18. anton005
    Archived post
    #18

    yup, exactly right. I guess I should have mentioned I was talking about
    a static mount.

    --
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  19. anton005
    Archived post
    #19

    yup, exactly right. I guess I should have mentioned I was talking about
    a static mount.

    --
    anton005
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  20. superiorbalence
    Archived post
    #20

    I learned the basic free mount in a hour, and, i do think you should
    wear shinguards, but my advice, that worked for me is to just go for
    it.

    --
    superiorbalence

    Rowan said:

    "It had a baby!" Said a man pointing at my 16" which I was carrying
    while riding my 36".


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