So many great tips and references in this thread, thanks!!! I’ll have some time Friday or Saturday for more practice sessions. I really appreciate all the help!
Chief
Seems to me you’re trying to learn how to free mount and learn how to ride at the same time.
It’s possible but it’s not the easiest method for both.
Learning to ride is easiest from a support (used to get stable onto the unicycle, then ride away from it.
Learning to free mount is easier when you can already ride (even if just a bit).
I’m not saying you’re doing it wrong, but I do think you could throw in some “ride away from a support” practice.
I’m quite sure it will help you progress faster.
For a beginner, both hands in the air increases the chances of riding away from the mount, but it also increases the chances of a bad fall. Most people, I think, learn to mount with both hands out in the air. Because it’s a better technique, or because we instinctively keep our hands out for balance? It has been so long since I tried mounting without at least one hand on the seat. The hands-in-the-air mount now seems difficult for me. The added control of the hand(s) seems to far outweigh the loss of balance from the anchored hand. My question is whether or not it’s possible or practical for a beginner to start learning to control the hand(s) on the seat from the beginning of the learning process.
I got a couple neighbors who’d never been on unicycles to ride a single revolution using a SIF method of starting. They started with the first foot at the 6:00 position, holding onto the seat with both hands (seat height was determined by maximum core strength holding the saddle), then slowly stepping onto the 12:00 pedal and trying to balance. The most important thing, I told them, was not to let go with the hands. Almost no chance of injury. Even though they only rode a single revolution, they reacted very positively, as if they’d gotten a taste of balancing on a unicycle. I didn’t have to tell them to pedal. It happened randomly.
+1
Just figured this out as well and fully agree with you. I’m a big believer in variety either way, doing the same exercise tends to stop giving much progress after 15 minutes.
I agree it’s better to ride closer to the toe, it simply allows your ankle to be used, which is good for both power output, and control. Our ankles are pretty fast and precisely controllable, compared to our knee and hip joint.
To stay with your music analogy (without really knowing a lot about music), I think having your foot not in the perfect place after your free mount is more like holding a note slightly too long when learning a new piece. You have to work on it and get it correct at some point, but not playing any wrong notes is more important at first (at least that’s how my piano teacher used to work when I was a kid).
But since I guess I had been thinking about learning to freemount when able to ride, not learning both riding and mounting at the same time, I’ll halfway retract my thoughts: Decent (not perfect) foot placement is important when learning to ride, which I think is one of the challenges of this exercise. I guess I’m always slightly biased towards the way of practicing with quickest immediate success, which tends to be more fun. Working with groups of kids is a nightmare when they aren’t having fun, so the only way to keep them practicing is to make practice fun. For an adult with more patience, and being completely self motivated, that’s not as crucial, so I guess you may as well learn a curb assisted mount before riding. I guess that’s not really different from the way I practice new roll tricks, instead of starting them as a mount, I tend to practice them from hopping/riding/whatever setup move they need, since I’ll have to learn how to do that either way.
I mount with the right foot at 6 o’clock and my left foot lands roughly in the right spot. I learnt to ride with some really sloppy left foot placements and then how to adjust it on the fly eventually, sometimes I would ride for ages with a bad foot placement till I got to a traffic light. I’m so much better at adjusting the left foot. I find if I use an assisted mount and do opposite foot placement, I can’t really adjust my right foot placement as easily while riding.
Also second ride closer to the toes similar to a bike you just get so much more control and power.
this is a great post and im very interested in your progress so good luck and i look forward to further posts
there is some great tips which i want to try as i too am trying to do static freemounts, bad habits are so hard to get away from as for me i have only ever done roll back mounts until recently.
im finding that i cant keep my weight off the first pedal and when i do get on with pedals at 6/9 o clock postions my first foot is still set in roll back mode! arghh!!
I don’t know if this is normal or common but I want to share what happened and how I learned to static mount smoothly & consistently. when I first started relearning to ride I used a wall and just pushed off and went until I fell
after I got to where I could ride fairly well I started learning to free mount
I started with my right foot down, just about 5 and would just sort of jump and step up to the left pedal, your basic roll back mount. I got really good at this but as time went on I wanted to learn static mount so I tried and tried and just couldn’t get it down, I could get it every once in a while but that was it. then I watched a vid and it suggested learning how to mount using either leg down, well I decided to give it a shot and almost immediately I could static mount using my left leg as the holding side and my right to land. I can’t say I land every mount but I don’t miss many anymore
funny thing is now I struggle to mount with the right foot down so I have pretty much stopped trying
Doh! 
Liked your post until this sentence!
I don’t think the goal is to eliminate weight on the first pedal, but rather to balance that weight by pushing down harder on the seat, getting your center of gravity more forward, and by pushing back on first pedal rather than down on it. Forget for a moment about mounting as a means to ride, and try practicing mounting into a one footed still stand. Don’t worry about getting the second foot on the second pedal. If you can lift your second foot off the ground and achieve stasis, even for a moment and with your foot an inch off the ground, then you will know what a true static mount feels like. You will have to get your upper body more forward, point the toe of your leading foot more toward the ground, pull your leading foot toward you rather than pushing downward, and of course get some weight in the seat.
+1
You’re reversing cause and effect; you have pretty much stopped trying, therefore you struggle to mount with the right foot down.
Hi folks,
I made tremendous progress today, thanks for the tips. I’ll post the details in my Intro thread “Inspiration” as I’ve been recording my progress over there.
Chief
Don’t press the pedal…PUSH it fwd.
Here’s one things that I’ve noticed, but no one ever mentions.
I think the “pedal foot” needs to be “pushing forward” on the pedal.
So we know it’s “almost impossible” to jump/mount with “zero force” on that pedal foot. What do we do about it?
Direct that “little bit” of force “across” the pedal and into the center of the wheel. You won’t slide off. What will happen is that your foot will “grip” the pedal, and the force will be driven across the crank and into the wheel center. There is no rotation or torque. Just a little bit of forward push on the unicycle. At the same time you will be applying down force on the seat as you sit down, so the unicycle is not going anywhere.
So that’s what I observe, when I do the 3/9 o’clock freemount successfully. Hope this make sense. Keep on.
Hey Chief, video looks good.
I meant to mount on a slight decline to avoid having to use a chock behind your wheel when you freemount.
Try it without the block and jump up with a little more force.
The tire will want to roll down the hill which will counteract the force of you pushing down with your mounting foot. This will make your mounting pedal very stable if the forces are matched.
Try it.
Hi,
Yes, I figured you meant that. But at this point in my learning I’m not trying to get the free static mount down-- I just want to get up on the uni in a stable way to learn how to ride. Once I get the riding down, I’ll ditch the block.
BUT, back to the slight decline-- I was having trouble getting my pedaling going just after the mount while on the flat ground. I was pushing way too hard and not sitting on the seat enough. The slight decline made it much easier for the uni to get going once I got up. I immediately was able to get a few turns of the wheel in while keeping my weight in the seat. Now that I know how it is supposed to feel, I’ll get back on the flat ground. Once I can ride around comfortably, I’ll work on ditching the block. So I think your “slight decline” suggestion has many benefits!
Chief
The free mount is not a stable way to get up on the uni.
A stable way to get upon the unicycle is to hold onto something, mount and then wiggle your butt and feet until you are in a comfortable position. Then (try to) ride off.
A good demonstration is this. The mount is a third of the video!
https://www.facebook.com/617795856/posts/10156697625270857/
There would be zero chance of me readjusting my feet or butt after riding off, so I had to get it right before going. I’m hugging that pole… (Hmmm I could demo some pole dancing skills…) but I was stable and comfortable before committing to go.
Which is why I would consider free mounting before being able to ride (as in go a good distance, turn around and dismount) a distraction from proper learning. As Gockie and Quax1974 say, being in a stable (and correct) riding position will greatly assist learning the basics. In my former life as a flying instructor there was no way we would teach take off and landings without getting the basics of handling and control in place first.
I love a good static mount, especially when I land it perfectly and just ride away like I’ve been on the saddle all day. Happens maybe 1 in 10 times, less if people are watching. I usually have to twist the body position a lot, wobbly a lot, move the feet on the peddles, pull and push the saddle, hop, swear and fall off sometimes. I can do those adjustments, can you?
If they are half as cool as your ribbon work, please do !
That looks about as good as my first time on a giraffe. Such a rush I remember sitting up and looking down and thought that’s a long way down. Nice rear dismount too I dismounted off the front as I thought I’d be more comfortable landing.
Assisted mounting off a pole is very handy to learn, when you’re riding about the streets and the traffic lights turn red. Just hug the nearest pole and wait, works wonders when you can’t idle. Good thing is there are poles everywhere in the streets.