OK so I want to learn freemounting A.S.A.P, since it is pretty much essential for any uni rider, why not get it out of the way early when I learnt how to ride.
Now and again I am able to freemount and ride off, but I am having frequent problems:
-Sometimes, I just stall when free mounting because of the position of the pedals are exactly 12 and 6.
-When I mount on, I find myself missing the pedal as it rolls backwards.
I know a lot of advice is to take weight off pedals, but this is easier said than done, where should I distribute my weight as I am mounting?
When I was learning, I just went to You Tube and asked for āfreemounting unicycle.ā I got several helpful tutorials. You can also do a search here for freemounting, or free mounting. Iām not sure if itās one word or two.
Look, to be honest, when I was learning freemounting I would only get about 1 in every 5 or 6 that I tried. To get used to it i just held onto a pole and got up onto the uni and then stepped off and did this over and over again.
After a while I tried experimenting with different pedal positions as well.
Once you are comfortable doing this move away from the pole.
As for weight distribution, think about pushing the seat of the unicycle into the ground with your butt and just lift your feet onto the pedals.
Have fun and remember, everything is easy if you take one small step at a time!
Here is a simple mount that most people to not attempt until they have learned several other mounts. You could set a trend and learn it as your first mount!
On the up side, you do not have to decide which foot is your dominant foot or how to step up.
On the down side, you may never be a father.
Good luck with learning to mount. I found grabbing the wheel helpful when learning, and that mount has been discussed elsewhere.
Before worrying about the freemount, make sure you are comfortable with the riding-away part. Otherwise youāre just wasting a lot of effort (and time). When you can turn left and right, go where you want and control your speed, then work on the freemount. Until then you can ride away from the curb or similarā¦
For further instructions, you can also use the search function in here to find reams of help. Short version:
Try not to let one foot stop at the bottom (yes, itās hard).
Donāt try to be balanced when mounting; be slightly falling forward.
I could not figure static mount because of the weight on seat part, so I learnt the roll-back mount. It does not require as much weight on the seat from the start. I kind of jump up a little behind the center of gravity and try to push the wheel back with the upper pedal. Works every fourth time
Step 1: put dominant foot on closest pedal (typically one at either level or down an extra 45 degrees from level) this will push the unicycle under you, slowly ease your weight onto the pedal
For me it was easier to learn the standard static mount by grabbing the wheel as I stepped up. In fact I could freemount before I could ride 20m. Try not to think about it to much and keep the weight off the pedals.
I am resting my uni against a patio to help (it keeps it still, and I learn to get the balance right)
And I tried the seat thing, but still find myself putting pressure on my foot.
I will not learn suicide mount as a beginner! lol, and my friend recomended the tire grab, but I find static mount much easier.
When free mounting, I am successful about 1/10 times. When I rest my uni aganst my patio (instead of the curb) I ride away 3/4 times, I will try the leaning forward thing
Hmmm, I start by putting my left foot (none dominant) on the pedal, and I lift off with that to get my right foot onto the other, would that work? I use the power in my right foot to start pedalling
Iām having trouble where I put all that weight, since when Iām mounting it all goes onto my left foot which makes the uni move.
It will initially until you learn how little weight you need to put on the pedal to keep the wheel stationary. In order to combat this in the early stages, reach down and grab the wheel with one hand so that when you step up the wheel is kept stationary by your hand. Stepping up then becomes easy and you have time to gauge things. Then simply start pedaling and sit up straight. Itās not that difficult and no you wonāt bail straight onto your head :). After a while you will get used to the weight and pressure required on the pedals that you will no longer need to hold the wheel with your hand.
The low pedal is angled back at you, donāt step on it. Make that leg wooden, your peg leg just blocks the pedal, keeping the uni from rolling when you do the jump with the rear leg to the forward pedal. If you step on the back pedal, the uni of course will roll back. Just make the first leg stiff as wood. It just blocks the pedal, it doesnāt step on it.
You seem to be trying to combine elements of both rollback mount and static mount, and this possibly confuses you because the two techniques require a different approach. I think most beginners find static mount easiest. Then indeed your question of where to put your weight in the initial phase of the mount is relevant. You should include the dynamics of the process. So you kind of jump up using your back foot, the one on the ground. Your body is kind of ballistic, as a ball in its orbit, and will follow this trajectory without putting any weight anywhere. (Well in fact some weight is on the seat, and some on the back pedal.) Then you land your second foot on the pedal - remember this is a STATIC mount so the pedal is still in the front. At that point put about equal weight on both pedals, so that your ballistic orbit stops - meaning that you donāt go down but only forward. Your forward momentum should continue for a while so that your centre of gravity gets somewhat in front of the tyre-ground contact. Then pedal off to the front, in order not to fall forward. I hope this answers your specific point about where (and when) to put your weight.
If you are successful already one in ten tries, youāre getting it. Practice, repeat, repeat.
When I was learning the static mount I tried a few times just to jump like I was mounting but I was not putting the leg on forward pedal just landing in front of the uni. Iāve did that to get a catch of the point when I should stop. I think it helped a bit.
I think I understand what people are saying, lift off with my right foot (like when walking up stairs you normally put weight on the foot in front of you, instead you use the foot behind you to lift off)
Besides what everyone has told you here, people I know who started riding have found this a useful video for learning to freemountā¦
Sometimes at least for me,it is easier if I can see it being done than read it and put it into action. Good luck but donāt put too much pressure on yourself immediately it will come like everything the more you ride the more confident you will become and the easier you will find things coming together.
