Please explain your technique for mounting the beast.
run and jump
I was already proficient at mounting my 20 and 26 and when I got the 36 I got it on the second try, after that I have stayed at about 90% consistency unless I am really tired or injured.
I get the seat in position, put my right foot on the back crank at around 8:00 and sort of jump forward rolling the tire back just a little, catch the pedal with my other foot and start riding.
Sounds easy doesn’t it?
um if this doesn’t work for you practice, practice, practice, or use a different technique.
edit: on steepish uphills I either mount sideways then turn or get the pedal in position then back up three steps, I take three steps to get a bit of speed then put the foot on the pedal and do the same thing except without any rolling back.
this is from a guy closer to your age. I mount it just like any other one I have. Left pedal back with foot on it. Push down and jump. For a while it took 6-8 tries. I then got down to about five. Now it is usually one but sometimes 3. What I found the difference was is confidence. I just go for it now. I still need to practice smoothness. I want to be able to ride on a busy road and get back on without veering accidentaly into traffic. Do you have a handle you hang on to? I found that if I let go of it faster and get my arms out for extra balance helps.
I think the last time I missed a mount on an ungeared Coker was in New York in October of 2005 on a 36 with the seat set about 8 inches too low for me. I have missed some mounts on geared Cokers. I have probably missed some mounts trying to get on a small, elevated platform or skinny. I have hit almost every mount since I started doing a rolling jump mount. Grab the front of the saddle with whatever hand. Roll and walk forward until the pedal you want comes up to its horizontal position. Jump onto that pedal, put your other foot onto the front pedal and ride away or take a stabilizing hop. I can pretty much mount to a still stand from there.
Before getting my 36er I watched 36er videos over and over again. I watched people mount so often on the videos that I dreamed (literally) of mounting my own. I’m not into visualization techniques in general, but in this case it worked. I had watched others mount so often that when I finally got my own 36er I was up on the third try and nearly every time after that …
until I got my Kooka 145/115 mm cranks and couldn’t get on at all! Then I had to re-learn, painfully, how to mount a taller 36er (seat gets raised with shorter cranks). It took a couple weeks before I was back to 90%+ mounting.
My recommendation - try watching the 36er videos here and on other sites.
It took me about 10-12 attempts to get it…then I pretty much had it.
I either walk until the right pedal is about to be at the rear, them I jump up onto it, land the other pedal, and start pedalling.
Or I put my right foot on the pedal, then jump up while pulling the wheel under me. Then I either hop until I am comfortable, or I just pedal away.
Tim
since Terry hasn’t posted it yet:
Jumping is the key to success
-Ro
when i had mine, i used Terry’s rolling mount, and managed to get it about 90% of the time. I tried to do a static mount, but that was a bit high for me to jump at the time. Now, I am considering getting another coker and will do the roling mount, since the wheel is already moving, you don’t have to do that initial push to get 'er going.
And this was right out the box. I got fustrated trying to do a static mount that I looked up Terry’s video, and from then on I was rolling mounting it like it was nothing.
The key is to jump high enough. Don’t use the back pedal to leverage yourself up. If you’re leveraging with the back pedal then you need to jump higher.
Do as I say and not as I do: practice! 
The key is to leverage yourself up. Don’t try to jump high enough. If you’re jumping up, then you need to get momentum to leverage yourself up.
unisk8r is right. practice makes perfect.
Don, where’d you get Kookas drilled at those lengths? Those aren’t the same cranks you had at Tahoe are they?
I’m now finding that my 170/150/130 cranks are not the perfect ratios. By far most of my terrain can be done on the shorter settings, and I’m not sure there is anything I’d need 170s to get up or down that I couldn’t get up or down on 160s. What I want now are some tri-tapped cranks at 115/130/160. The 160 would be for special occassions only.
I mount my 36" in the same way as I mount my 26" and 20" - a sort of almost staitic slightly rollback mount. Like a couple of people have already described, I start with one foot on the pedal (about 45* backwards and downwards) and the saddle against my crotch. Then I push the wheel forwards very slightly so the foot on the pedal comes almost up to horizontal, jump up a bit with my back foot and (unlike John Childs) step pretty hard on the pedal to get myself into a riding position. On the 26" it takes less pressure on the pedal, and on the 20" virtually none.
I find this works really well for me (perhaps because I’m quite tall) so I haven’t really bothered to practice rolling jump mounts, which seems to be the most popular coker mount with other riders I know. Mounting uphill would be easier with a rolling jump (if I could do them!), but I usually just mount sideways and turn up the hill. I also reckon my mounting technique may not work so well with short cranks where you have less torque for pulling away from a standing start (I use 150s and it can sometimes take quite a shove to get moving if the ground’s uneven).
I very rarely miss a mount now using this method, except uphill or when my legs are really tired.
Rob
Re: How long did it take to mount a 36" with 80% accuracy
I mount by holding the tyre. One foot’s already on the pedal (at 3
o’clock), reach forward and steady the mount by holding the top of the
wheel, then step up and away (or hold the stillstand, if you like).
No one ever mentions this. Perhaps it’s not ‘cool’, but it works just
fine. I mount first time about 95% of attempts.
what’s the least amount of mm you can have between each thread
Would it be possible to pull the brake instead of holding the tyre?
Another mounting issue
I also have trouble mounting my 36, I guess it might help if i practice more, but the main issue I have is the fact that I’m used to rolling back half a rotation before riding forwards, and this makes it quite difficult (though not impossible) on such a big wheel.
The other problem I’m not sure about is if my height is having an impact on it; the fact that my saddle is almost at my chest height is a bit intimidating (I’m only 5 foot 1), it means its a big jump for me to get to the pedals. If you imagine a unicycle for you the same proportion as mine is against me, do you think it would be any different for you?
Last year my mounting accuratcy of my 36" was 80-90%, This year it has dropped to a frustrating 60-70%. It’s ever since I went from 150mm 0Q to 140mm someQ cranks.