Mounts

General
1

Well, Mikefule the freestyle god… not.

I’m away from home at the moment, and only had space to pack the 20. That’s led to many long sessions practising basics like idling, idling one footed and reversing. (Limited space available, which imposes discipline on practice sessions.)

Today, I decided to branch out. With surprising rapidity, I learned the side mount. That’s passing the leg in front of the seat and back onto the pedal. Within half an hour I had it to 90% or better. ‘Nailed it’ as I believe the vulgar patois of the young would have it. ;0)

Flushed with this success, I moved on to a side mount where the free leg swings behind the saddle and onto the pedal - a bit like mounting a bicycle. Could anyone tell me the ‘official’ name for this mount?

2

Respect !!!

Tried that a few times…did you put the seat down when you first tried it ?

Please reassure me that I am not the only person in England that couldn’t get to the Kidderminster bash !!!

Spider…
:smiley:

3

Hei

if i saw correctly on the list of mounts, it is the reverse side mount. I find that eaiser because your leg has more room to swing around and you can sit down on the saddle eaiser.

4

Side mount reverse, or Reverse Side Mount, is the official name.

5

Re: Mounts

spider wrote:
> Please reassure me that I am not the only person in England that
> couldn’t get to the Kidderminster bash !!!

You’re not. I was all packed and ready to go when I realised that my
daughter had passed on her gastroenteritis. I’m now very glad to be at
home with a toilet within easy sprinting distance, rather than out on a
trail!

–
Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
Recumbent cycle page: http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” - Thomas Paine

6

“Respect?” Wow, I has made it! Is it coz I is old?

So, hints and tips for the side mount:

First, I practised just stepping onto the pedal and not trying to mount. Just get used to the feel of balancing the unicycle as it leans over to the side.

Then practise swinging the leg into position, but not trying too hard to make a fully successful mount.

Then go for the full mount.

A few specifics which helped me:

Start with the unicycle vertical, then lean it about 30 degrees to the right, but without tipping it either forwards or backwards.

Put the left pedal down. This means the crank should be perfectly in line with the forks.

Hold the seat by the rear bumper, slightly to the right, with the right hand.

Start with the right arm completely straight.

Start with the left foot on the left pedal and the right foot a short distance back, and in line to swing through the gap between the left foot and the unicycle.

By keeping th eright arm straight, it is possible to make a stable triangle, holding the unicycle more or less at a constant angle of lean to the right, even when your weight is on the left pedal.

As the right leg swings through and round, allow the right arm to bend steadily, placing the left side of the seat (the 'instep’of the seat) against the left thigh. This steadies the unicycle as the right foot hits the pedal, and you idle or ride as necessary.

There is much more time to do this than you think. Be methodical.

And the ‘reverse side mount’? I found that most of the above applied, but hold the seat well forwards. Imagine it’s a jelly baby and hold it by the throat.

And I missed the Kidderminster do too. :0(

7

If I don’t injure myself too badly on tomorrow mornings trip up the moors, I’ll give the mount another go … thanks for your advice.

Spider…:smiley:

8

Re: Mounts

On Sat, 26 Apr 2003 13:27:56 -0500, Mikefule
<Mikefule.mi9on@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>Flushed with this success, I moved on to a side mount where the free leg
>swings behind the saddle and onto the pedal - a bit like mounting a
>bicycle. Could anyone tell me the ‘official’ name for this mount?

Referring to your “a bit like mounting a bicycle”. In Dutch, the
sidemount is called ‘damesopstap’ (lady’s mount), the reverse
sidemount is called ‘herenopstap’ ((gentleman’s mount). Think of how
ladies and gentlemen mount their bikes.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

Dyslexics of the world untie.

9

Very nice, now you need to try moving your leg twice around the seat before sitting down. (double side mount?)

Andrew

10

Re: Mounts

On Sat, 26 Apr 2003 15:59:57 -0500, Mikefule
<Mikefule.migv1@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>So, hints and tips for the side mount:
<snipped>

Mikefule, your hints and tips were inspirational. Tonight my daughter
and I went out on our 20" unis. We’d never seriously tried the side
mount before. And we both got it in about half an hour (though not yet
to 90% like you). Thanks!

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea…does that mean that one enjoys it? - George Carlin

11

Re: Re: Mounts

Aw shucks! It was nothing. ;0)

A couple more nights of practice have added the following tips:

For the “lady’s mount” (normal side mount) it is best not to ‘lock’ the right arm before starting the move. Keep it stiff, but with a slight bend. This makes you more sensitive to when it is the right time to allow the uni to move towards the vertical. It makes the action smoother. Also, concentrate on placing the ‘instep’ of the saddle against your inner thigh. This is an important step of the process.

For the “man’s mount” (reverse side mount) I find it better to lean the uni a bit further to the right before starting to mount (compared to the normal reverse mount). Experiment with the grip on the saddle. If you hold it well forwards, the uni tends to turn about 90 degrees as it stands up. This is either good or bad, depending on the effect you want. This is, after all, essentially a showing off mount.

New trick I’m working on… and for description purposes, I always learn tricks with the left pedal DOWN…

So, left pedal down, left foot on the left pedal; right foot on the LEFT fork crown, right leg against the LEFT of the seat, right hand holding the seat. Now idle. I’ve seen it done and it looks sooo cool. Best score so far is about 10 pedal strokes. Important tip: as soon as you think you’re going to fall, bail out with dignity, or you will end up in an inelegant and painful heap.

Freemounting into this trick may take even longer to learn.

Anyone know what it’s called?

12

Re: Mounts

On Mon, 28 Apr 2003 13:47:04 -0500, Mikefule
<Mikefule.mlzy0@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>Anyone know what it’s called?

I’ve heard the term ‘crank idle’ before and thought that it referred
to the described skill. Not sure.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

Your secrets are safe with me and all of my friends.

13

Re: Re: Mounts

In crank idle the right foot would be on top of the left crank (at the axle). I don’t think the skill Mike describes is in the IUF rulebook.

Morten

14

Re: Mounts

In article <Mikefule.migv1@timelimit.unicyclist.com>,
Mikefule <Mikefule.migv1@timelimit.unicyclist.com> writes:
>
> So, hints and tips for the side mount:
>

These are very helpful.

I’m feeling like my seat might be too high - I’ll try lowering
it a notch before I go out for my next side-mount session.

So far, when I’ve actually gotten on the seat, with both
feet on the pedals, the next problem is that the cranks are
top-dead-centred and I can’t get any leverage to get moving.
Is there any trick to dealing with that?

============================================================
Gardner Buchanan <gbuchana@rogers.com>
Ottawa, ON FreeBSD: Where you want to go. Today.

15

Crank Idle is when your left (or right) foot on it’s given pedal, and the other is on the axle. I usually Start by putting my left foot on the right crank, with the crank horizontal and on the back side, then put my right foot onto my right crank, and start idling.

16

Re: Re: Mounts

Just slap that top foot back so that the wheel rolls under you - just like the rollback mount.

17

Re: Re: Re: Mounts

At the last Unatics meet, I managed the side-mount for the first time. I’m not good at the rollback mount – I always do the static mount (or rolling mount). So, slapping the pedal back usually leaves me leaning too far forward. When I do the side mount, I have to almost lean back slightly (or at least it feels that way). But I’m doing it on a 29" uni – a quarter-pedal backwards rolls the wheel back nearly two feet!

Dave (uni57)

18

Re: Mounts

On Wed, 30 Apr 2003 22:18:44 -0500, U-Turn
<U-Turn.mqd4b@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>Gardner wrote:
>> *So far, when I’ve actually gotten on the seat, with both
>> feet on the pedals, the next problem is that the cranks are
>> top-dead-centred and I can’t get any leverage to get moving.
>> Is there any trick to dealing with that?
>> *
>Just slap that top foot back so that the wheel rolls under you - just
>like the rollback mount.

To be more ‘prescriptive’: the wheel should be slightly BEHIND you
after you’ve slapped that top foot back. That creates both the
possibility and the necessity to ride out of it, in the forward
direction. This means that you have to do a bit of trial and error
about what is the optimum forward/backward lean of the uni at the
start of the mount.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict

Mosquito repellents don’t repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they don’t know you’re there.

19

I found if I set up the pedals before the mount with the bottom pedal a little bit back (not as much as a rollback mount, though) and then try the mount, the top pedal is a little bit towards the rear of the uni making it easier to knock backwards as the bottom pedal swings out a little. You have to be quick, though.

Alternativly, if you want to roll out of it, put the bottom pedal a little forwards so the top pedal moves to a forward pos. when you drop your weight on the bottom pedal, then you can slam your foot down and ride away - I cant pull this method off as much as the other one though, I’m still getting the hang of it.