We went through this with someone else not too long ago.
I only watched for a few tries so didn’t see where you ended up at the end of your practice session.
First some terminology otherwise it gets really confusing:
Static mount: Wheel moves barely or not at all
Roll back mount: Wheel rolls back under you until you are leaning forward.
There are some, not many who have been succesfull with what I call the ‘dead zone mount’ and that is where you mount by either starting with your foot at 6:00 or you push it to the 6:00 position. Some people call THIS a static mount and that is where things get really confusing as more people post ideas and tips for learning.
What you are doing is a cross between the Static and the Roll back mount, essentially the dead zone mount. You are starting with your foot back and then stepping up on to the back pedal. As it rolls to towards the 6:00 dead zone you are ‘catching’ the rising pedal. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. The timing has to be exact. On both the static and roll-back mount the timing is still important but not as critical as on the dead zone mount
I’m gonna recommend you learn the static mount first. I learned the roll back mount first but the static mount is more versatile. The roll back mount is fun but there is a simple grace that I like in a well done Static mount.
To do the static mount you have to learn one ‘trick’ and that is to jump up and forward putting next to no pressure on the back pedal. As Scott said a curb or piece of wood can help you get the feel of the mount. The ‘feel’ of the mount is of jumping up and over, kind of riding over the top of the uni with your weight in the seat. As you come over the top you put your foot on the front pedal and as you go past the balance point you start pedaling.
On a smaller wheel like a 20" there is almost no hop. It’s almost just like stepping forward and start pedaling (well at least if your 6’ like me). While on the 29" or bigger it’s quite the hop to go over the top. The 24" is somewhere in the middle. I learned the static mount on a 29" and it took many/many/many tries to get it to >90% success. If I had to do it over again I would have done some one footed hopping to build up my muscles first.
So where should your back foot start? Whereever works best for you. You might start with your back foot at 3:00 (and that is a good position for using the curb mount).
You may find that you have more luck with your back pedal lower like 4:00. Or with it higher like 2:00. There is a vid on you tube where the rider recommends that higher position because then you are kind of jamming the pedal in line with the crank so it doesn’t move much. While I have tried that approach I did not like it.
I find that where I put my back foot depends on the size of the wheel. On my 29" 3:00 or higher is just too big a jump for me so I start with my back foot lower like 4:00. On my 20" I start with my back foot at 3:00. On my 24" I still use my original roll back mount just because that was my first mount on my first uni and it just feels ‘right’ to me after having done it so many times. But when I do static mount the 24" I use 3:00 or just a little lower.
Quite a few people have had luck with reaching down and grabbing the wheel in front of the frame while they static mount the uni. Once they have the feel of the mount it seems like it’s an easy progression to doing the mount with out the ‘steadying’ hand. My stiff old man’s back would not even let me consider that method. But it has worked for lots of people.
So mix it up and try different things and you will get there. You will find what works for you.
Here’s my table hop. I could have done this about a month ago, but I don’t think I could have gotten it in one shot.
