Yesterday I UPD’ed while having a female passenger aboard, so the unexpected and heavier force on my foot caused some minor injury, making dismounts unpleasant at the moment.
So yes, mounting with your non-dominant foot will give you the control it also takes to dismount with your other foot, it would be useful in case your dominant foot can’t stand too much force.
Since you complain about sore legs I still think you should learn, but maybe a later -more convenient- stage, when you feel ready for it. It’s a level 2 skill, so not too difficult.
I always mount (free mount) with my right foot since I am right handed, and I’ve been doing it that way for over 40 years. Seems to work for me. I would try whatever works for you. Keep it simple at least until you have gotten comfortable with the way you are currently mounting.
I can think of a few rare situations in trials and MUni where it would be significantly harder to mount with one foot than the other. Also I have noticed benefits of learning other skills that seemed to not be at all related to something else I was working on to really help. So I think it’d be worthwhile to learn both sides.
+1 for first learning assisted mounts on both sides. I still can’t freemount (some paralysis in my legs), when I do assisted mounts I find it significantly easier if my support is on the opposite side of the foot I’m mounting with, and my right foot’s slightly easier.
If you UPD and don’t get your feet on the ground fast enough you can REALLY get hurt. A friend insisted he didn’t need wrist braces or the support, rode away, got about two revs, fell and broke his wrist. He refused to ever try again.
So, I always recomend staying close to your support untill you can gracefully dismount w/ the uni in front, at the exact spot and w/ the foot you intend to, and w/ each foot. That made UPD’s much less scarry for me when I was learning.
