freemount problems

I've been riding just over 3 months, and have been having trouble
freemounting.

Have been using the "mailbox" mount, and would like to leave that
behind.....

I've been trying a rollback mount, but when I step on, the pedal goes
straight down, and then I tip over to the right.

My dominant foot is right....it doesn't seem to work well with my left
foot either.

Any hints to help me along?

Thanks,
Tom


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tomkarches
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When freemounting try looking forward instead of down. Its another way
to try it. Other than that its just practice. I'm trying to ride
backwards and the progression is longer than when I first tried
unicycling.

Practice Practice practice!

Don't ferget to try kiteboarding


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ackgot

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Don't roll back, use your foot to keep the wheel still and jump up onto
the uni as opposed to rolling the uni back under you. I found it alot
easier anyway.


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GoldCoastUni
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In general, I recommend learning the static mount (no rollback) anyway,
as it is applicable in more situations for the future. (MUni and big
wheel riding are both much easier with static mounts).

If you want to learn the rollback, most people start with their
dominant foot on the pedal. The key for the rollback is that the wheel
comes under you at the same time as you jump forward, and as you jump
up, you smack the other pedal backwards with your free foot.

For the static mount, again, most people start with their dominant foot
on the pedal (although I learned it the other way). You have to jump
up pretty high without putting much weight on the foot on the pedal;
it's not absolutely zero weight, because your jump will push the
unicycle forward. The amount of weight you put on the pedal is just
enough to counteract the force of your body pushing the unicycle
forward. Some people find it easier to think about keeping your leg
and knee in a locked position, rather than thinking about the weight on
the pedal.

For either mount, the more quickly you can get your second foot on the
pedal, the better.

And, of course, lots of practice. When I was first learning, I found
it impossible, and I gave up for a month or so. Getting more practice
riding around pedestrians helped my freemounting, as I had to learn to
be more comfortable on the unicycle when I was moving slowly.


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tholub
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GoldCoastUni wrote:
Don't roll back, use your foot to keep the wheel still and jump up onto
the uni as opposed to rolling the uni back under you. I found it alot
easier anyway.




I would agree here.. having just taught both my kids to freemount, they
were getting nowhere fast as long as they kept doing a rollback. I
just told them to try to keep the wheel still and use their ground foot
to sorta push them up on the uni more than using the pedal foot to move
the uni under them. They learned pretty quick after that.


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Racenut
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Here's a copy of my version: (previously posted in another thread)

(One of the many suggestions you'll get...)

I learned to freemount using a 12 inch piece of 2x4. I would lay it
down on the ground and bring the back of my wheel up against it. The
trick was learning how to get up onto the uni without having the wheel
roll backwards over the block. Too much weight (which I have a lot of)
and the wheel rolls over. Just the right amount of pressure and you're
up and moving. After you get the hang of mounting using the block, try
it without it. If you still have problems mounting without the block
you can swap the 2x4 for a thinner plank of wood and that will get you
putting even less pressure onto the pedal as you mount. You'll wean
yourself off the block pretty quick. I found that this technique helped
me learn how much weight on the pedal was too much and how much was
just right.

Hope it works for you. Good Luck


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Trapper
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Take breaks (like 1 week for a break) between learning! You'll come back
and suddenly it will be much easier than before. At least, that's what
happened to me. I'm up to ~95% success on my 29'er.


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SNES350
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Lower your seat about 2 " from normal, and you can also try using a long
rail. That way you don't have to walk back to that exact spot
everytime. Many more attempts per hour.


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skilewis74
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I first learned the Static mount as well. Having a moving wheel like the
roll back mount was just adding too much complexity.

I make sure that the back pedal is at about 8 o'clock and had my
dominate foot on it.
The important thing is to have enought weight on that pedal without
making the wheel move. You need to have weight on the seat as well.
Theres a balance between having weight on the seat and on the dominant
foot.

Then I push of my non-dominant foot and push my body forward. The wheel
shouldn't move as you only have sufficient weight on the dominate foot
to not move the wheel.

If you are not getting high enough in the push, you need to push
alittle harder.

I learned to free mount in about a week. It was frustrating but I
forced myself to learn to freemount instead of relying on the wall.

As everyone says, the more you practice the easier it will get.

Ben


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Jamin
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If you're having trouble mounting for free, you may pay me to mount.


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