Mount up
09-18-18, 09:33 PM
#1
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Mount up
Not sure if this is a Clydesdale issue or an over 50 issue. But getting my leg over my bikes is getting dicey. I lower my bike 45 degree and then swing the leg over it. Sometimes needed to hop a little. Soon I’ll need to lay it down, walk over it and lift it up. Especially on my touring bike with a rear rack. Thought I’d share
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09-18-18, 11:27 PM
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Not sure if this is a Clydesdale issue or an over 50 issue. But getting my leg over my bikes is getting dicey. I lower my bike 45 degree and then swing the leg over it. Sometimes needed to hop a little. Soon I’ll need to lay it down, walk over it and lift it up. Especially on my touring bike with a rear rack. Thought I’d share
09-19-18, 02:32 AM
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I go over the top tube.
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09-19-18, 05:47 AM
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it is not a weight issue, it is a flexibility issue.
As we get used to moving withing limited ranges of motion, our tendons (it seems) shrink to provide only those ranges of motion. People who stretch regularly can maintain amazing flexibility well into advanced age (70-80+) People who never make the effort slowly lose range of motion until they lose the capacity to do things they want to do.
Any way you get on your bike is fine---but after a certain age, without great effort, we just lose what we have---we don't gain any more. If you have a hard time mounting now, in 15 years, imagine how it will be---you will have to ride a recumbent. (Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but if you have no other options ....)
I am in the same boat---and worse. A period of inactivity and overeating followed by surgery followed by injuries and illness have cost me almost all my muscle, and almost all my flexibility. I am not that old but already find it hard to do some simple tasks. If I don't start exercising (besides riding) and stretching .... I will have to attach a walker and one of those extend-a-grip claws to my bike.
I will not suggest to others that they start doing some resistance training and stretching every day. Once I have kept it up daily for a while, i might revisit the issue, but for now, I need all my advice for myself.
As we get used to moving withing limited ranges of motion, our tendons (it seems) shrink to provide only those ranges of motion. People who stretch regularly can maintain amazing flexibility well into advanced age (70-80+) People who never make the effort slowly lose range of motion until they lose the capacity to do things they want to do.
Any way you get on your bike is fine---but after a certain age, without great effort, we just lose what we have---we don't gain any more. If you have a hard time mounting now, in 15 years, imagine how it will be---you will have to ride a recumbent. (Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but if you have no other options ....)
I am in the same boat---and worse. A period of inactivity and overeating followed by surgery followed by injuries and illness have cost me almost all my muscle, and almost all my flexibility. I am not that old but already find it hard to do some simple tasks. If I don't start exercising (besides riding) and stretching .... I will have to attach a walker and one of those extend-a-grip claws to my bike.
I will not suggest to others that they start doing some resistance training and stretching every day. Once I have kept it up daily for a while, i might revisit the issue, but for now, I need all my advice for myself.
09-19-18, 06:04 AM
#5
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Hah. This one hit home. I just turned 70 and mild arthritis has limited my hip flexibility. I still do cowboy starts and stops (I know that is not advised) but won't be able to do them for long. And when I add a pack to the bag rack I can't swing high enough to cowboy start so I have to tilt the bike over and swing my leg across. I have even more problems dismounting when I have to tilt the bike because my thigh can cramp up. I have tried tilting the bike up and walking over the seat. That works (just barely) getting on but jams up getting off. If things get very bad over the coming years maybe I will look into some sort of mixte frame. Or an easy to mount ebike.
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09-19-18, 06:29 AM
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If you are anywhere near a curb, try mounting with the bike wheels in the gutter/road and the near side foot on the curb.
Also, there is no reason was one has to mount from the left side of the bike. If your left leg/hip is more flexible, or if you mount from the curb in a country with right-side traffic flow, mount from the drive side of the bike.
Ease of mounting/dismounting is one of the few arguments in favor of today's sloping top tubes, for those who mount over the top tube instead of over the rear wheel, which gets difficult with a fully loaded rear rack.
Also, there is no reason was one has to mount from the left side of the bike. If your left leg/hip is more flexible, or if you mount from the curb in a country with right-side traffic flow, mount from the drive side of the bike.
Ease of mounting/dismounting is one of the few arguments in favor of today's sloping top tubes, for those who mount over the top tube instead of over the rear wheel, which gets difficult with a fully loaded rear rack.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
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09-19-18, 06:32 AM
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That's what I do with the Peugeot and the mountain bike, both of which have rear racks and shorter frames than my other bikes.
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"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
09-19-18, 07:24 AM
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09-19-18, 07:25 AM
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09-19-18, 07:26 AM
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Stand the bike upright on its rear wheel, step forward to clear the seat, and lower the front wheel so you end up straddling the top tube.
09-20-18, 07:50 AM
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I'm 53 and over 200 lbs. Don't have your issue, even with my touring bike, which is "technically" too large for me, with a rear rack, tent and tarp on it.
09-20-18, 11:39 AM
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09-20-18, 01:45 PM
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don't some ppl start w left foot on pedal, push off with right foot to get the bike rolling, then step on that left pedal to get higher, & then swing right leg over, all while the bike is rolling?
Last edited by rumrunn6; 09-20-18 at 02:08 PM.
09-20-18, 01:58 PM
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Certainly do. But I also have a sloping crossbar (meaning I need a very long seat post) so I can lean the bike towards me and step over it, but not too easily.
09-20-18, 05:09 PM
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09-20-18, 05:22 PM
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I too a suffering the same fate. Took a tumble a few years ago - not a bike fall - and bruised my right hip badly. I never was good at the left leg over mount. So I did what you said, laid the bike down, straddles the top bar, lifted it up a bit then sidestepped my right leg over the cranks, winced from the effort and managed to stand on the right pedal and push off. It's better now but I never regained as much range in my right leg. I should do yoga or stretch, but that's yet another thing I have no time for.
09-20-18, 06:44 PM
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That’s exactly what I do. It’s what I’ve always done (dating back to the mid-1950s), but I gather it’s now called the “cowboy mount” and that it may place excessive lateral stress on your bike (that’s from the Sheldon Brown site) and otherwise further the decline and fall of western civilization. It works for me, so I think I’ll keep on mounting my bike this way.
I envy that. After a hip replacement I got careful and wasn't confident with the move any longer.
09-20-18, 10:43 PM
#21
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@Maelochs ; Dick Van **** says to keep moving. Yup, my flexibility has degraded. Ankles, feet, and knees have taken some abuse playing basketball, so balance ain’t what it use to be.
@Machka ; and @John E ;. My tibia is loo long, I thought a sloping top tube, Mixte-ish, Roubaix would work.
@Machka ; and @John E ;. My tibia is loo long, I thought a sloping top tube, Mixte-ish, Roubaix would work.
Last edited by jlmonte; 09-20-18 at 11:16 PM.
09-20-18, 10:54 PM
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