Arthur Peabody

I've been riding for 60 years. For the last year or so I've caught my right heel on the top tube when dismounting, sometimes nearly falling. I don't want to fall, so I try to remember to take care, but I've ridden about 200K miles, dismounting a few 100K times, am used to doing it automatically, and my memory is weakening, so I forget. I'm not sure whether I'm failing to lift my leg high enough (I can stand with a leg on a table, reach my hands to that foot) or not straightening my knee enough.

How can distinguish the 2? What would be good exercises? Now that I'm on Medicare, I can go to the gym on the taxpayers' dime.

Cyclist0108

Lean the bike more, and/or get a dropper post.

winston63 

I agree with the above: I have to lean the bike at a fairly ridiculous angle for both mounting/dismounting. It's not usually a problem except when I've got a loaded touring bike.

And due to my lack of flexibility and this issue, I'm very thankful for sloping top tubes!

TimothyH

Are you bringing your leg in front of the saddle or behind.

I don't presume to lecture someone who has ridden 60 years but I don't bring my leg over the top tube. I swing my leg behind the saddle, over the rear wheel. Maybe you could try that.


-Tim-

OldTryGuy

The MANLY MAN MOUNT in front

canklecat

Even with plenty of stretching and range of motion exercises my hips and legs aren't as limber as they once were. Occasionally I've snagged the saddle kicking my leg across. When I'm on my road bike and wearing clipless shoes I try to remember to shuffle sideways a step and lean the bike over farther. Those hard slick-soled shoes and exposed Look delta cleats are like ice skates on some surfaces. Snagging the saddle with those shoes pretty much guarantees I'm gonna stumble. Hard to recover from a pratfall with those shoes.

But I also ride my hybrids with platform pedals and casual shoes, so I haven't ingrained the above habit into muscle memory.

Arthur Peabody

A dropper post? A lower seat post?

Front.

Go ahead: I asked. I'm experienced, not particularly good, and I'm declining.


Good suggestion: I hadn't thought of that. I think I used to do that years ago.

!=me

rando_couche

If you handlebar is lower than your saddle, just "kick" your leg forward and over the bar. Much more natural and stable, IME.

Cyclist0108

A dropper post is something mountain bikers use to make it easier to go down hills. A side benefit is you can lower the saddle/post, get on the bike, and then raise it back up. They now make road-friendly versions.

I really wish I had one when I was recovering from a broken ankle. Getting on and off the bike was far harder than anything else (and I was 'only' 50 at the time).

linberl

Get a 20" wheeled folding bike...ride a Bike Friday. No issues and if your balance gets bad later on, you are a lot closer to the ground and can just stick a leg out to avoid a fall.

bargeon

Funny, in my years of riding it never occurred to me to mount a bike that way, seems cumbersome. Always swung up over the back
wheel. Maybe we need a poll on the subject.

I-Like-To-Bike

What Part of Medicare pays for the gym?

ddub

That was going to be my question also. Thanks for asking... Answer?

BlazingPedals

Ditto. I swing my knee over the saddle, with my foot trailing. I've seen some people swing their leg over the handlebars. Foot over the top bar? That seems the most awkward of all the choices.

Joe Bikerider

TimothyH

Common with track bikes as the bar is generally lower and they don't have brake hoods.

A particularly elegant way to do it is to hold the bike on your side, lift your leg and flick the front of the bike toward your body. Catch the bar with your other hand, lower leg. I wish I could find a video of it.


-Tim-

caloso

I had to stop and think about it: I swing my foot over the rear wheel.

bobwysiwyg

I'm not aware that Medicare, per se, pays for a gym membership. I'm of Medicare age and am entitled to a gym membership through a program called Silver Sneakers here, but that's part of my supplemental coverage with Blue Cross BLue Shield.

jppe

Baldy1953

I have Silver Scripts in a Humana plan that includes certain gym memberships also. Thinking seriously about using it. Want to get my monies worth. Should help with my flexibility. Physical therapist says I am not very flexible.

Arthur Peabody

Mounting usually isn't a problem.

Not gonna do that.

I don't know why I do it the way I do. The seat is higher than the top tube, so it should require less lifting. I worry about what I may hit when I swing my leg out. I think the way I do it works better in cramped quarters.

Medicariats can choose 'Medicare Advantage', also known as Part C. We sign up for a plan, the plan's sponsors get the money allocated for our care from Medicare, provide us at least what Medicare provides + more. Dental, vision, and hearing are common (and not covered by traditional Medicare), also a maximum out-of-pocket, which traditional Medicare lacks. They make money by managing our care: limiting care to network providers (or charging more for using out-of-network), promoting our health instead of merely treating our illnesses...
Some cost more (I pay $21.20/month additional) for more coverage, a larger network; most cost nothing more. About a third of Medicariats use it. It's being closely studied for its effectiveness; there's some controversy.

Almost all plans have free membership in participating gyms through https://www.SilverSneakers.com. I didn't find one that didn't of the 18 available in my county (Bernalillo NM). If it keeps us fitter and thinner it can save money.

BTW, I'm not celebrating. I'll live a longer and healthier life because of how my parents raised me than any medical care I get after my 65th birthday. If we really wanted Americans to live longer and healthier lives, we'd support children and their parents, not old people. I don't think I'm going to win an election on that platform - even Republicans won't come out against Medicare anymore - but I'm right.

daoswald

If you can go to the gym, squats, lunges, core (abdominals, lats, and back) strength training will help regain some of what age is stealing away from you. I'm 50. Before I started doing the above I was finding it increasingly difficult to lift my second leg into pants, and to be limber enough to reach to put on socks. Core, leg, and stability workouts will complement the riding and help your agility grow young again. The cycling is an excellent start, of course. But at 50+ we really need to find ways to keep legs and core strong and able.

3000 cycling miles and a few months of leg day, back day, and core day in the gym have really improved, even restored my agility and balance to where I was in my 30s or early 40s.

BlazingPedals

Unless you're willing to go recumbent, or at least semi-recumbent, using 20" wheels won't put you any closer to the pavement. The bottom of your pedal circle still needs to be the same distance above the ground so you don't have pedal strike every time you turn the wheel; and you need the same amount of knee bend at the bottom of the stroke. Some folders/mini-velos have a lower step-over height; but again they don't have a monopoly on that feature.

Stepping over my lowracer, with its 8" seat height, is obviously a non-issue. Getting settled down that low is a multi-step process though.

jon c. 

I can't quite imagine doing it any other way. I'm not sure if I could dismount swinging my leg over the top tube. Seems like it would be much more difficult. I virtually always mount and dismount with the bike moving slightly.

wphamilton

Leaning the bike over and stepping over the top tube is one way that people who have lost some flexibility mount the bike. It;s not that unusual. I have to do that on my hard-shell bike because there's no place to swing my leg. I am moving the bike forward slightly as I step off.

You might also try the "cowboy mount", stepping on the pedal and starting the bike forward as you swing your leg over the seat while the bike is in motion.