Dismounting question for LEFTY'S......

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on February 8, 2011 at 12:50pm

Go either way. There are some but not a lot of pros that do it. I've never heard of any problems with it. You'll want to watch your approach with other riders just a bit since they'll be swinging off the bike towards you. But it's a really minor issue.

 

A few of us locally have been experimenting with learning an off side mount. I found it way harder than I ever thought.

 

Just pick a method that works for you and practice it. A lot.

 

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by iworedettos on February 8, 2011 at 12:57pm

there are a handful of riders who dismount on the drive side. whatever is most comfortable and fast for you is what you should do. there are times when i wish i felt more comfortable dismounting on the drive side, as occasionally i could put that to use...

 

the biggest issue you'll find is that you'll be running with a drivetrain jabbing in to your lower back, which isn't super comfy. still, you can make adjustments to the way you carry the bike to minimize that problem.

 

i'm a total snob, but i respect your lefts. (see what i did there?)

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Permalink Reply by Ray Falso on February 8, 2011 at 12:58pm

I dismount drive side.  I've been told by some  righty's that it 'throws them off' a little seeing me dismount on the 'wrong' side.  So maybe there a little advantage there.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Garrity on February 8, 2011 at 1:12pm

Sounds good from all of the feedback.  I'll focus on what is comfortable, but will give it a go on opposite side dismounts.  I think I'd take more people out if I were to dismount on the non-drive side though.  Thanks for all of the help.

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Permalink Reply by Jon on February 8, 2011 at 1:47pm

The lefty on my team practices dismounting and mounting on both sides, just make sure that you're not going to get smacked by a bike being shouldered and you should be fine with doing drive-side dismounts

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Garrity on February 8, 2011 at 2:01pm

I'm going to do that.  There is a wednesday night CX practice series at UNH in the fall that i can test out my awkward dismounts when it doesn't matter as much, but still in a race format.  The hardest part is mimicking opposing muscles.  My left side is much more tuned than my right.  Oh well, it will give me an excuse to get on the bike more!

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Permalink Reply by Chris Mayhew on February 8, 2011 at 3:15pm

If I may offer some advice, I'd work out what you're going to do before you get into that sort of situation. You want to have a decent technique before you start racing. If you figure out your technique while racing you'll do what is  fast but perhaps not good. You end up solidifying a lot of bad practices. Not that they can't be undone later but might as well start off on the right foot as best you can.

 

Make sense?

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