How many times do I have to tell you?

Submitted by Adam Myerson on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 18:48.

You ONLY step through if:

1. You've clipped out of the left pedal already and are riding on the arch of your foot.

2. It's a fast approach to the barrier so you have sufficient time to set up and coast.

The default dismount is to clip out of the left first, and just step off around the back with the right foot. That works every time, in every situation.

Option 2 is to stay clipped on the left, and step around the back with the right. Turning your hips as you step off is the key to releasing the left pedal. This is good if you have to pedal all the way up the barrier, or are dismounting on a hill or in mud where you pedal until the last moment.

Option 3 is stepping through, and it's something you should use somewhat rarely. Unfortunately, because it's the "fastest" dismount, people treat it as the default, and end up doing it still clipped in on the left, and losing teeth on barriers.

NEVER step through if you're still clipped in on the left. NEVER NEVER NEVER!

Comments
Submitted by adam s on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 20:31.
yeah when it's slow the right foot comes right around the back. get on your feet! that part and that desire should come naturally in slower situations. we were doing practice here in Philly and our session leader was having us dismount on a hill that was perfectly rideable. it was the wrong thing to do I thought because I could ride right up it in my smallest gear. get off the bike when you have to, and also when it is faster to. it'll save you energy! it's a race, not a technique show. but if it's fast, I step through. actually there's a point where I'm holding onto the bike frame with my right hand with my left hand on the hood and I kinda half lift my weight up so that both feet are up a little, neither are clipped in, and I can hit the ground running and hoist the bike up. at that moment it's a floaty kind of feel, almost like I'm launching from the bike. it took me a couple years to get that feeling down, but it's lovely.
Submitted by mayhew on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 08:20.
What brought that on? Could it be an old school thing? I've noticed a few people do it which makes me think it might be in something like Burney's book. I really don't have a good enough sample size to figure it out though. As I recall the stuff you guys were teaching in 02 and 03 was really different than what I was reading at the time. Different in a "you were right, they were wrong" way.
Submitted by todd on Thu, 09/18/2008 - 13:41.
Just to clarify: 1 and 2 are AND, not OR. That is, both conditions must hold to consider this type of dismount. You can't just put your leg through on a fast dismount with your left leg clipped in. Well, go ahead, just not in front of ME.
Submitted by adam s on Fri, 09/19/2008 - 09:40.
huh. I never unclip the left first. at speed it's usually in that floaty moment where I unclip the left. it's never bothered me, even at (my) top speed. I'm not about to change it up now, either.
Submitted by dieter on Sun, 09/21/2008 - 12:22.
rules rules rules. Do what you feel like. If you crash into a barrier-you weren't feeling it right. I actually step through all the time without unclipping first.
Submitted by todd on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 12:21.
Who said anything about rules? It's about being faster. Although speed DOES rule. If unclipping slows you down, you may be doing it wrong. But far be it from me to tell someone else how to do it. As dieter says: do what you like. All I know is that I was pretty quick with the clipped-in dismount, but when I started unclipping first I could attack guys through a dismount and they'd stay dropped.
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