Howdy folks,
well, heck.
If you’ve been following any of the social media outlets the last couple of days, you’ve probably seen some of the discussion that’s been going on regarding dismounts.
Mostly read like an undergrad theology class to me.
I’ve thrown my 2 cents out there before, so thought I would re-post, just to get my own views on the religion out there.
So, here you go…
The Hokey-Pokey
(or, left foot in, left foot out, that is what it’s all about.)
Fair warning: this is about as dweebish as it gets. It’s also (largely) a re-write of a post from previous seasons. If you find yourself actually wanting to read more on the subject, and similar subjects, enter “Wednesday” into the search box on the lower right side of this page. If you wade through the posts that come up, you’ll find a pretty high volume of skills posts. Lots of words, some pretty pictures.
Mostly words.
ANYways, onwards!
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First, lets look at the Pedal/Shoe interface –
All of the clipless pedals commonly used for cyclocross operate on the same basic principles.
A cleat –
Is held in place in a pedal…
…by a hook at the front of the pedal, and a gate at the rear. *
The gate is spring-loaded, in an orientation that provides for extremely high resistance to force in the vertical plane, and extremely low resistance in the horizontal.
The cleat/pedal interface is designed so that lateral or medial rotation of the foot overcomes the spring tension holding the gate portion of the pedal in place, releasing the cleat and allowing for vertical disengagement.
The factors that limit the proper functioning of the pedal in release mode are these –
– Force necessary to overcome spring tension of gate
Can the lateral/medial motion of the foot produce enough force to overcome the spring tension of the gate?
– Range Of Motion (ROM)
Can the foot produce a wide enough range of lateral/medial motion to overcome the spring tension of the gate?
– Resistance multipliers
The resistance of the pedal gate to lateral/medial motion is designed to be low, but several factors can cause substantial increases in the actual force necessary to release from the pedal. For EG –
– Contamination by foreign media
Mud, grit, crap of all sorts in pedals/shoes can jam spring mechanism
– Out of plane cleat motion in act of release
If the foot/cleat is pronated/supinated in the attempt to release from the pedal, it introduces a vertical force component to the cleat/pedal interface, causing potentially significant increases in overall force necessary to trigger disengagement.
OK?
Now, the body –
The rider triggers release from the pedal by rotating the foot medially or laterally –
(Generally speaking, we always try to release using medial rotation. There are lots of sharp spinning parts providing a disincentive for release motions that lean in towards the bike.)
Medial rotation of the foot is a result of medial/internal rotation of the hip
knee,
…some combination of the two, or rotation of the entire body.
The range of these rotational joint moments is limited. Here are some observed norms, if you’re interested –
http://ovrt.nist.gov/projects/vrml/h-anim/jointInfo.html
OK?
Great!
What the hell does this have to do with cyclocross?
Bear with me.
When we dismount the bike, We’re trying to get off (the bike)
– Quickly
– smoothly
– efficiently
– without hitting the deck
Knowing how the mechanics of the pedal/shoe interface and the related body parts function, we can think logically about how best to do this.
Here’s how I described a super-basic “Cowboy” dismount in a previous post –
1. Unclip right foot.2. swing right foot over saddle, behind left leg.3. Left foot stays clipped in. Right side of leg/ass braces against saddle.4. r hand leaves bar, braces on top tube.5. Coast in this position.6. left foot unclips.7. DROP to ground. Do not step down, right foot is totally passive. Simply drop to ground as you unclip left foot.
…I advocate clipping out of the left first when you have time to do so, and don’t need to be on the gas all the way to the dismount point. It’s much easier to step off a bike you’re not still attached to.
I advocate staying clipped in on the left when you have to pedal all the way up to the dismount point, and when you’re not stepping through.
I advocate stepping through ONLY when clipped out of the left already, and when you have ample speed and coasting time to take the extra time needed to step through.
Option 1 works every time, in every condition, and I consider it the default.
Respectfully.
I think -at the most basic level- we agree where it really counts.
Unclip before you begin any motion that leads to or constitutes “stepping off” of the bike.
I can understand why the “Unclip before stepping over” approach works, and is popular with many riders. It’s a good way to get off the bike.
I don’t use it myself, and therefore I don’t teach it.
Why don’t I use it?
As explained well in the Cycle-Sport Blog post, this dismount method -while very effective – is not universally applicable, and is not optimal under conditions such as “…uphill dismounts, deep mud, last minute dismounts….” (I would also add sand to the list.)
Believe it or not (and I know I’m straining credulity writing this after forcing you to wade through this ridiculous post,) I’m all about simplicity.
If I can teach one technique that works all the time, or two techniques, one of which only works most of the time, I’m going with the one that works all the time.
Honestly, though?
This might just be an East-Coast/West Coast thing.
West Coooooaaaaaassst….
The main reason I don’t use the “unclip first” method is because I learned early on that on the rutty, crappy, chuckhole infested minefield disaster courses of Seattle, circa a couple of decades ago.
On that stuff, if you tried to ride into a barrier section hanging off the side of the bike balanced on an unclipped pedal, you were pretty likely to get bounced off the pedal, and flat onto your ass.
It just wasn’t a good default position for the courses out here, and really… it still probably isn’t.
Above all else, figure out what works best for the the courses *you* ride on, practice it, wire it, and go fast.
Nothing wrong with either approach, just…
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My 2c from Twitter: “raging anti-step through kerfuffle further proof lots of folks take up cycling ’cause they can’t do ball sports .#proprioceptiveidiots #justsayin“The
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