The Basics of Remounting in Cyclocross

Cyclocross expert Jimmy Archer explains how to remount in Cyclocross.

The Basics of Remounting in Cyclocross Male1: Alright, so we’ve been getting a few comments on the ICA mailbag about remounting and especially from the men. How you keep from damaging the boys down there running at full speed trying in the middle of a race and you got to jump on to a saddle, you're doing a flying leap, what’s the secret? How does it work? Male2: Basically, the secret is when you jump back on the saddle, you're actually not jumping square on to the saddle. You're landing on your inner thigh and then you're sliding down under the saddle and getting into your normal riding position. So that is definitely a stumbling block for a lot of riders. They can't commit to just jumping into the air and landing on their seat. Two common problems that most people encounter is they stutter step getting on to the bike or they jump just way too high and just slam down on the sit. The less time you can spend on the air and the more time you can spend on your bike the faster you're going to be. What you can do is just start from a walking speed built up to a slow jog and then go into a kind of a race pace feeling and practice. So what I like to do is have people just walk next to their bike and just throw their leg over and again it’s just on the inner thigh and then find that right pedal and pedal away to just kind of -- Male1: Kind of roll on to the saddle. Male2: Yeah, exactly, you're not really diving on to it and landing from above. You're tossing your leg up on there and just kind of roll on your hips. Just get that inner thigh on there then you just slide on and then you're centered on the saddle and then you worry about getting clipped in. I mean get your feet on the pedals so you can pedal and start accelerating but don’t fiddle around and getting clipped. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and you'll throw that leg over and you'll clip right in and you're just gone. Other times Male1: You're not usually ready to roll until -- I mean you're not fully clipped in ready to ride for two a few pedal stokes. Male2: Exactly, exactly. Male1: And then just watching someone like yourself, you get kind of an illusion that you’re just jumping right back on to the saddle but it’s really, place and we’re all on to it and it’s little bit down the road but it’s kind of like little bit from other people from track watching us. It’s little bit like coming out of a transition, you're not like shoes aren’t on and everything’s not absolutely perfect but three or four or five pedals strikes down the way. That’s when you're getting into it. Male2: Exactly. Male1: So that’s kind of the same thing from an outside perspective it looks like damn you're just damn right on there going but when you're actually doing it its kind of taking care of the priorities. Get on the bike and get moving first and then worry about the others. Male2: Exactly. Male1: Alright. Male2: So after you’ve done it at a walking pace, just kind of go into a slow jog, do the same thing then go into kind of your -- a high speed or your race pace. But I can demonstrate at a higher speed where I land without sliding on to the saddle so you can kind of break it down. So you’ve got off your bike, you’ve got cleanly through the barrier, the dismount, the run up, whatever it might be, you're ready to get back on the bike. So you're running next to the bike, you jump back on and I land on my inner thigh and then I slide on to the saddle, get my feet on the pedals, then worry about clipping in and go. So it’s on the inner thighs, slide into position, find those pedals then clip in.