Sometimes I worry that I’ve run out of things to blog about, but then there are new injury and age-related challenges that arise, I know that I am not alone, and I want to share the solutions I’ve found.
One of the things that older cyclists sometimes struggle with is getting on and off our road bikes. It’s enough of an issue that sometimes people choose a different style of bike–say, one with a step-through frame–when they get older. This issue didn’t bother me until knee surgery. My knees aren’t as bendy as they once were, and I also have stiff hips. I do a lot of physio, but I’m still not very flexible.
For me, it almost never is a problem getting on the bike. I’m all limber and stretchy then. Sometimes getting off, though, can be dicey, and it’s almost always when we’re stopping in front of a coffee shop, full of fellow cyclists, that I struggle. It’s embarrassing, and so I’m keen to find other ways to do it. If I’m home I sometimes gently drop the frame to the ground, in the grass, and step out and over it that way. Very easy! But necessarily something I want to do on the side of the road.
This video was really helpful. Turns out that I’m a fan of number 2, the side lean, and it’s how I now how I get on and off my road bike.
How about you?
This was another video of “magnificent” ways to dismount your bike. Enjoy!
This is definitely a problem for me! I am short. It’s actually hard to find a road bike that fits me. My e-bike, the smallest they make of the type I like, is decidedly a stretch for me. And stretching is not my, uh, strength. So thanks for these videos! I had never thought of the one where you simply lift the handlebars & roll the bike through. Not sure if it will work, but I will try it with a (lightly) loaded bike. Because I am almost always carrying at least a small pannier. I am a tourist, not a racer.
I have generally used the lean-to-the-side method, which is fine, but if I am hauling heavy groceries on the e-bike, it can be a bit tricky to keep the whole thing from getting away from me & landing on the ground. Awkward at times.
If I really can’t get on the e-bike (some days are like that), I sometimes find a nice, flat area, or a place where the bike is a few inches lower than I am, and lift my leg over the top tube. Looks pretty silly, but it doesn’t seem to require as much of a stretch.
Thank you for bringing this up. So many cyclists seem to do it with ease, but there must be plenty who don’t.
Oh I want to try the undercarriage!
I want to see the outtakes for this video. One wonders how many face plants and other creative collapses happened in the course of production… 🙂