The Rolling Mount
Definition: Mounting the unicycle with continued forward
motion. The wheel should not stop moving forward in the rolling mount.
It could be called the "running mount" as it is often accomplished by
running with the unicycle and jumping on.
- The rolling mount is basically just a quick no
roll-back standard mount. There are two ways to do
a standard mount. One is to roll the wheel back 1/2
turn and take off. For the second, you turn the
pedal back a slight amount and the other foot goes
directly to the opposing pedal (you don't roll the
wheel back more than a quarter turn). The latter mount
is the basis to the rolling mount. Practice doing this
mount very quickly.
- When you are comfortable with the quick no roll-back
standard mount, try taking a step and then do the mount.
You will start with the mounting pedal (the pedal your
foot hits first) down, and as you take a step forward,
the pedal will come up towards you. The hard part is
timing it so your foot hits the pedal at the instant it
is in the correct position. Practice taking one step, then
two, etc until you can walk forward at a decent pace and
jump on without stopping. For a slow rolling mount, I
usually start with the mounting pedal 1/2 turn in front
of where I will actually mount it (horizontal and
facing forward). This allows a step or a step and a half
before the pedal is in the correct position. For a fast
mount, it takes a couple wheel rotations to get up speed.
- Pretty soon you'll be running like crazy and jumping on
the uni at full speed!
Notes and Hints
- The rolling mount is very useful, especially for
mountain unicycling. You can use this mount to re-mount
after you fall off on a hill.
- I learned how to do a running mount after I learned to
mount a big wheel. The only way to mount a big wheel is to do
a rolling mount, and it seems to be easier on a big wheel. The
rolling mount is also fairly easy to adapt to giraffes, which is
a real crowd pleaser! Just be careful, running mounts put tons
of stress on the giraffe.
- One variation that I've been practicing lately is
doing a rolling mount with a spin, so you run forward and end up riding
backwards - lots of fun, but results in some really nasty crashes!!
Brett Bymaster
Copyright © 1997 Brett Bymaster All rights reserved.
Last modified: Wed Mar 5 21:43:19 EDT 1997