\n\tNow, it's time to repeat that last sequence, but after swinging your right leg over the saddle, it's time to dismount.  Think about what you are doing, and how you are doing this super basic skill!  I'll give you a secret…don’t step down to the ground!<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tHuh?<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n
• \n\t\tFrom your coasting position (with your leg dangling behind you) simply unclip your left foot, and drop to the ground. No step, just drop. Make sense?  \n\t<\/li>\n
• \n\t\tIf you "step through" simple twist your left foot out of the pedal as you drop your right foot onto the ground.\n\t<\/li>\n
• \n\t\tRepeat this a lot.  I mean A LOT.  Until you’ve got it hard wired into your body.\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  \n\t[pullquote] DO NOT HOP, SKIP, JUMP OR OTHERWISE LAUNCH YOURSELF THROUGH THE AIR! [\/pullquote]<\/span>Good deal, now you can get off your bike.  But that's only half the battle.  You have to be able to get back on.  So let's practice that now…in style!\n<\/p>\n

  \n\tYou dismounted on the left side of the bike, yes?  Then while standing next to the left side (non drive side) and from a dead standstill, we're going to dance the 3-step.\n<\/p>\n

  \n
  • \n\t\tLeft foot step.\n\t<\/li>\n
  • \n\t\tRight foot step.\n\t<\/li>\n
  • \n\t\tLeft foot steps again but as you plant your left foot on the ground, drive forward off of it while swinging your right leg over the saddle, just like we did in the second part of our FIRST dismount drill.\n\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \n\tDO NOT HOP, SKIP, JUMP OR OTHERWISE LAUNCH YOURSELF THROUGH THE AIR!  It will probably end badly for you, as in your most tender bits will meet their untimely end on the saddle.  You're trying to step over the saddle, and y<\/span>ou aren’t landing on the saddle, you’re <\/span>sliding OVER it, with your butt comfortable resting on it at the end of the slide.  <\/span>As for where your attention should be, don't focus on the saddle but keep your eye on the drive side pedal.  <\/span>Try to step on to (and into) it as you walk over the bike, ready to rock and roll as soon as your cheeks slide onto the saddle<\/span>.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tRepeat this.  A lot.  Super slow.  Walking pace is too fast for you at first.  Get this so wired into your body that you can do it in your sleep while ripped on Belgian beer and meth.\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tReady for the big boy pants?  Combine the last two excercises and repeat until you're bored stiff.  Once you've drilled those moves into your skull, spin around for a few minutes and shake it out.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tReady for this?  Now you're going to repeat the dismount\/remount sequence we just did, starting slow and gradually getting faster and faster with each repetition.  <\/span>Stop when you bobble, stumble, trip or screw up and immediately do 5 of the sequences <\/span>S.L.O.W.L.Y.  That's how you'll fix your mistakes before they become habit.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tFinished?  Nope.  Spin for about 15 minutes to cool down and then head home.\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tNow you're finished.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Half of cyclocross is fitness. The other half is skill. Screwing up the skills will ruin your race day, even if you have the best fitness in the field. So that means it’s time to get out there and practice your skills, dammit!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,38],"tags":[175,45,68],"yst_prominent_words":[2163,2150,2158,2149,2162,2156,2157,2155,2161,2154,2152,2165,2151,2167,2164,2159,2148,2166,2153,2160],"wppr_data":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10922,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3168\/revisions\/10922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3168"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwind-coaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}