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If You Think Riding a Motorcycle Is Hard, You Should Try the Backwards Brain Bike

Riding a motorcycle, like multiple other human activities, involves learning a set of moves and managing to integrate them in complex algorithms whose outcome is a fluent one.
Take a look at the bars and front wheel. Funny thing, right? 1 photo
Photo: Youtube capture
Basic operations, such as throttle control, balance and body weight movement, to using various levers and switches must be integrated with a complex understanding of the surroundings, traffic, weather and road conditions, hazard potential assessment and general awareness.

And to all these, one must also enjoy the scenery, speed, company or the simple act of riding. It's quite a mind-boggling conundrum, and it's not unlike what riding a bicycle requires.

However, when they say that riding a bike is a thing one never forgets, people are wrong. For the sake of science, Destin of Smarter Every Day took eight months to un-learn his riding skills, replacing them with something completely crazy.

A small change of direction - a huge different world you know nothing about

Destin's goal was to prove that we all are acting using certain mind patterns that become strongly embedded in our brain. They become, if you want, "instinctual", and are extremely hard to modify once they are learnt.

When it comes to riding bikes and motorcycles, once you become an intermediate or a skilled rider, you no longer take your time to analyze what exactly happens as you pedal or twist the throttle and ride away. All feels natural and you can focus on safety and other points.

However, when it comes to altering the way you ride, you will be surprised to see that the whole mind construct fails. And far worse than having to learn a new thing, your brain will make things much harder, because it will refuse to un-learn the "instincts".

In a way, it's like what snowboarders used to say, namely that it's easier to learn how to slide down the slope and turn if you've never skied... The same thing goes for a bike whose handlebars have been provided with two gears that reverse the turning direction.

You know what to expect, but your brain can't break free

It doesn't take an engineering mind to understand the principle behind such a tweak. Any rider will know that he or she will have to turn the bars to the right in order to have the front wheel turning to the left and vice-versa.

Unless it won't work because your mind will always try to stick with the old habits. It took Destin eight painstaking months of attempts soaked in failure until his brain finally let go of what it was taught to do when in the saddle of a bike.

Slowly, steadily, he became more natural aboard the "backwards brain" bike until he almost mastered it. However, when it came to riding a normal bike, Destin failed once more because his instincts refused to simply switch back to the old patterns.

Anyway, it only took some 20 minutes until he could ride the casual bike again. It's possible that switching between the two bikes repeatedly will, in the end, allow Destin to train his brain to react instantaneously to the changes.

The funny thing is that nobody could ride the tweaked bike even when strong incentives have been offered. After all, $200 (€179) for a 10-feet (3m) ride is probably more (per meter) than all MotoGP riders earn together.

Discussing the intricate ways the brain works when in the saddle of a bicycle or motorbike could take years. The truth is, that practice DOES make us better riders. Have fun watching this interesting episode and take your time to think about your brain, too.

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