You cannot ride this bicycle (1 Viewer)

[Bracie Smathers]

This guy offers $200 if you can ride it ten feet and you can't.

It is about breaking neural pathways and creating new ones. 

The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133

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GET SMARTER SECTION: A quick clarification.... It took me 8 months to learn how to do this, but I was only picking up the bike and running to the end of the driveway and back every day. I wasn't "ACTIVELY" trying to learn. Meaning... I wasn't struggling and trying to make my brain learn. I simply got on the bike every day, tried to operate it to the end of the driveway, turned around and tried to operate it back. The goal was to understand how my brain figured things out on its own, without trying to force it to. Many people have built bikes like this and figured it out in much less than 1 day by staying on the bike until they were able to master it. I had no timelines, and was using this as an exploratory activity to learn how I learn. Do not misinterpret this to mean that I struggled and tried very hard every day for 8 months. That's simply not true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After 8 months he un-learned how to ride a regular bike and had to re-learn.   

He was able to re-connect with the former neural pathways after awhile.

The big lesson?

Knowledge does not equal understanding.

 

[Joe Summer]

I refuse to believe that it took him literally 8 months to learn how to ride that bike.

I think most people could figure it out in a few hours if they did nothing but practice riding that particular bike.

 

[parasaurolophus]

I refuse to believe that it took him literally 8 months to learn how to ride that bike.

I think most people could figure it out in a few hours if they did nothing but practice riding that particular bike.

I dont know. I have seen people that can never back up a trailer. 

 

[WDIK2]

I refuse to believe that it took him literally 8 months to learn how to ride that bike.

I think most people could figure it out in a few hours if they did nothing but practice riding that particular bike.

From the OP

GET SMARTER SECTION: A quick clarification.... It took me 8 months to learn how to do this, but I was only picking up the bike and running to the end of the driveway and back every day. I wasn't "ACTIVELY" trying to learn. Meaning... I wasn't struggling and trying to make my brain learn. I simply got on the bike every day, tried to operate it to the end of the driveway, turned around and tried to operate it back. The goal was to understand how my brain figured things out on its own, without trying to force it to. Many people have built bikes like this and figured it out in much less than 1 day by staying on the bike until they were able to master it. I had no timelines, and was using this as an exploratory activity to learn how I learn. Do not misinterpret this to mean that I struggled and tried very hard every day for 8 months. That's simply not true

 

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Guy in the video looks like Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall.

I agree 8 months seems like a long time to figure out left is right and vice versa even if it was just once per day but I'm a pretty competitive person, I would have been coaching myself aloud by day 3. I've also ridden a bike once in my life unlike this dude. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Guy in the video looks like Dave Foley from Kids in the Hall.

I agree 8 months seems like a long time to figure out left is right and vice versa even if it was just once per day but I'm a pretty competitive person, I would have been coaching myself aloud by day 3. I've also ridden a bike once in my life unlike this dude. 

He was trying to understand how his brain figured out this particular problem, it was an exploratory activity to accomplish this goal which was not to get on and crank without thinking but to consciously observe how his brain was working on/trying to figure out the problem of riding the bike.  

.... The goal was to understand how my brain figured things out on its own, without trying to force it to. Many people have built bikes like this and figured it out in much less than 1 day by staying on the bike until they were able to master it. I had no timelines, and was using this as an exploratory activity to learn how I learn. Do not misinterpret this to mean that I struggled and tried very hard every day for 8 months. That's simply not true.

 

[WDIK2]

I think the quickest way to figure it out would be to use your feet on the ground to propel you for a while.  Just to get your brain used to turning the handlebars the opposite way.  Work up to coasting, then peddling.

 

[rockaction]

This title makes me think of Karate Master for some reason. 

 

[mr roboto]

The most fascinating part was when he got on a normal bike for the first time and couldn’t ride it. 

 

[bostonfred]

The baller move would be to get up there, pop a wheelie right away and pedal the whole ten feet them set the front wheel down and hand him the bike. 

 

[shuke]

I refuse to believe that it took him literally 8 months to learn how to ride that bike.

I think most people could figure it out in a few hours if they did nothing but practice riding that particular bike.

No f'ing way.

 

[[scooter]]

I wonder if it would be easier to try riding the bike backwards.

 

[Rustoleum]

I’m not going to “Actively” read this thread for understanding. Instead I’m just going to open it once a day for 8 months, scroll to the last post and leave.

 

[bostonfred]

I wonder if it would be easier to try riding the bike backwards.

If you wanted to try that, just cross your arms so your left hand is on the right handlebar and vice versa. 

Probably the real answer is to not pedal at all though, just stand on the pedals and wiggle the handlebars back and forth and inch forward using that motion. You don't want any momentum because you can't over adjust as quickly if you're not moving. Then once you have the basic movement figured out, you add speed slowly and keep wiggling the wheel exactly the same amount each way back and forth, and keep your balance shifted back and stay standing. If you start to tip, don't adjust,  just pop a wheelie and straighten the wheel out then start tilting back and forth again. 

I think it could be done on the first try, but it's obviously harder than it looks so who knows.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

No f'ing way.

I need 10 minutes, boss. 
 

 

[FBG26]

If you wanted to try that, just cross your arms so your left hand is on the right handlebar and vice versa. 

Probably the real answer is to not pedal at all though, just stand on the pedals and wiggle the handlebars back and forth and inch forward using that motion. You don't want any momentum because you can't over adjust as quickly if you're not moving. Then once you have the basic movement figured out, you add speed slowly and keep wiggling the wheel exactly the same amount each way back and forth, and keep your balance shifted back and stay standing. If you start to tip, don't adjust,  just pop a wheelie and straighten the wheel out then start tilting back and forth again. 

I think it could be done on the first try, but it's obviously harder than it looks so who knows.

Not sure the pop a wheelie thing really helps. Whether that front tire is on the ground or in the air, you still need to balance the bike and adjust the handlebar as the weight goes one way or the other.  Unless you can keep the thing perfectly straight while up in the air.  But if the front/top end shifts at all, you'll instinctively turn the handle the other way to compensate / keep it balanced, and thus make it worse.

 

[bostonfred]

Not sure the pop a wheelie thing really helps. Whether that front tire is on the ground or in the air, you still need to balance the bike and adjust the handlebar as the weight goes one way or the other.  Unless you can keep the thing perfectly straight while up in the air.  But if the front/top end shifts at all, you'll instinctively turn the handle the other way to compensate / keep it balanced, and thus make it worse.

Take stock of the things you can do with this bike.

- You cannot balance the bike at a full stop. You'll drop like you got shot. 

- you cannot ride straight ahead, same thing. 

- you can lift up on the handlebars and land but when you land you will probably fall victim to one of the above

- you might be able to stay up by deliberately turning the wheel back and forth while at a standstill or going very slow. Yes it's backwards, but by deliberately switching back and forth, you don't give your brain a chance to screw things up

Your natural response to tipping is to adjust the handlebars, but you'll adjust them the wrong way because it's too deeply ingrained. You can't short circuit that, but you can short circuit your response to tipping by popping a wheelie. That's important. 

So the first thing is to keep your weight back and be prepared to lift up if needed.

What you're saying is largely true, but that's why you go slow. You don't need to be perfectly level to land a little wheelie, but it would help to be centered. That's the one thing this bike does that's normal - it centers. The problem is all the little adjustments afterwards that make you tip.  But when you land from the wheelie, you're going to lose your forward momentum, and can go back to rhythmically turning the wheel side to side and inching forward again.

 

[bostonfred]

The Backwards Brain Bicycle - Smarter Every Day 133

Watch starting at 4:10. His kid rides about ten feet by wiggling the handlebars back and forth until he falls. That's not the ideal way to ride it, but it's the best chancr to get the 200 bucks. 

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Watching that again - I see what makes it so difficult - Or I should say that bike...

If you watch the kid at 4:10, you can clearly see that the wheel doesn’t turn at the same rate as the handlebars. Kinda hard to explain but when you ride a bike and you move the handlebars to the left an inch, the tire turns at the same angle. If you watch that clip, the handlebars turn but the wheel Seems to be much looser/not turn with the way it did originally”. Like riding with a loose steering column. 

 

[Bracie Smathers]

Watching that again - I see what makes it so difficult - Or I should say that bike...

If you watch the kid at 4:10, you can clearly see that the wheel doesn’t turn at the same rate as the handlebars. Kinda hard to explain but when you ride a bike and you move the handlebars to the left an inch, the tire turns at the same angle. If you watch that clip, the handlebars turn but the wheel Seems to be much looser/not turn with the way it did originally”. Like riding with a loose steering column. 

By having extra spoked/gear on the handle bars it would take at least a half-tick extra time which would throw you off more than you realize.  I used to live up in Alaska and any calls to the lower 48 had a half-tick delay which COMPLETELY throws off any conversation unless you make it clear to both parties that their is a delay and to wait, kinda like with a one-way radio where at the end of each transmission you say Rodger so the other person knows you are done and then they reply.

A half-tick is longer than you realize when you are trying to find your center point while pushing down on the pedals while simultaneously figuring out gyroscopic momentum and re configuring balance.  That half-tick is a huge problem to figure out.  Highly complex.