How to ride a bike

Countersteering is not optional.

It's the law.

How do we keep from falling on a bike?

– We cannot turn in the opposite direction from the way we are falling. If we do, we will just fall faster. The bike will move away from the direction in which we are falling but our body will accelerate even faster toward the dreaded face-plant.

– We turn the handlebars in the same direction that we are falling (!).

– The frame accelerates and comes under us, keeping us from getting hurt.

How do we make a turn on a bike?

– We turn the handlebars in the opposite direction from the way we want to go.

– The bicycle heads in the wrong direction.

– Our weight shifts to the desired direction on the bicycle.

– We start to fall in the desired direction.

– We turn in the desired direction in order to keep from falling.

How do we get out of a turn?

– We turn in the direction that we are turning.

– The bicycle will go deeper into the turn.

– Our weight will shift to the other side of the bicycle, bringing us upright.

– We then have to turn out of the turn to bring the bike back under our center of gravity.

How do we keep from hitting something that is on a collision course with us?

– We turn toward the person or thing we do not want to hit.

– The bicycle heads toward the person or thing we do not want to hit.

– Our weight shifts to the other side of the bicycle.

– This causes us to start falling away from the person or thing we do not want to hit.

– After our weight shifts, we can then turn the handlebars away from the obstacle.

Inertia matters

 

This is tacit knowledge

Any child who has learned how to ride a bike knows these rules, even if they do not know that they know them. There is no other way to make a turn on a bicycle. Because we have tacit knowledge of the principles of how our momentum reacts to the movement of the bicycle frame, the fact that we may have a false theory of how to ride the bicycle does not keep us from obeying the rules while verbally denying that we do so.

Links

– "Countersteering - How to save your life on a motorcycle"

Four times the motorcyclist turns the wheel to the right. Each time that mistake redirects him back into the path of the oncoming fire truck!

We have to turn TOWARD the obstacle momentarily in order to avoid hitting it!

In an emergency, we do not have time to think about these things. We have to act promptly and decisively.

In motorcycle safety courses, riders are taught to practice this emergency maneuver until it becomes second nature to them.

Verify these truths for yourself in a safe space.

Practice emergency countersteering in a safe space.

Teach your friends about countersteering.

The life you save may be your own.

– How to Ride a Bike: The Tacit Skill of Countersteering

– Counter Steering Explained: Master This Life-Saving Skill

– No Body Steering (BS) Bike

– How to use Counter Steering to Lean and Turn Your Motorcycle

- The Physics of Countersteering