What a Backwards Bike Taught Me About Neuroplasticity

Have you ever thought you knew how to do something, only to discover your brain had other plans?

There's this fascinating video about a man who was given a bicycle with reverse steering - turn the handlebars left, the bike goes right. Turn right, it goes left. This grown adult, who had been riding bikes his entire life, couldn't make it more than a few feet without falling over.

The remarkable part? It took him 8 months of daily practice to rewire his brain and master this backwards bike. Eight months! But here's what really gets me - when he finally did and got back on a normal bike, he had to relearn that too.

This isn't just a quirky experiment - it's a window into neuroplasticity, our brain's ability to form new neural pathways throughout our lives. Those pathways for "how to ride a bike" were so deeply ingrained that even a simple reversal made the skill completely inaccessible.

What struck me most was how his decades of bike-riding experience actually worked against him. The stronger the original neural pathway, the harder it was to create a new one. His brain kept trying to use the old program even when it clearly wasn't working.

This makes me think about all the patterns we practice daily without realizing it. Every habit, every reaction, every way we approach problems - we're strengthening certain neural pathways and letting others fade.

The backwards bike experiment shows us that change is absolutely possible, but it also reveals why lasting change can be so challenging. Our brains are designed for efficiency, which means they default to established patterns even when those patterns aren't serving us.

The question is: what are you practicing? What neural pathways are you strengthening every day, often without conscious awareness?

And when you do want to create change, what will help you stick with the new pattern long enough for it to become natural?

Next week, I'll share how I discovered this in my own life through something even more basic than riding a bike.