Automating a motor response, second or years?

OR, developing a automated response from a single experience, OR simply, how to avoid slips on ice while ridding your bicycle

In the Winter of 2015 I biked all winter, with regular mountain bicycle. Most people will fix their bike in spring time, I did it in -30 Celsius. The roads were white and slippery. I never rode a bicycle on ice before. As I left the bicycle shop, I tried to play with the steering wheel just to find myself gliding on my back ... with a car behind me, hoping they will brake in time :(

Having this experience of the tires flipping with zero traction after few degrees of angle , I had an intuition, that placing a leg and standing on the collapsing side will do the trick of not falling on the ground.

Than, the real test arrived. I did not plan to fall, I did not even consider the possibility of falling in this particular moment, what made this maneuver a genuine response without any preparation that will give me an anticipatory pre-conceived advantage.

When felt that flipping motion, I AUTOMATICALLY placed the leg and made a nice 360 degree dish, till the energy dissipated, then got on my bike and continued. I was SO happy that I developed a skill, by only envisioning it once before, still with immense clarity ! I think that what made this possible is: 1. connecting the sensation that proceed the bicycle flipping on me, with 2. the simple action of planting the leg in the collapsing side as a Dreidel, and 3. uniting all together with a positive emotion of trust in this maneuver and its importance.

3rd fall: Cycling fast, a car pops up in the junction and I stir the bike fast to the right, only to find the bike filliping to the floor. I was not afraid, I had made a perfect dish while taking care in the process that the laptop would stay protected. Ninja time. The temptation to "release"/collapse the supporting leg and crash into the floor with the cycle was there, but I knew better. I knew it is in my hands, or may I say, in my leg.

What is a FALL? When the center of a mass is no longer under your base of support, basically you are going to visit the floor. But if you have a mindset of a safe-fall, where you can regain an equilibrium or engage super-softly with the floor, you should not fear so much ...

Safe and enjoyable training !

#PreventingFalls #bicycle #fallingfrombicycleonice #RidingBicycle #SlipsOnIce