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Does anyone find anything odd or unique about the fact that we don’t forget how to ride a bike? I can’t think of any similar activity that people do forget.

• ken 8y ago
  Despite what the article suggests about playing a musical instrument, I picked up an instrument that I used to play (for ~10 years), a couple years ago, and I was completely lost. Tone, pitch, form, fingering, tuning, reading sheet music, knowing scales -- pretty much everything was just gone. It was not at all "like riding a bike". I played around for a few weeks but it felt like I was starting from scratch.
  • baddox 8y ago
    I’m a musician, so I considered the example of playing an instrument. It’s an interesting example, because it certainly requires a lot of muscle memory that becomes “automatic” with practice, but it also usually requires conscious thought about what you’re playing (which basic bicycling does not). I would expect that the basic muscle memory parts would be hard to forget, but that the conscious decisions would be easy to forget. I’ve never taken long breaks from my main instruments, but it sounds like you forgot both aspects of playing. I did play trombone for a few years starting in middle school, but haven’t played in over a decade. I definitely remember the basic slide positions for notes and a few of the common scales, but I wonder how well I would be able to play the trombone now.
    • aidenn0 8y ago
      I didn't play my clarinet at all for 5ish years (and was only playing it once or twice a year for the 5 previous years), and getting a good sound out of it was impossible[1], but basic technique (e.g. scales, arpeggios, sight reading) was still about as good as 4 years in to when I was learning as a kid. 1: At least some of this is mouth muscles just being too weak (in another thread an ex rock climber talks about climbing a tree and that's a similar effect), some of it is that when I quit, I was still learning to make it sound good, so I never had unconscious control for a lot of the subtle changes I had to make. The rest is probably just things I forgot.
• uki33 8y ago
  Calligraphy, handwriting, drawing, painting etc etc you loose it if you don't work on it regularly. Same goes for programming. Take a year or two off and see what your remember about algorithms and protocols.
  • baddox 8y ago
    For advanced techniques, I agree, but the same probably applies to advanced bicycling techniques. Basic handwriting is probably not something you would forget, just like basic bicycling.
    • fian 8y ago
      Some possible equivalents from cycling: Riding technical trails on a MTB. Without regular practice you lose a lot of pace. Street or park BMX tricks (tail whips, flairs, flips, grinds etc). These require skill plus confidence. Without regular practice the confidence won't be there to attempt them.
  • lexicality 8y ago
    Programming isn't a physical activity though. I'm sure you'd remember (or pick up incredibly fast) how to touch type after those two years.
  • jnbiche 8y ago
    > Take a year or two off and see what your remember about algorithms and protocols. And this is the main problem with algorithmic interviews. This type of programming has little to do with the stuff most of us do on a daily basis. So we forget much of it a year or two after our last interview, and have to go back and spend weeks or months reviewing when preparing to interview again. Seems like a waste of time.
• KineticLensman 8y ago
  Skiing is something else where, for me at least, the 'don't forget' effect applies. I used to ski in a one to two week block every year, for about 20 years (i.e. 2 weeks on then 50 weeks off). Once I reached a certain level (being able to do parallel turns) I never really forgot how to do them, although the first few runs of a new season would be a bit tentative. Something that continued to improve year on year was my ability to turn at speed on steep slopes. I think this was due to learned (and remembered) confidence as well as muscle memory, in particular knowing that because a turn would work, a sudden increase in speed didn't mean automatic disaster. I also learned to lean out of a turn (i.e. down the mountain, the opposite of a turn on a bike) and this was also a confidence thing that I didn't forget, and which turns safer still. Unfortunately, my increasing confidence was offset by decreasing fitness so I reached a plateau. That said, on my last couple of trips, I didn't fall once. I never took a multi-year break to test the concept properly.
  • baddox 8y ago
    I’ve never skied, but it seems very similar to riding a bike in that you need to make constant adjustments to maintain balance and avoid obstacles without thinking consciously about every adjustment.
    • KineticLensman 8y ago
      Once you reach a certain level of experience, the mechanics of making a turn become second nature and the degree of conscious active control depends more on the type of slope. A well groomed piste is the equivalent of a freeway and you spend more time checking the traffic (the other skiers) than looking at the road. In contrast, (for me at least) a steep gully or a natural mogul field [0] requires more active conscious thinking about when to turn. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogul_skiing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogul_skiing
  • pbhjpbhj 8y ago
    After a break of ~15 years I went for a couple of hours on an indoor slope. The main issue was fitness. I was able to go over a small jump by the end of the time. Not as graceful as I would have been. Very similar to my experience with cycling with long breaks.
• trustfundbaby 8y ago
  Sports movements seem to fall in the same category. Soccer. Basketball. Swimming. Tennis.
• black-tea 8y ago
  Reading?
  • ken 8y ago
    Definitely. There are cases where people have forgotten their first spoken language, after enough years away from it. I'm not sure whether or not this belongs in the same category as riding a bicycle.
• dahart 8y ago
  I feel like I’ve forgotten most of the events in my life. I can’t remember was being a child or a teenager was like. I think my personality has changed, but I’m not sure because I can’t remember it. I’ve also forgotten most of how to speak Spanish, which I learned as a child. It does come back quicker than the first time with a lot of practice, but I can’t speak it on demand without a lot of re-learning. I also ride mountain bikes and find that if I take extended breaks of months or longer, I forget how to do the more difficult riding, and I have to re-learn/practice until I’m comfortable again.