This is an I-Heart podcast.

Welcome to part-time genius, the production of I-heart Radio.

Guess what Will?

What's that, Mango?

So this is something I certainly haven't thought about that often, but it is much harder to balance on a bike that isn't moving compared to one that is. I'm glad to know you haven't thought about it that often, but it is actually strange when you think about it. Like, you think it would be harder to balance on something that's whipping along at like 10, 15 miles an hour, right? Exactly. And it turns out the difficulty is mostly due to the fact that a bike only has two points of

contact with the ground, like the thin parts of the front and back wheel.

And typically you need three contact points with the ground to create a good base of support.

And four is actually ideal with like a table or a bed.

But what bikes lack in static stability, they actually

make up for in dynamic stability, which is the ability to remain stable while moving forward.

And it works because a rider can maneuver the bike's points of support. Or in other words, the

rider can reposition the wheels as needed to keep everything nice and balanced from one moment

to the next. And the best part is riders usually steer like this without even realizing what they're doing. Like that's how subtle these micro adjustments are. Yeah, I was actually going to say, I never feel like I'm that focused on, you know, like the handlebars when I'm out riding a bike. It's just one of those things where your brain goes into autopilot. And you really just respond without thinking about it. Yeah, I mean, that's one thing I realized this week. There are a lot of things about bikes we don't really think about, from how we ride them, to where they came from, to what they have to do with horses' deaths. So that's what I thought we could tackle today. All the weird questions about bikes, we never think to ask. And this is usually where I

suggest we dive right in, but since today's all about bikes, why don't we put on our helmets and

roll out instead?

Yeah. Hey there, podcast listeners. Welcome to part-time genius. I'm Will Pearson. And as always, I'm joined by my good friend Mengesh Hot Ticketer. On the other side of the soundproof glass, he's been doing this all morning. And I got to be honest, it's pretty impressive. He's over there popping yet another wheelie on his office chair. That's the world's most impressive producer on one of these wheelie chairs, Lowell Berlante. So, Mango, are you much of a bike or I don't think I've ever seen you ride a bike before?

I know, it's funny.

You know, I was when I was a kid. Like, I used to have this little BMX, and I'd ride it around the neighborhood into the country store we had in our town and to get candy and whatever. but, you know, when I hit sixth or seventh grade, like my dad got super to safety all of a sudden.

And he put this long plastic stick on the back of our bike that had this orange flag at the top of it.

And he made us wear helmets. And suddenly it was like, I'm good. I think I can walk from here.

How about you? Did you ride around much?

Oh, I rode to school every single day. But yeah, I was that kid. You know, we were the first generation where some parents started making kids wear helmets. You know, and so I wore a helmet every day. But yeah, we were definitely like these days kids don't think that much about it. But yeah, I rode to school. They do look cooler. Yeah, it's a very big difference. Some of them have those Mohawk helmets, which I'm just so jealous of. Yeah, I know the helmets really are so much cooler with the Mohawks. But let's get off my hesitation about bikes, because I still don't really ride that much, and talk about a different weird story that bikes were invented because a volcano killed all the horses. Right, of course. No, actually, I think you're going to have to explain this one because I have no idea what

...