After all these years and thousands of miles in the saddle, I can now give an authoritative answer to the question: What keeps a moving bicycle from falling over?
It's all about physics. That's what Deborah Byrd and Joel Block tell us from the Earth & Sky radio show heard over many National Public Radio stations.
I knew they did shows about meteor showers, the Hubble and the debate about whether Pluto was a moon or planet. I didn't know they'd report on what keeps my bike from falling over — most of the time.
They explain that spinning bicycle wheels have a “special property” called angular momentum. Physics demands that angular momentum be maintained unless its acted upon by an exterior force.
“Falling over would mean a change in direction — and the wheels resist this change.”
Tell that to your 5-year-old when push him across the grass on his bike without training wheels for the first time.
Here's an audio feed of the program.
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