If Feynman were still around, he'd set things straight. I don't think a bicycle staying upright is much different from a train keeping course [1], but I can't describe why. Instead of the rail veering off and the wheel adapting, it's like the bike does what it wants and the ground shifts beneath it.
If you've read about Einstein's pail-of-milk-on-a-lazy-susan, it's a similarly unintuitive frame of reference. Also, if the experts haven't figured it out: I don't know what I'm talking about.
I find it fascinating that we as a species can observe, define, and exploit Maxwell's law, neutrino physics, etc, but we can't clearly explain bicycles. Or why wings provide lift.
If you've read about Einstein's pail-of-milk-on-a-lazy-susan, it's a similarly unintuitive frame of reference. Also, if the experts haven't figured it out: I don't know what I'm talking about.
I find it fascinating that we as a species can observe, define, and exploit Maxwell's law, neutrino physics, etc, but we can't clearly explain bicycles. Or why wings provide lift.
EDIT: forgot the Feynman video
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7h4OtFDnYE