Did it take Mathieu Van Der Poel only 100 milliseconds or 0.1 seconds to “dab” his foot in an attempt to save his UCI World Championships crash?
If so, what does it tell us about our instinct and our ability to train our instinctive reactions to be a subconscious behaviour?
On Sunday Mathieu Van Der Poel became the UCI Road Cycling World Champion. It was a stunning ride. One for the ages of cycling history. The victory ride was monumental, not only for the sheer strength and class of his performance, but his recovery from a high speed crash was a fascinating display of exceptional human performance. Mathieu Van Der Poel demonstrated a reaction that has been trained to the point where it has become a subconscious behaviour. They are reactions that occur without the need for decision-making.
During his breakaway attempt to win the World Championships, Mathieu crashed hard while in the lead. In wet conditions his bike slipped out from underneath him. He hit the asphalt hard. He slid across the asphalt into the barriers at high speed. He came to a smashing halt, 17km from the finish line, with his competitors trailing him by less than 50 seconds. It was a crash that few would have continued racing after. Yet Mathieu’s handling of the crash, from the moment he felt it happening, to the point where he was riding again, was “super human”.
From the first visible instance that Mathieu’s bike was slipping out, to the point where he was back upright and fully clipped in - took him just 12 seconds. Even more stunning, upon analysis of the real time race coverage, from the moment Mathieu’s back wheel visibly looses grip, it appears Mathieu takes only 100 milliseconds or 0.1 seconds to “dab” his foot in an attempt to save the crash. With this reaction time, we have to speculate that Mathieu, subconsciously and instinctively, performed a “dab” technique without a need for decision-making. In a Zwift interview with Matt Stephens, Mathieu confirms “this was instinct”. Likely not an innate (natural) instinct, but instead a conditioned (learned) instinct.
If a rider feels they're losing balance or traction, they might "dab" by briefly unclipping and touching the ground with a foot to prevent falling over or to regain control.
Mathieu Van Der Poel's extraordinary performance at the UCI World Championships showcases the pinnacle of human potential and the impact of training on our subconscious behaviors. His seemingly instantaneous reaction to "dab" in response to the slip of his back wheel, demonstrates the power of conditioned instinctive reactions. It underscores how practiced behaviors can transform into automatic, subconscious responses. Indirectly, Van Der Poel highlights the human capacity to mold and train our instinctual responses, emphasizing the connection between relentless training and mastering subconscious reactions. For us all, it's a testament to the importance of practice, perseverance, and the boundless possibilities of the human body.
Tooling, Jig, & Fixture Engineer at Mando America Corporation
1moAbout four hours before they crossed the line, still this close! 🥵