# 53 bicycles: A lateral thinking puzzle **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 9, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868 "2017-07-09T19:51:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 101
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2001 "2017-11-13T17:47:37Z")
Does the woman continue the journey in the truck? ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2002 "2017-11-13T19:07:35Z")
Is the truck full of goat shit (or indeed bullshit, for which goat shit would make an acceptable substitute at her destination? :))? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2003 "2017-11-13T20:42:57Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Will the bridge break because the truck is too heavy? NO > > Will the bridge break because the truck is too light? YES, kind of. > > Is the truck empty before she comes up with her solution? YES > > Is putting goats in to the truck part of the solution? YES > [@Rhodes](#): > > Does the woman continue the journey in the truck? YES > [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Is the truck full of goat shit (or indeed bullshit, for which goat shit would make an acceptable substitute at her destination? :))? NO Kk. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2004 "2017-11-13T20:46:12Z")
Does loading up all the goats make the truck ride lower on its suspension and prevent the breaking of the bridge? Is the breaking prevented by preventing the top of the truck from impacting a portion of the bridge? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2005 "2017-11-13T22:01:32Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Does loading up all the goats make the truck ride lower on its suspension and prevent the breaking of the bridge? > > Is the breaking prevented by preventing the top of the truck from impacting a portion of the bridge? Yes, this is it. She was going under the bridge and loading up the goats made her suspension lower so she could go under. Done! ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2006 "2017-11-14T10:23:07Z")
Nice one. I’d heard of this one before, except the solution is to let the tyres down before proceeding - but still didn’t make the right logical leap to the answer! ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2007 "2017-11-14T13:59:58Z")
Spoiler Virgin: I didn’t know “rent control” was a thing until I saw it on a Law & Order episode, so it didn’t enter my mind at all. Sometimes it depends on the environment you live in. I remember taking an ASVAB test in high school, which was all “if gear A turns this way, which direction does gear B turn” questions. The last one was a picture of a quart of milk and a quart of cream, and the question asked which was heavier. I guess it was to identify who grew up on a farm. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2008 "2017-11-14T16:13:38Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Spoiler Virgin: I didn’t know “rent control” was a thing until I saw it on a Law & Order episode, so it didn’t enter my mind at all. Sometimes it depends on the environment you live in. I remember taking an ASVAB test in high school, which was all “if gear A turns this way, which direction does gear B turn” questions. The last one was a picture of a quart of milk and a quart of cream, and the question asked which was heavier. I guess it was to identify who grew up on a farm. I get it. Early on, **Mahaloth** asked a question about whether this was something that was common, and I said no. It’s funny that you mention Law & Order, because I was thinking of Law & Order when I generated this puzzle. I know they did several episodes in which rent control was a motive, but never one in which the murder was intended to get someone to move once they inherited from the victim. I think it would have made a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2009 "2017-11-16T09:57:12Z")
\*\*True Story: Colby Nolan did not have a resume that would impress most people. He had worked in a fast food restaurant, babysat, and like many boys wishing to earn money, he had a paper route. Not a poor work history by any means, but nothing outstanding. However Colby Nolan had a secret. Colby Nolan would go on to vastly over-achieve by the standards of conventional expectations for him. He became the first in his family to get a graduate degree, earning an MBA from Trinity Southern University in 2004 with a 3.5 GPA. Things looked bright indeed for Colby. But the story does not have a happy ending. Though he was healthy and active, Colby Nolan was unable to get a job after his secret life story (along with a nude picture of him) was published without his consent. This was the end for Colby. He never went into business or held any paying job ever again. Instead now that the secret was out he recused himself from life and never spoke to anyone about what had happened. He maintained this silence until his death just a couple of years ago. Colby had done nothing illegal or immoral. His health was perfect. He was sane. Yet after the articles were publisted, his career was effectively over. So what was this secret?\*\* ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2010 "2017-11-16T14:49:31Z")
So a nude picture was taken of him in a moral, non-health-related context? Does it show his genitals? Does it show him as a newborn? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2011 "2017-11-16T15:13:28Z")
Was Colby female? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2012 "2017-11-16T15:39:10Z")
Was Colby a transsexual or transvestite? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2013 "2017-11-16T15:49:55Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > So a nude picture was taken of him in a moral, non-health-related context? > > Does it show his genitals? > > Does it show him as a newborn? So a nude picture was taken of him in a moral, non-health-related context? YES Does it show his genitals? NO Does it show him as a newborn? NO ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2014 "2017-11-16T15:50:58Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Was Colby female? No. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2015 "2017-11-16T15:52:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Was Colby a transsexual or transvestite? No. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2016 "2017-11-16T17:22:51Z")
Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of who Colby’s parents were or what family he belonged to? Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of Colby’s race or ethnic heritage? Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of Colby’s religion or religious identity? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2017 "2017-11-16T17:25:01Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of who Colby’s parents were or what family he belonged to? No. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2018 "2017-11-16T17:26:03Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of who Colby’s parents were or what family he belonged to? > > Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of Colby’s race or ethnic heritage? > > Did the revelation of the secret history change the public’s understanding of Colby’s religion or religious identity? No to all. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2019 "2017-11-16T17:30:49Z")
Based on the dates and the age at which Colby died after a life of good health, was Colby human? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2020 "2017-11-16T17:34:28Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Based on the dates and the age at which Colby died after a life of good health, was Colby human? No. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=100) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=102)