# 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:** 146
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2902 "2018-05-15T17:11:20Z")
So, did the whole crew suddenly find it a good time to take a swim, just to realize there was nobody left at the helm? And then see the vessel, caught by a sudden breeze, disappear in the far? ---
**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:** [May 15, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2903 "2018-05-15T20:15:36Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Was this event the inspiration for a movie? Not that I know of. > [@Ignotus](#): > > So, did the whole crew suddenly find it a good time to take a swim, just to realize there was nobody left at the helm? And then see the vessel, caught by a sudden breeze, disappear in the far? No. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2904 "2018-05-15T20:32:50Z")
So we can rule out [Open Water 2: Adrift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Water_2:_Adrift), then. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2905 "2018-05-15T20:38:35Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > No. But did they all willingly abandon ship, whether for good reasons or bad? Or were they swept overboard by some external power? ---
**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:** [May 15, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2906 "2018-05-15T20:51:50Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > So we can rule out [Open Water 2: Adrift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Water_2:_Adrift), then. I don’t know that the movie is based on my incident, but that has so much of it, it has to count. No sharks eating them, though. The guys who sailed the ship went for a swim, but did not lower the swim ladder. No other way back on was available. Yacht too smooth to climb up and no way to find hand-holds and get on. They drowned. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2907 "2018-05-15T21:25:42Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > So, did the whole crew suddenly find it a good time to take a swim, just to realize there was nobody left at the helm? And then see the vessel, caught by a sudden breeze, disappear in the far? > [@Mahaloth](#): > > No. This was also close, apart from the breeze bit. The answer should have been “Almost” rather than No. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2908 "2018-05-15T21:28:21Z")
Gee, that’s a truly horrible way to earn a Darwin Award! So close to salvation, and yet so far… (Could it explain the _Mary Celeste_ case? But I guess not; sailors back then weren’t much for leisurely swimming!) ---
**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:** [May 15, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2909 "2018-05-15T21:51:42Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Gee, that’s a truly horrible way to earn a Darwin Award! Yes, I can not imagine the frustration realizing that you can not get back on. The scrambling/scratching on the side of the ship. Knowing your own stupidity caused this. Perhaps…watching one by one as buddies drown. :shudders: ---
**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:** [May 16, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2910 "2018-05-16T23:05:46Z")
**Germany had to outlaw something “American” due to deaths. Very strange situation. What did they outlaw and what was so strange?** ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2911 "2018-05-17T02:21:42Z")
Anything to do with: Guns? Entertainment? - Movies? Food? - Apple pie? Vehicles? Is it a: Cultural practice? Physical object/something with physical form? Was it Germans doing the thing that was outlawed? Or Americans, such as military stationed in Germany? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2912 "2018-05-17T05:44:46Z")
Were the deaths human? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2913 "2018-05-17T12:36:36Z")
Did the “American” thing actually come from any part of North or South America? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2914 "2018-05-17T13:34:50Z")
> [@walken after midnight](#): > > anything to do with: > > Guns? Yes and no(possibly, i guess) > entertainment? No > > - movies? No > food? No > - apple pie? No > vehicles? No > > is it a: > > Cultural practice? Yes > physical object/something with physical form? No > > was it germans doing the thing that was outlawed? Yes > or americans, such as military stationed in germany? No > [@biotop](#): > > were the deaths human? yes > [@peter morris](#): > > did the “american” thing actually come from any part of north or south america? 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:** [May 17, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2915 "2018-05-17T14:46:22Z")
We’re the deaths mostly young people? Did the deaths involve doing something most reasonable people would consider stupid to do? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2916 "2018-05-17T16:02:39Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > We’re the deaths mostly young people? I DON"T KNOW. What’s young? > > Did the deaths involve doing something most reasonable people would consider stupid to do? Yes, I think so. KK ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2917 "2018-05-17T17:49:52Z")
Young as in Toddlers? Schoolchildren? Teens? Twenty-somethings? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2918 "2018-05-17T19:30:56Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Young as in > > Toddlers? NO > Schoolchildren? NO > Teens? NO > Twenty-somethings? YES. OLDER, TOO. KK ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2919 "2018-05-17T21:38:58Z")
Did it involve sex? ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2920 "2018-05-17T23:29:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Did it involve sex? 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:** [May 17, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/2921 "2018-05-17T23:36:32Z")
Is Germany important for any other reason? Could this have happened in, say, France? Is Germany the only place where deaths for the reason outlawed have happened? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=145) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=147)