# 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:** 68
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1341 "2017-09-13T02:06:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Yes, they are alive. > > 2. No, nothing to do with cremation. Well, shit. Somebody probably asked this already and I just missed it, but: is the bus stop sign in English? ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1342 "2017-09-13T02:15:10Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > Well, shit. > > Somebody probably asked this already and I just missed it, but: is the bus stop sign in English? No, but it’s irrelevant to the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1343 "2017-09-13T02:27:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Yes > 2. Yes, it’s part of the full solution. > 3. It’s where they live, yes. > 4. Yes. Your answer to 3. Is interesting. The question was whether the destination was their home, but instead of just saying “Yes” you qualified it to say it is where they live. So I’m guessing they are living away from home. Is it: 1. A hospital? 2. A nursing home? 3. A prison? 4. A military establishment? ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1344 "2017-09-13T02:39:33Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > So I’m guessing they are living away from home. Is it: > > 1. A hospital? > 2. A nursing home? > 3. A prison? > 4. A military establishment? 1. No. 2. Yes. 3. No. 4. No. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1345 "2017-09-13T02:51:00Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. No. > 2. Yes. > 3. No. > 4. No. In that case did the staff put up a pretend bus stop to prevent dementia patients from boarding buses trying to go home? That actually happened when my mother was in the nursing home. One of the dementia patients got out and boarded a random bus (buses here are free for the aged), ending up miles away. It led to a full investigation and one of the nurses (who was really nice, and very dedicated) ended up being blamed and was demoted. Apparently the urge to “go home” is commonly very strong in dementia patients - my mother certainly had that urge. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1346 "2017-09-13T02:52:58Z")
Are they suffering from some sort of dementia? Do they think they are going home? To work? ETA: Just editing to acknowledge the ninjaing ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1347 "2017-09-13T02:56:54Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > 1. In that case did the staff put up a pretend bus stop to prevent dementia patients from boarding buses trying to go home? > > That actually happened when my mother was in the nursing home. One of the dementia patients got out and boarded a random bus (buses here are free for the aged), ending up miles away. It led to a full investigation and one of the nurses (who was really nice, and very dedicated) ended up being blamed and was demoted. > > Apparently the urge to “go home” is commonly very strong in dementia patients - my mother certainly had that urge. 1. Yes! It was originally just the one in Düsseldorf, but soon other nursing homes copied the idea. They found that dementia patients would want to leave. Once they got to the bus stop, they would stop and wait. The nursing home staff would pick them up(private transportation!) and take them back to the nursing home. [You can read about it here.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2071319/Fake-bus-stop-keeps-Alzheimers-patients-from-wandering-off.html) ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1348 "2017-09-13T05:29:50Z")
That was a good one **Mahaloth**! ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1349 "2017-09-13T13:58:19Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > That was a good one **Mahaloth**! Thanks. I have learned that it is impossible to predict what will be solved quickly and what will take a long time. Chronos is next. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1350 "2017-09-13T20:16:36Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > That was a good one **Mahaloth**! Seconded! Good on Mondegreen for spotting Mahaloth’s quasi-hedged answer about “home.” Since this thread is a game of sorts – I’d analogize to D&D or other role-playing games, where the game-runner wants to present a challenge but also wants the players to succeed – the issue of how to answer a question that presents an ambiguity is an interesting one. I like how Mahaloth balanced those twin goals in answering. Nicely played! ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1351 "2017-09-13T20:30:42Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > 1. Yes! > > It was originally just the one in Düsseldorf, but soon other nursing homes copied the idea. They found that dementia patients would want to leave. Once they got to the bus stop, they would stop and wait. The nursing home staff would pick them up(private transportation!) and take them back to the nursing home. > > [You can read about it here.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2071319/Fake-bus-stop-keeps-Alzheimers-patients-from-wandering-off.html) I don’t want to derail for more than a moment, but while we wait for the next question … This story is so moving on a ton of levels. Human ingenuity (let’s put up a fake bus stop!) battling human intellectual frailty (the decline into senility as we age). A solution to an emotional issue (the primal urge to go home) that is gentle and empathetic (the primal urge to care for the helpless). It’s happy and sad at the same time. Really loved learning about it. 🙂 ---
**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:** [September 13, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1352 "2017-09-13T23:54:11Z")
Wow, that takes me back to when I used to work at a hospital during high school summers. I used to take food to the nursing home next door, and occasionally I’d find some patients trying to sneak out. I wonder if they ever put a decoy bus stop in the parking lot? ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1353 "2017-09-14T01:45:39Z")
I have another, but I’ll wait another 24 hours for Chronos to post his. He did call next. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1354 "2017-09-14T01:57:31Z")
Sorry it took so long; it was a long day today (that doesn’t have anything to do with this puzzle). Here’s the puzzle: I ride my bicycle pretty much everywhere I go, and so I’ve been interested in how fast I go. I’ve found that I’m consistently slower than 55, and that’s fine. I’ve also found that, on average, I’m faster than 26… but at peak speed, I’m slower than 26, and that’s annoying. Lately, I’ve had reason to wonder whether I’m faster than 22, but I don’t know the answer to that yet. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1355 "2017-09-14T02:19:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I ride my bicycle pretty much everywhere I go, and so I’ve been interested in how fast I go. I’ve found that I’m consistently slower than 55, and that’s fine. I’ve also found that, on average, I’m faster than 26… but at peak speed, I’m slower than 26, and that’s annoying. Lately, I’ve had reason to wonder whether I’m faster than 22, but I don’t know the answer to that yet. Are the numbers referring to miles per hour? Are the numbers referring to km per hou? Are the numbers referring to speed at all? ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1356 "2017-09-14T02:21:25Z")
Are the numbers referring to miles per hour? No. Are the numbers referring to km per hou[r]? No. Are the numbers referring to speed at all? Yes. ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1357 "2017-09-14T02:21:42Z")
Do the numbers reference other vehicles? Other bikes? ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1358 "2017-09-14T02:25:21Z")
Do the numbers reference other vehicles? Yes. Other bikes? 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:** [September 14, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1359 "2017-09-14T04:44:02Z")
Is 22 a specific vehicle? In order for you to find out if you are faster than 22, do you have to do something more? Does 22 have to do something more? Has the speed of 22 not been established yet? Are the numbers something you see on the vehicles? Will the speed of 22 be reported somewhere? Is there a special reason you have just become interested in 22? We’re you aware of 22 before you became interested in the speed of 22? ---
**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:** [September 14, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868/1360 "2017-09-14T05:18:51Z")
Do the numbers refer to bus lines? Other service vehicles? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/53-bicycles-a-lateral-thinking-puzzle/790868.md?page=69)