Stop the Sphinx?

We're taking up Oedipus the King in class tomorrow. Here's the riddle that made Oedipus the hero and king of Thebes. After Oedipus gave the correct answer the Sphinx destroyed himself, as he promised:


The riddle: What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening? Oedipus solved the riddle, and the Sphinx destroyed herself. 


What was Oedipus's answer?

Are we not like Oedipus? Not in the Freudian sense that we desire our mothers and seek to kill our fathers (vice versa if you're female?) - although there is some potential traction in our sexual obsessions, and our disdain for the wisdom of the elders - but in the sense that we relentlessly pursue an answer that, once faced honestly, may cause us to despair and wander aimlessly. Or perhaps we are there already, busy masking the despair with our distracted clicks, plays, and resets?

The ride in:         Temp -3'C Wind NW 5 ks

The ride home:   Temp 1'C Wind WSW 5 ks