(Mis)adventures

Today I fell in the canal.

The day started so well. It was good weather, after almost incessant rain over the weekend. L was off riding and after watching the Tour de France over the last few days I decided to get the bike out of the shed. Not for me the adventurous climbs of the Col d’Iseran in the alps, I plumped for the benign pathways of the local canal system.

It was all very pleasant, warm, sunny and refreshing with the breeze created by my efforts. I’d taken care on the ramp approaches to the bridges crossing the canal, but other than that I felt able to take in the surrounding countryside as it passed by. I don’t know what had caused me to wonder about falling off, perhaps the deep rutted sections of towpath and the predominance of large banks of nettles encroaching on some sections of the path.

Suddenly, the front wheel twisted below me, possibly a hidden branch in the grass, then the rear wheel fish-tailed. Almost in slow motion I realised I was going to fall. An instantaneous thought that I might just be able to land on the narrow strip of grass before the canal bank was quickly extinguished as the bike tilted over. I was going in!

I rolled over, my back hitting the water first. It’s amazing how much detail you take in with such situations. I went under but immediately touched the shallow bottom of silt. I righted myself, grabbed for the bank and hauled myself out in double quick time. Nothing broken, hurt pride was the least of my worries, I was alone and no one had been able to ‘enjoy’ my misfortune. I stood on the edge of the bank sodden, duckweed on various parts of my head and body (see extra).

It’s at times like these I’m minded by my good blip friend and her gratefuls each day. I’ve decided to add mine for this little incident, so I can look on the bright side of misfortune:

- that my bike stayed on the towpath with my camera and phone safely dry.
- that I had a soft landing, rather than the alternative of falling the other way into a large bank of nettles and concrete wall
- that I had the presence of mind to realise I couldn’t get any wetter and that continuing my ride rather than heading straight home should allow my clothes to dry out (a little bit).