This is pasted from my Miyata 610 build thread:

somewhere around 83-84, I was on my first (of 2) touring bike and I was taking a trip I did often. (mishap at end of story)
From south west Houston down to galveston was 55 miles, then another 8 miles to the state park. 3/4th of that last 8 miles was on a 12 foot high sea wall. When a hurricane snuck up on Galveston (1903??) and killed 2000 people, they raised the town 12 feet, making everyones first floor into the basement. The sea wall has a side walk about 7-8 feet wide and then a smooth strip of concrete about 8 inches wide right on the edge.
I would usually ride on that smooth edge because it was smooth as glass and because people stayed away from it and there was less traffic..
I would leave home on a Sat morning (on weekends with a bright moon) and set up camp and go straight to bed. I would then wake up in the middle of the night and have the park and beach all to myself with a full moon to see by.
The sand a few feet from the water that is wet and shiny is like solid concrete when riding bicycle on it. you can get to full speed riding there. I spend half my time just cruising on the shore. I spent the other half sipping vodka out of my 3rd water bottle. I then go back to bed and head home by sundown the next day.

OK, that is the context of my most common bike "tour".

One time, I was on a back road before the galveston bridge and I got a flat. No problem. I pull out the tube, ruff up the hole, open the rubber cement.... the cement is rock solid and I'm 10 miles from the nearest gas station in the rain. I stash the bike in the brush, put the tube over my shoulder and hike to the highway. I thumb a ride to a gas station and apply the glue but I forgot the patch. I thumb another ride back and apply the patch. all good and I'm back to touring.

Now the event that I started typing all this for...
I leave home on my first touring bike (this is a major reason there had to be a second bike).
I have an amazingly fast 55 mile ride to the sea wall because of a strong tail wind.
I park the bike and lean it on a street sign on the side walk. I walk down the steep stairs to the car sized rocks 12 feet down. I hear a seriously strong gust of wind and I look up at my bike. It all happened in slow motion. the bike slowly tilted over and flipped right off the top of the wall. The wave went away and the bike SMASHED on the rocks upside down smashing the speedometer, bending the handlebars, breaking the rear rack, dumping the handlebar bag. it falls over sideways and lands. then the wave comes back and buries everything in salt water.
I drug everything I could find to the top of the wall and rung out as much of the water as I could. I take an incredibly heavy 8 mile ride to the park and hang everything up to dry. My mom was out with a friend and just happened to stop in and see me 3-4 hours later. I pack everything I didn't absolutely need in her trunk and suffered thru it. It's fun when everything goes right, but when everything goes wrong, it makes you feel really good to make it work anyway. I limped home (with a strong head wind this time) with bent handlebars because I didn't want to give up and ride home with mommy. the worst part was the wet sleeping bag.