I've had a few bad days on the road here is a one I was just remided of.
While touring down the Brest to Nantes Canal towpath one fine February afternoon, I was heading south when the towpath turned into water. Well the water wasn’t too deep so I just kept going. This went on for a while until finally I hit some slippery mud and the bike went down and I flew over the handlebars head first into the canal. I had a hard time climbing up the muddy shore and I was soaking wet and covered in mud I was also getting very cold. I pushed the bike along the towpath until it became terra firma and than continued to ride until I found shelter under some sort of roadside chapel which had a giant concrete cross rocketing off towards the heavens! I striped down naked and dried myself off put on clean dry cloths and tried to wind dry my jacket. Meanwhile two French truck drivers were parked at the same spot eating their lunch and watching me and they didn’t seemed a bit interested in what I was doing.
You can have a look at what the canal looks like here. In winter it was a wonderful solitary ride which I would highly recommend.
Gordon P
http://home.versatel.nl/mouringh.Mar...sBrest_eng.htm