It happened like this:
It was another lovely day in Oxford, and I had the day off, so I decided to hop on my favourite possession and head up the Thames today, rather than along the canal like I did yesterday. I came to one part where the path was very narrow and close to the bank, and I remember thinking on my first time past "wow, it would be really easy to fall in along here." I made it past all right, but on my way back, I wasn't so lucky. I'm not sure if I hit a root or a rut or what happened, but the next thing I knew, I was on my ass in the water, leaning back on my hands (think of the 'crab walk' position). At first all I could do was laugh at the irony of it all. It became a little less funny when I realized that my feet were stuck in the mud and would take some careful pulling to remove them with my shoes still on my feet. After about a minute of careful manoeuvring, I managed to crawl out of the swampy bank and retrieve my folding bike as well. I spent the next 5 minutes or so just laughing at my own misfortune. It's a shame that it was in such a rural part of town, because there was no one to share my laughter with (although I did get a few peculiar looks when I returned to civilization). So, all's well that ends well, however I'm probably going to have to purchase a new pair of shoes sometime soon.
The upside of this whole adventure (though not that the above was particularly a downside) was that I found my favourite place in all of Oxfordshire, and possibly, all of the world! It's an old tree that has fallen over an offshoot of the Thames and it is perfect for sitting/laying on. I took pictures of it and have posted them below...I think I'm going to end up spending a significant chunk of my summer here....
There it is!
This is the view as you approach
And this is me on top
(note the clean shoes and trousers...they are not currently those colours at all...)
1 comment:
Now cycling ON the Thames at this time of year would be really impressive !
Post a Comment