On the 36, riding along the top of a grassy flood bank in pouring rain, with the grass soaking wet and long enough to be wetting my legs up to the knees. The surface of the path is invisible and I have plenty of UODs and soon I am tired.
Then the path dips down from the top of the flood bank towards my left, squeezes through a bushy patch of 3 foot high stinging nettles (about a metre) and then through a narrow gap in a thorn hedge before swinging back up onto the flood bank.
So I turn to the left and start the short descent. The track here is worn and muddy. I try to slow down. The TA tyre has no fore and aft grip and I start to slide.
Dilemma: pedal to regain my balance and carry some velocity into the stinging nettles, or sit tight and see what happens… the slide is long enough and slow enough for me to realise I have these options…
Then the wheel turns sideways (can a single-wheeled vehicle fishtail?) and I fall off backwards and sideways, swearing and laughing at the same time.
It’s only the third time I’ve fallen off backwards in 27 years of unicycling.
Despite this, an enjoyable ride, and not one daft comment, because no one else was out in the rain.