La Chute

So.

Will, you’ll be happy to know that lately, I bike everywhere. Europe is the most amazing place in the world for people who like to bike, there are special bike lanes marked in green on almost every main road, and one Wednesday per month they encourage everyone to travel by bus or by foot or by velo if they possibly can (which is code for “they egg your car”). So tomorrow, and the day after, when the weather is supposed to work in my favor, I will be biking to school. It’s not too close, not too far, the hills are hard, but it’s gratifying. Basically, it kicks ass. I love biking.

But not all experiences that happen on bikes. Oh my. Let’s see. I’m going to give this to you flat out:

My bike and I, we fell into a river today. A deep canal. In the middle of the day. Not on purpose.

And then I got lost.

How about that?

You want some back-story? There is a dirt road here, in Rennes, which runs along a river called La Villaine. The road (it’s more of a strip) is called le Quai d’Auchel. It’s mostly used by pedestrians, but it’s nice for biking during hours when the traffic is a little heavier, or if you’re in the mood for a simpler trip. And it’s less confusing, so my host mother thought it would be better than the main roads, at least in the beginning. For the most part, this little strip of dirt is fine. Not too bumpy, not too thin, mostly flat, easy to follow. But it runs right next to and a few meters below the level of a main road, called le Quai de la Prevalave. Every now and then there’s a staircase leading from the Prevalave to the dirt path, and it’s then that the strip thins out, and there’s maybe a foot and a half of passable space for twenty meters or so. There are three of four of these sections along the trail, which is probably a mile and a half, all in all. The last set of stairs caught me slightly unawares. My host mother was riding in front of me, and she was fine, and she called out, over her shoulder, “Ne tombe pas dans l’eau!” as something of a joke, and I was looking up at her after she said it because I hadn’t really heard, and then my front wheel hit a rock, so the bike veered to the left, and then right away hit the wall, and so it bounced back to the right, and of course to the right is a foot of dirt and then, La Villaine. So there I went, right over the edge, bike and all.

It was sweet.

The bike dropped right to the bottom, thank god I wasn’t tangled in it. The fall itself was rather graceful, if I do say so myself. But the bottom was like 13 feet away. So there was no hope for the bike, as far as I was concerned. My mother ran to lift me out right away, everything was fine. I was only in the water for maybe 20 seconds. But I came out sopping wet, and covered in weird canal crap, and completely unable to remember French. At all. Three guys were walking in our direction when it happened, and after they saw that I was okay, we were all laughing hysterically at my little mishap. Real, hysteric laughter. It was unbelievable. I FELL IN A RIVER ON A BIKE.

So then Annie said that she would call Philippe and the fire department about the bike, but that I should take her bike and ride home to shower and change. But of course, I shouldn’t follow the river again.

So I did, I left her there, and took the Prevalave towards Cleunay, our little district. And I got completely lost.

So here I am, dripping wet and covered in river crap, freezing to death and unable to speak French because my brain, and all of our plans for the day, decided to stay in the river with the bike, and I don’t recognize anything. All the bus stops I’m passing have unfamiliar numbers, I can’t remember the nave of the street off of which I live, and ever car that drives by feels like the wind of death. Of course, I practically gave myself a heart attack worry about whether I could actually ride a bike. And this time I would fall into the street, if I lost control.

So all in all, I was a mess.

A mess.

But it all turned out alright, of course. I am stronger than I thought, and after I stopped for a few minutes to reflect on what a dumbass I am, I pulled myself together and remembered that I do know some French, and found out that my neighborhood was just a stone’s throw from where I was wandering aimlessly. Covered in river crap.

And that’s the story.

But all in all, it was sort of… interesting.

I learned to watch out for stones. And I could feel it in my bones that no matter what, it could always become worse.

Alright, I’m exhausted, and tomorrow, I bike to school.

Goodnight all, and watch out for big rocks and tight spaces.

I missed you especially today.

Until Next Time, if at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

COUNTDOWN to return: 267 days

PS: I think tomorrow, after school, I try gymnastics. Think flexible thoughts.

PPS: I didn't realize I had the posting comments stuff all messed up. It's enabled for anonymous comments now. Sorry about that, guys. And for you who made blogs, you rock my world, and I hope you update them so I can check in!!!!