Fall from... well, not grace
Back in my uni days when I couldn't afford to keep my car on the road at all times, there came a week where the weekly shop had to be done and all that was available for transport was a bicycle. Nothing fancy like a mountainbike, just a plain old (probably second-hand) city bike.

Having done the shop, my backpack overflowing (I was buying for 4 people and the shop probably weighed about 30kg) I was making my way home through the back streets. This was a safe course of action for me because I'm not the most confident cyclist on main roads at the best of times and the weight on my back was throwing my balance off... just a little bit. So I'm on the back road, my helmet dangling from my handlebars. In oz it is of course quite illegal not be helmeted when on a bike - if they had their way with 'public safety' we'd also be wearing knee and elbow pads, but I digress.

But I'm on the back roads in a quiet neighbourhood, no one is likely to care.

Until the police car pulled up to me. A young pair, both male, I managed to talk my way out of a ticket which I could ill afford. After cautioning me to always wear my helmet when riding I thanked them, put my helmet on, got on my bike... and, with the weight of the shopping on my back throwing my balance off completely, very slowly and gracefully toppled over onto the sidewalk.

At least I had my helmet on. Which they pointed out.
( Tiffany Aching 's bowl of oatmeal tried to stare her down and won, Fri 22 Jan 2010, 7:49, Reply)