There comes a day for those who dare walk outside after a wintry mix falls when they tumble tail over teakettle to the icy, cold ground. Not just a stumble or a slip, but a full-fledged wipeout. A pratfall. A faceplant. A day when man meets ice, and ice triumphs.

For Tim Besecker, a 49-year-old salesman from Ashburn, Va., that day was Tuesday. A widely shared security camera video shows Besecker venturing out of his home after a bout of freezing rain, then slipping and recovering — before sliding about 20 feet down his driveway to his front lawn, where he finally eats it.

This was an, ahem, epic fall.

Besecker launched into something that looked almost elegant — a moonwalk, maybe? — before finishing splayed on his hindquarters for all the block to see. Had his mailbox not stopped his progress, he may have ended up in the street, and this would have been the kind of story that includes the term “local hospital.”

“I was just going to work and the next thing I know I’m on a ride down my driveway,” he said.

Besecker’s wife, Kelly, posted the video to Facebook the day of the fall. It was the kind of thing that friends and family would laugh at. And, maybe, a few other people.

“I didn’t think 40 million people would check it out,” he said.

As of Friday, the Facebook video had been viewed 52 million times with nearly 1.2 million shares.

On Thursday, Besecker was grappling with the question the star of every lighthearted viral video must: Why are so many people enjoying your humiliating moment?

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