I had a very unpleasant experience Friday before last. It was a fine bright day and I was out with my cameras, riding the little lanes in the Sussex weald. There'd been a very light frost in the morning, but the day had fined up nicely - blue skies and temperatures of about 8-9ºC . It was mid-morning, I was coming down a steep hill - about a 25% grade - and discovered to my horror and amazement that it was all sheet ice, thanks - as I learned later - to unfortunate combination of the hill's being in an intense frost hollow, deep in shade and with a broken water pipe which kept a year-round sheen of water on the pavement. (The broken pipe is, apparently, an on-going bone of contention between a farmer and the council with both claiming its the other's responsibility to repair it) I came down hard. Nothing broken thankfully - not on me, or the bike, or my cameras - but I've been quite stiff, bruised and battered and off the bike for the past week. My shoulders and ribs are still not right. On the bright side, I met a lovely old couple who came rushing out of their house, took me in and gave me a cup of tea - and filled me in on the backstory of the ice on the hill. So - some hard won knowledge of local conditions....