I would like to re-emphasize the seemingly innocuous "puddle". be it winter or midsummer puddles can conceal a myriad of dangers.

This past summer I had a rather serious crash at walking speed- thank goodness I had slowed to a crawl. I was in La Jolla, where it hadn't rained in months. We got an afternoon of rain and that night I took a ride down to the beach for a swim. On the ride home, on my folding bike, there was a large puddle at the base of a steep hill. I rode slowly into the puddle where it eventually got to the depth of my hub when suddenly my front wheel disappeared entirely into a deep ditch pitching me forward over the handlebars. I smashed my wrist, chin and split my helmet in half.

not fun.