hideous. temperature 0 but dense freezing rain in a headwind over 20kph with gusts up to 35, and several inches of powdery snow/ice everywhere since it started snowing 8 hours before i left. my mars taillight went completely toes-up - fortunately before i mounted it and rode merrily off thinking it was still working. i have taken a scunner to blackburn the size of which would harrow your soul, if i had the strength to express one-tenth of it. i replaced the batteries and then replaced the blinkie, which involved removing one bracket and remounting a different one in the exposed bike cage before i set out. i got as far as the bridge, and then i gave up. i couldn't keep my eyes open against the rain, couldn't see anything when i did, and was getting direct eyeball hits even with them closed to mere slits. was getting a bit scared about myself whenever i thought of walking over the bridge, so i just went into a starbucks and had a hot chocolate, phoned my kid to reassure him i was alive, and (eventually) caught a series of buses over the bridge and up the hill. i rode about a kilometre home from there. with the wind at my back it was actually pretty pleasant. i am going to be so glad when it just goes back to raining all day.

the woman in the starbucks was so horrified she wouldn't take money for the hot chocolate. half of me thinks she was right, the other half is disappointed about that wind. it might have been a nice ride without it.