In nomine Pedalis et fenderii et Derailleur Sancti

Yesterday was Bike to Work Day. I walked to work instead of riding, because I didn't get around to checking out the bike parking situation at my office building in time. David, on the other hand, has been riding to work all month (they have a dedicated bike storage room at his office). But we met back home after work and then rode up to the Ballard neighborhood together (about five miles each way) to the Bike to Work After Party hosted by the Cascade Bicycle Club. They had a small street fair and a participating restaurant where they had happy hour specials and a drawing for cycling gear. (David won a cycling jersey and a $25 gift card for Rack n Road, a retailer of car racks for bikes and skis, etc...now I guess we have to buy a car to make use of that gift card.)

While we were in the restaurant, a downpour began, a really hard rainstorm of an intensity that's unusual for Seattle. So we ordered some food and waited it out. Sure enough, by the time we were ready to leave things had settled down to a more normal light rain, nothing to avoid riding in. It was significant, however, because while it wasn't the first time I've ever ridden in the rain, it was the first time I've ridden in the rain in Seattle (not too hard to believe given that I haven't been riding much at all since moving here). David called it my "Seattle bike baptism," and it was.