There was a storm that went through the area on Saturday that prompted the first tornado warning in western Washington since something like 1996. I rode right through it, as it was between me and home. On my way south down to Seward Park, I picked up a few sprinkles early on as I skirted the line of clouds slowly moving in from the north. But after turning around to head back to Ballard, it was clear that dark and ominous cloud line would not be moving out of my way.
When the rain started, it was a heavy rain, much more like a Florida thunderstorm than what we typically get out here. Then it got heavier. And turned to hail. And then it got even heavier. It was coming down so fast there was an inch of water on the road, not just in the gutters, but across the whole road. I just put on my rain jacket and kept going. And within about 10 minutes, I had passed through it and there was bright sunshine.
The transitional seasons of Spring and Fall always make me feel alive. Sure, summer's great, with day upon day of great riding weather beckoning me to go for a ride. But the sudden and dramatic changes that happen here on a minute to minute basis in the Fall just fill me with a feeling of being alive.
