We’ve had such a long dry spell, I didn’t heed the slight chance of rain in today’s forecast. I didn’t pack rain gear for any of us and haven’t even thought about keeping our three seats dry while parked. Things started getting grey and misty while the bike was parked for a couple hours in a friend’s garage during a playdate, but the kids were game to stay out and kill time until the library opened.

We rode around Green Lake looking for a coffee shop with covered bike parking, but ended up exposed at Starbucks. I sort of covered the Yepp seat with a shopping bag and draped a blanket over the rest of the FlightDeck. It didn’t do any good and everything got wet when the rain kicked in. Fortunately, I have my BikeCap secured to my seat post so that was along for the ride and kept the most important seat dry (important because it’s fragile Brooks leather, not because it’s mine).

I wanted to go home and hide indoors, but the kids convinced me to stay true to my word and take them to the library. We circled the building looking for covered parking and decided the clump of trees in front of the building was the best bet. I’ve noticed bikes and dogs parked there in the past and now I know why. It didn’t keep the bike completely dry, but it was much better than being parked at the bike rack.

Again, I wanted to call it a day and head home, but we kept to our original plan and made a stop at Trader Joe’s. I’ve noticed sheltered bike racks deep in the parking garage, but the railing was somewhat covered by the overhang and there were way fewer bikes than normal parked there. I guess I’m not the only Seattleite turned off by today’s rain. And I still haven’t done any real plotting to deal with future rain.