Shorter days, colder nights, crisper mornings. The end of Washington's glorious motorcycle riding season is coming. Please be careful when riding on the wet roads that we will soon see much more than we want to. As it hasn't rained in a long time, oil, coolant, and transmission fluid float to the surface when the first big rains hit. I was reminded of this when downtown Seattle some weeks ago after the first big rain of the summer; the pavement was extremely slippery when I stopped for a stoplight. It takes a few days of rain for this muck to wash off, so please be careful. Your braking distances are reduced, and car drivers are not necessarily going to account for that when driving around motorcyclists. Prevent an accident when riding your bike in the wet: Treat those brakes gently, add braking distance, and, as always, look out for distracted cagers.