Preparing for PALM: A Guide

Mark is right: Spring is Here! Both literally and figuratively. Today's almost 80 degree day had many of us playing hooky from work and out on our bikes.

For those of you who have signed up for PALM, have not yet been on your bikes, and have never participated in a multi-day ride, you may be asking yourself: How do I get physically ready for PALM?

PALM is geared toward families and beginners and the daily mileages reflect that. However, how easy the ride will be for you, and especially how much you enjoy yourself, can be directly proportional to how well you prepare.

As we continue to stress, the first thing you should do is to be sure your bike is in good working order. If you don’t know much about how to work on your own bike, take it to your local bike shop. While there, ask them to check if the bike is properly setup for you. Have them look at the seat height, tilt, and fore-aft position, as well as the handlebar position to be sure everything is set up as best as possible for you when you sit on the bike. Remember that these are starting positions and as you ride you may want to make additional adjustments. Ask the shop what adjustments affect what so you might be able to do them yourself.

Now that your bike is ready for you, you need to get ready for your bike. There is no magic involved here. It basically comes down to spending as much time in the saddle as possible. Start riding as soon as the weather permits. Try to ride at least 3 times a week. How far for each ride is up to you, but in the beginning, try for at least 10 miles. After 2 weeks, add 5 to 10 miles to each ride. Again, after a few weeks add another 5 to 10 miles per ride. Continue this gradual building up until you get to at least one 50-mile ride each week right up to PALM.

The “secret” is to not only build up your muscles and aerobic capacity, but to become comfortable in the riding position and especially the saddle. Everyone, even Lance Armstrong, gets a sore posterior. Remember, PALM is not a race. Take a “butt break” every 15 minutes or so while riding by standing up on the pedals and stretching. Get off the bike for a few minutes every 10 to 20 miles. Take in the sights along the way. Stop for lunch or to do some shopping.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Spring is officially here

You may not have noticed, but spring officially arrived on March 20. On March 13, it reached 70 degrees. It was your Florida vacation if you didn't get a chance. Hopefully by now you have taken your bike in for a tuneup and checkout and have it back. Have you taken advantage of the warmer weather? You still can't ride every day but there are days you can and you need to take advantage. My personal cutoff is 50 degrees: any day over 50 I can ride. I wear a lot of clothes, but I can ride.

Because daylight savings had started, I was able to ride March 13. And because it was over 50 degrees (65!), I was able to ride on Saturday. Since I live in Michigan, every year in the spring, I have to start biking all over again. I run in the winter, but running is not biking. In the spring I'm tired after a 20 mile ride even at a relaxed pace. And how many more weeks is it to the PALM? My goal is to ride 3 days a week. In the beginning I'm really just practicing sitting on a bicycle seat. I try to do 20 miles, but hey. Later I'll try to make one of the rides a long one. Every year I try to do 50 miles at the Metro Grand which occurs on the first Sunday of May. (One year it was 43 degrees and pouring rain. I didn't ride that year. I saw some of the riders coming in. They were poster children for hypothermia.) Wish me luck!

Three weeks after the cutoff date and we are still processing applications. I sent out the 660th confirmation letter today. I'm supposed to get applications to finish for another 60 people in the next couple of days and we have another 22 people whose applications have errors. (Hey, wait, wasn't the cutoff 700 riders?) We've had to return with regrets the applications of 150 riders. We may not have been fast but we've been busy.

Registration for PALM 2007 is closed

I've been on staff for 8 years. Last year was the first time that we ever hit the 700 participant cutoff before May 1, the date cutoff. Last year we were caught off guard and ended up registering over 800 people. This year we were a little better prepared: we posted updated registration counts on the website and the blog to warn people about how many people were registering. Since the schools are smaller this year, we were monitoring the counts more closely. Anything much over 700 will impact the quality of this year's ride. We have received applications from more than 750 people and it is time to close registration. We will start returning checks with letters of regret shortly. We've been dating when we've received applications. It looks like if we've received your application by March 1, you are on the ride.

So far we have mailed out 486 confirmation letters. That means that we have over 200 applications that we haven't finished processing yet. Some of these applications have errors so we can't finish processing them (even though they will be on the ride). Still we are way behind. If you've mailed your application before February 23, you are virtually certain of being on the ride. (We go off of when we received your application, not the postmark. Most of the time you can't read the postmark.) If you mailed in your application after that, the longer it is before you hear from us, the better your chances are. Believe me, everyone who is doing the registration and everybody who is on staff for PALM feels bad about turning down anyone who wants to be on PALM.

Winter is over, what about your bike?

For me winter ends when the first spring training game is broadcast and you can hear Ernie Harwell say "For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land". That was on March 1, so I'm a little late. Now is a good time to take you bike in for a tune up, now when weather is still bad. A trip to the mechanic save you grief on the PALM (or any ride) later. PALM does have bike shops accompanying the tour. They have lots of parts and charge very reasonable rates. But they most likely they won’t be where you are when you break down so you’ll have to be sagged to where they are. They set up at the sites and do repairs at night, but you will be in line with everybody else who didn’t get their bike looked at. Think about it. Take your bike in now.

I followed my own advice and took my bike in last Saturday. It’s being worked on now. Of course, it’s 70 outside now too. It looks like the official end of winter is not the only thing I’m a little late on. Fortunately I have another bike. It’s a mountain bike and it’s heavy, but that’s what I get for being late. It has knobbies and maybe that’s a good thing.

What kind of bike is best for PALM?

Well, it’s now March, daytime temperatures are rising, and Daylight Savings Time goes into effect this weekend, which means more daylight to ride after work. For those that are planning on riding on PALM, spring fever is close at hand.

Along with training, some of you are contemplating new bikes. Whether it’s because last year you realized your department store bike was not the best, your college ten-speed is worn out, or you’ve been planning on a new bike for a few years, the question always come up: “What kind of bike is best?”

I am asked this question every year both before and during PALM. This really boils down to personal opinion and discussions can become quite heated between proponents of any one bike design. While I do have my own personal opinion, I believe there is no clear-cut answer. The best I can some up with is: “The bike you feel most comfortable on.”

Every bike has its good and bad points. A hybrid or mountain bike may have a nice, comfortable, upright riding position and fat tires for a smooth ride. However, that same upright position causes a lot of wind resistance and the wider tires cause more rolling resistance.

A road bike is lighter and has a more aerodynamic riding position, but some people cannot take the bent-over position for hours at a time and its narrower tires make it more prone to road hazards.

Recumbents can overcome some of the problems with both types of upright bikes, but have issues of their own such as slow speed stability and costing significantly more than a standard bike.

Each bike type has its strengths, weaknesses and purpose. Personally, I own at least one of each.
Except for a trike, and I’ve got to fix that.