Demographics for PALM 2007

I did some breakdowns for PALM 2007 based on the 729 people that we have registered so far. Since we have 22 people whose applications have problems, these statistics are not complete.

Age Range / Counts

• 0 to 9: 31
• 10 to 19: 165
• 20 to 29: 25
• 30 to 39: 34
• 40 to 49: 98
• 50 to 59: 171
• 60 to 69: 142
• 70 to 79: 52
• 80 & over: 10

There are several things here that may surprise you but are typical for PALM. Notice the large number of people between 10 and 19. We encourage family biking and this is traditionally the first or second largest age group. Notice the number of 20 to 29 year olds is smaller than the kids under 10 and that the number of 20 to 39 year olds is less than the people 70 and over. This shows a couple of things: (1) biking is a great exercise for the long haul and (2) PALM is not an Olympic event but, at an average daily distance of 50 miles, is something within the range of everybody.


Number of PALMs/Counts

• 1 PALM: 255
• 2 PALMs: 149
• 3 PALMs: 86
• 4 PALMs: 36
• 5 PALMs: 44
• 6 PALMs: 18
• 7 PALMs: 24
• 8 PALMs: 23
• 9 PALMs: 8
• 10 PALMs: 9
• 11 - 15 PALMs: 43
• 16 - 20 PALMs: 21
• 21 - 25 PALMs: 13

A look at the number of PALMs that people have done shows other interesting things. For one, about 35% of the people on the ride are doing the PALM for the first time. This is typical. Last year we did a survey and found that one sixth of our riders have never done a week long bike tour. This is not surprising: we encourage first timers. The median number of PALMs is two, ie, if you add first two totals, it is over 50 % of our total participants. But notice that whole lot of people have done a whole lot of PALMs. As part of last year's survey, we asked people how they heard about PALM. 80% of people said that they heard about PALM either from a friend or from a PALM rider. There is something about PALM that brings a lot of people back over and over and makes them recommend PALM to people they know.

Top 10 Cities/Counts

• Ann Arbor: 35
• Harrison Twp: 30
• Battle Creek: 16
• Warren: 13
• Grand Rapids: 12
• Royal Oak: 12
• Tecumseh: 12
• Ooltewah, TN: 11
• Fort Wayne, IN: 10
• Sterling Heights: 10

This year PALM riders come from 242 cities. They are mostly from small towns all around Michigan. Typically Ann Arbor tops the list. Why? Because PALM started off in Ann Arbor and most of the staff originally came from there. This is no longer the case. This year the St. Hubert's youth group is riding PALM and that's why Harrison Twp is second. PALM often hosts groups and family reunions. Last year 4 generations of the same family rode the PALM.