Winter in Michigan

I once worked with a guy who told me that the Michigan state color was Overcast. That is the best one word description of what winter is like in Michigan. Compared to the rest of the Midwest it's not really that cold and, on the east side if the state where I live, it doesn't really get that much snow. But you don't get to see the sky or daylight very much. Winter makes biking a 7-8 month activity. This year I didn't bike at all in November and the only ride in December was one on the Pinellas Trail in Florida. I'm not sure I can count that one. Any ride where you pass both Christmas decorations and oranges on a trees seems bogus.

Well, what can you do bikewise in Michigan in the winter? One thing, if you live in SE Michigan, is to ride the 1st Dozen on January 1st in Dearborn, put on by the Cycling Saddlemen. About 150-200 people who look like the Michelin man do it most every year. One year they played "The Ride of the Valkaries" as we rode off. Another thing is to be sure that you are on the mailing list for the PALM. Then, at the end of January, when all hope is gone and all memory of anything but mittens and down jackets has faded away, there appears in your mailbox a PALM application and the promise of Summer. Even though all you see is tundra, the days are getting longer. (Click here to email us your mailing address.)

PALM 2008 Begins For Me

We've already had three meetings on PALM 2008, picked a route, contacted the schools, and laid out a tentative route but for me the work for PALM began last Thursday. Other staff members are working on sites and doing the route. My wife and I do the registration and that starts with the application. Last Thursday I met with the printer and went over the changes that were needed for this year's application. If you've looked at the web site (http://www.lmb.org/palm) , you know that the registration rates have gone up: it's now $110 for adults (18 and over), $65 for young people ( 11 thru 17), $55 for children (10 and under), and $75 for non-riders. The bus fees have gone up to $45. It ends up that even though we sold out the last 2 years, we lost money both years, last year more than the year before. Our costs have gone up and, with no reasonable prospect of their going down, we had no choice.

Again, if you've checked the web site you'll notice that this year's PALM is a southern route. New Buffalo to Dowagaic, Sturgis, Coldwater, Hudson, Tecumseh and ending at Sterling State Park in Monroe. This year's ride will be shorter than last year's. (We checked and found that last year's PALM was the longest six day PALM that we've ever had. No wonder I was so tired after the ride.) For those of you that do the optional century ride, we are trying to route one that will include Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.




And we will have a ride jersey this year. (We didn't have one last year and we heard about it.) It will be $40 and must be ordered by April 1st. It will be part of the application.

This year's application will have a new release form. While it will require a smaller font (oh, those clever lawyers), it should be clearer which signatures are required for participants under the age of 18, with or without accompanying guardian/parents, and where to make the signatures. Given the questions and mistakes that we had last year, the wording that we had was not clear enough.

We will be mailing our applications 1st class (as always) so that everyone receives their application at the same time (within a day or two). We won't be putting the application onto the website until 2 weeks after we do the mailing. If you check the rider statistics on our web site, you will see that we have a lot of riders over 50 some of whom have ridden with us for years. Some of us are not friends with the internet and we want to give them a fair chance. (Last year the ride sold out in six weeks which caught a lot of people off guard.) If you want to get on the mailing list and get this 2 week head start, email us at palmbiketour@yahoo.com