Happy Holidays

Hope everyone had a happy holiday. I got to catch up with lots of my family and friends. Hasn't the weather been bizarre the last week, even by Michigan standards? On the Friday before Christmas we get 10 inches of snow. Then Sunday it goes down to 3 degrees with a wicked wind. More snow on Tuesday, followed by lots of rain on Christmas Eve. The Saturday after Christmas it goes up t0 56 degrees, all the snow melts and we have flood warnings. And winter is just starting. How can January top this?

The good news is that the part that was backordered for my mountain bike came in and I have it back, in time for the 1st Dozen ride on January 1. I checked the weather: no snow, but 26 degrees. I tried to ride one cold 1st Dozen using long fingered bike gloves. Bad mistake. My hands froze. It was painful. Now I use the same thinsulate winter gloves that I usually wear outside. It's fun to see what everyone wears. Generally riders wear so many clothes that if they fall, they can roll to the finish. I have friends who used to live in the condos by the start. The first year that they were there, they watched several hundred people unload bikes New Year's Day and wanted to know what was happening. And then the mayor of Dearborn showed up and everyone started to bike to the "Ride of the Valkyries". It made quite an impression.

I'm keeping the PALM mailing list. There are over 3100 people on it so far and I'm still adding new names. It's not too late to get on it. Just email us your home address and we'll send you a PALM application by 1st class mail. It's the quickest way to get a PALM application since the application won't be on the PALM website until a week after the applications are mailed.

Into the winter

We had a long, long fall this year. We didn't get a blast of cold weather to warn us of what was coming and then Indian Summer so that we could be grateful for what we had. Instead we got all the warm weather at once (it was in the 70's all thru October well into November) and then all of the cold. I put off harvesting all my greens until the start of December. I pulled the plants out of the ground on the last day before they would have been frozen there until spring. I did cook and freeze some so that I can have a little summer in January.

I try to ride my bike every month of the year. November was not a problem and since the 1st Dozen in Dearborn is on January 1, January looks OK. December however... I run outside to stay in shape. Yesterday I ran when it was 19 degrees and I froze. It wasn't even windy. I'm weak. I'm usually good until around 5. Of course a lot of clothes are involved.

My point is that now that it is really winter you have probably forgotten all about spring and summer. This is a mistake. The PALM application comes in the mail to you in the 3rd week of January, before the Super Bowl even. You may not believe it. You may put it aside. Be strong. Have faith. Read that application. You will be riding your bike again. Sign up now. A little secret - all you need to do is send in enough to cover the registration to reserve a spot on PALM. You can send in the money to cover meals and buses (if you want them) later. (I shouldn't tell you this since I work registration and it's more work, but these trying times. We all need help.) Get out the sun screen and fill out that application!

How to get on PALM

Ellie Knesper, the person who answers all the PALM email and phone calls, has been getting questions about PALM applications almost every day. I'm going to tell you how to get on PALM. Don't look for the application on the PALM web site. I'm in charge of the web site and I don't put the application on the site right away. I do it a week or so after the applications are mailed out. Why? Because a lot of our riders, especially ones who have done PALM a lot, are older and have not made friends with the Web. I want to give them a fair chance.

What can you do? The way to get on PALM is to get on our mailing list. Then you will be mailed a PALM application by 1st class mail. (Why 1st class? Because then everybody gets the application at the same time, within a day or 2. Then everyone has the same chance.) Don't worry about me selling your email address to Canadian pharmceutical companies. This is a low tech operation. Just look at our web site. I'm one of those older PALM riders who have done PALM a lot. Email us your home address and we'll put you on the mailing list. I'll also email you when the ride is getting close to filling up.

I am proofing the application now. It should be mailed out sometime in the week of January 18. I'll post the exact date of the mailing on the web site and here. If you are on the mailing list (and all past PALM riders are on the mailing list) and you haven't received your application by Jamuary 25, email us right away and I'll email you one.

Last year we mailed out the applications on January 25 and the ride was filled by February 19 (my sister's birthday). This year with the uncertain economy, who knows. But we have filled up early the last three years and, at $110 with $75 more for 2 meals a day, PALM is an awful cheap vacation.

Cycling Safety

It’s a little over four weeks until we are all making our final preparations to leave for PALM.

As you train for PALM, please keep the following in mind:

Helmets - Always wear your helmet when on your bike, even in your driveway. Your helmet should sit straight on your head.

Always ride on the right and as far to the right as “practical”

Ride no more than two abreast and only single file in traffic.

Hand signals - Left turn, left hand straight out. Right turn, left arm bent at the elbow pointing up or right arm straight out. Stopping, left arm bent at the elbow pointing down.

Be sure to actually stop at stop signs and lights!

Riding with other riders - Stay to the right, but pass only on the left. Say “Passing on your left” when passing other riders. Ride predictably.

Making a left turn - First, check that it is clear behind, signal and move to left side of lane. Signal again, check for traffic, and complete the turn. If on a multi-lane road, move across each lane in steps.

Crossing Rail Road tracks - Always cross the tracks at a right angle and make sure the bike is perfectly upright and not leaned over when crossing. If there is any doubt, get off and walk your bike across.

Finally, ensure your bike is in good repair.

Contact me if you have any questions about cycling safety, equipment or training.

More Spring, More Riding

We are beginning to be able to ride our mid week bike ride consistently now. SE Michigan is flat, but last Wednesday the wind was blowing so hard that we were pedaling up hill on the flats. I'm making progress: I was able to ride 10 miles before my seat hurt. We still haven't riden more than 25 miles and the restrooms on Belle Isle are still not open. I ride by a large community garden on Cochrane just North of Tiger Stadium. It was all tilled up and ready for planting. The rows had already been marked with string.

The Garden Resource Program is underway. We went to a potluck dinner at the 4H Center in Detroit on McClellan south of Gratiot. You know when you are on a street named after a Civil War general that you are on an old street. There were fresh graduates from the Urban Roots program (a nine week program that teaches you all things gardening and community organizing), members of the Detroit Agricultural Network, and humble family gardeners (like me) from all all over the city there, all people with hopes and plans for the summer. I'm planning on putting in a raised bed behind my garage. It has sun, but it also has gravel. I'm supposed to be getting over 100 plants. They got to go somewhere. I know spring is here because I spotted my first neighborhood rabbit. For a gardener, this is both good and bad.

Kevin's New Bike

Anyone who has ridden in a bike event in Michigan knows Kevin Degen, at least by sight. Over the years Kevin and his trike have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various charities (the Kenny Foundation, MS Society, Make A Wish, etc.) He has ridden PALM over 20 times. One of the few times he missed PALM was when he was riding across the country from California to Washington DC. Having ridden with Kevin, I can tell you that everyone who sees him seems to know him. Having put his trike into his car I can tell you that not only is it old, but it is heavy.

Three years ago the St. Huberts youth group was on the PALM, met Kevin, and saw his bike. They made it their mission to raise enough money to get him a new bike. Some engineers from Toyota met Kevin while riding the MS 150 and volunteered to design it. At about this time last year they presented their first attempt. One of their main goals for the bike was stability, especially in turns. Kevin has taken many spills. He wears protective padding on his elbow because of this. Their design had two wheels in the front and one in the back for stability. But unfortunately when Kevin rode the new bike on a test track, it was apparent that this design wasn't going to work.

Even though they already spent hundreds of hours on the first design, the Toyota engineers were undeterred. They redesigned it, this time with one wheel in the front and two in the back. And last Sunday, they were able present it to Kevin at St. Hubert's. The new model has lots of nice features. It was a feat for Kevin get on his old bike. With the new model the top tube is low, there is a locking front brake, and the seat can be raised and lowered by a switch, making getting off and on the bike much easier. To make the bike more stable in turns (especially right turns) the frame is off center. Kevin rides using his left arm and leg only which means he rides off center. The frame compensates for this so the bike's center of gravity is where it should be for stability. Needless to say the frame was custom built.


The best thing was that Kevin got to take the bike right home with him. He's already has had it out for a 50 mile ride. (My first ride this year was 20 miles, but you know Kevin. ) Bring on summer!

Better Weather

Finally the weather has gotten better and I've been able to get out on my road bike. It was in the 50's last weekend and my wife and I rode both days. You know, sitting on your bike after not doing it for 4 or 5 months makes your eyes open wide, especially the second day. We do a ride with a few friends on Tuesday night and we wanted to check the route. It's a good thing we did: the construction on I75 and I375 is going to make for some changes. We won't be able to go by Xochomilcho's in Mexicantown: Vernor is now a very busy narrow two lane road so getting there is bad and there is a barrier all along Fort Street so you can't make a left turn to get to the much safer Lafayette. On the east side of the route, the Canfield bridge over I75 is being rebuilt so we can't cross there after going thru Eastern Market. We rode the route with detours on Wednesday and it's a little shorter. I'll have to extend the route to go through Indian Village to make up for the lost miles.

We rode on Wednesday this week instead of Tuesday which had the better weather so that I could go to the Cluster 9 Garden Resource meeting. Even though everything still looks mostly dead, I have garlic and chives starting to sprout. The meeting was packed. People want spring bad. It ends up that there are about 64 types of vegetables that can be grown in Michigan and through this program you can get seeds or plants to 41 of them. I haven't started on getting my garden ready. The emerald ash borer has killed some trees behind my house so now I have more sun light. I'm thinking of doing a raised bed behind the garage where there is a lot of gravel. (It may have been an alley once.) And I'm thinking of expanding the garden where I have it now. If I can ride my bike, it's time to stop thinking and start doing.

Forcing a Bike Ride

I've waited all the way thru March for the temperature to get above 50 so that I could ride. It hasn't happened. On Saturday, I couldn't wait any longer. The sun was out and it was in the mid 40's. As far as I was concerned, this was as warm as it was ever going to get to the end of time. I put on everything including a down vest and rode. It was only 12 miles, but hey. The streets had a lot of debris left over from the melted snow so I rode my mountain bike, the one with the big tires, the same one I used the last time I rode when I did the First Dozen. I forgot that I had trouble shifting then. It still doesn't shift right but it did enough to finish the ride. Time to take it to the shop. Thank goodness my other bike, the one that I ride 95% of the time is ready to go.


I didn't have trouble sitting on the bike seat on the mountain bike (but the road bike...) but my legs were sore the next day. You would think that running through the winter would prevent that. It doesn't: biking uses different muscles. Running does help with conditioning. I could use a trainer or a stationary bike but it drives me crazy to stare at a wall when I'm exercising. I don't run inside for the same reason. Going by the same place over and over drives me crazy. So I'm outside with the dark and the cars and the wind chill.

We are at a dead time as far as PALM registration goes. There are still a few applications that have problems that haven't been entered and people can still add/change meals and bus rides thru May. I'm taking the opportunity to add the people who called/emailed us for applications this year to our mailing list. That's about it. Now if I could fill up the time with bike riding...

PALM Statistics

Since we have 786 people registered, I made a first pass at generating PALM statistics. I've posted them to the website. There are a few things that I notice. We have 225 people who are on the PALM for the first time. This is 29% of the people on PALM. This may seem like a lot but last year 35% of our riders were doing their first PALM and the year before that it was 45%. We've reached our 700 cutoff the last three years: 2006 in the middle of April, 2007 in the middle of March, and this year in the middle of February. Before 2006 no one remembers reaching the cutoff. In 2006 a lot of our regular riders were caught off guard and missed the cutoff. That's why there were so many first timers in 2006. By 2008 people figured out that they have to register early. If you didn't get a registration mailed to you this year, the odds of getting on PALM weren't good. (I didn't enter many new names and addresses during this year's registration. Most of the first timers this year were already on our mailing list and were mailed an application. )

The age band counts have some differences too. Notice that the number of 10-20 year olds is down this year and that the smallest age band is now 0 to 9. (Traditionally its been the 20 -29 age band.) One reason for the drop of 10 - 19 year olds is that we don't have the St Hubert's youth group with us this year. (They have been riding PALM every other year.)

Last year's PALM was the longest six day PALM that we've ever done, almost every day was 50 miles. We drew hot weather last year, high 80's to 90 for the first three days. This year we made sure that we mixed in some shorter days with the longer ones. (If you want to do longer miles, we offer optionals on our routes. We've always done this.) Weatherwise, we made sure that winter went on much longer in 2008. This year we had to raise our registration fees. Because of the rise in gas prices and schools we were losing thousands of dollars. We raised adult more than child and teen fees to keep PALM affordable for families. And this year, we filled early. If you look at the statistics, the median number of PALMs that a rider has ridden is 4. The number of riders drops greatly after 5 PALMs. It is very important for us that we attract new riders. One of PALM's missions is to encourage family biking by providing an affordable biking vacation. Attacting families is very important to us. I hope that the reason the number of first timers and 0 - 19 year olds are down is that we closed early, not a reaction to last year's route or the increase in fees.

Robins and Applications

On St. Patrick's day I saw my first robin in the neighborhood, high up in a tree. (A bird watcher at work told me that some robins do stay here over the winter. To see them you have to go to parks or woodlands. After all they have to eat.) Over the next couple of days I saw more of them, this time foraging on the ground. Yes, I can finally see the ground, but it's still in the low 40's. It's still a little too cold for me to ride, and I'm getting desperate. I haven't ridden all month. I complain that biking has a 8 month season in Michigan, but this year it's been true. Wait, stop complaining. I did see robins, today really is the first day of spring, opening day is 11 days away and Easter is this Sunday. Never mind the winter storm that is predicted for tomorrow. You have to live in the moment.

I got another packet of applications for about 70 people. This brings us to rider number 791. (So much for our 700 rider cutoff. Do you see why we don't have a wait list?) I'll be mailing out the confirmation letters over the weekend. There will be more cancellations than applications from here on out.

I notice in the comments that people looking for people who are going to cancel so that they can replace them. If you do this, please let us know. We still need you to sign the waiver to be straight with our insurance. If you do take over another's registration, you have until June 1 to change the meals and bus rides on it, until April 1 to get a jersey. The only thing you can't do is add somebody extra to the registration.

Caught up as winter fades

I finished processing and mailed out the confirmation letter for the 717th person on this year's PALM on Wednesday. If you mailed us an application and haven't gotten either a confirmation letter, your application back with regrets, or a call from us saying your application has an error, something is wrong. (We still have applications for about 70 people that were incomplete or had errors. ) It looks like I am finally caught up.

Take a good look at your confirmation letters to be sure that I got everything straight. I checked everything, but I was pretty rushed and wasn't at my best. Be sure I got you emergency contact information, t shirt sizes, bus rides and meals right. These are things I could have messed up that wouldn't get caught by my program.

I'm happy to report that the snow on my lawn is almost all melted and all the debris left during the winter is visible. Friday was the first day I was able to run without worrying about ice. Instead I had to watch out for mud. Our bikes are out of the shop and are ready. And even though there is not a speck of green to be seen, Saturday was the seed distribution day for the Garden Resource Program here and now I have seeds for radishes, lettuce, beets, turnips, peas, carrots, green beans and more. I'm not sure how far I can dig in the ground before I hit frozen dirt, but I'm ready.

Meals on PALM

All the meals on PALM are optional: you get to pick and choose the meals you want. PALM makes no money on the meals: what ever we collect, we pay to the people providing the meals. At times we've subsidized the meals. When I realized that the ride was filling up fast, I encouraged people, if money was tight, to at least register for PALM, that they have up to June 1 to add the meals (and bus rides for that matter). It looks like a lot of people took me up on that. The meal counts are down 40 to 50 from the meal counts last year for a similar number of people.

The meals are communal events. It's a time that all riders get together and that you get a chance to talk to other riders that you do not know in an informal setting, not as strangers. Some towns that we are staying at are small, eg Dowagiac, Sturgis, Hudson. There maybe only a couple of restaurants and few other food sources in town. If 200 or 300 additional people show up, they are going to be stressed. We warn restaurants at our site towns (and all along the route) that 700 people will be staying in their town (or will be riding past their place). I used to do this job. I would tell restaurants and groceries: think locusts. But sometimes the warnings are not enough. Consider buying the meals, at least some of them.

And if you are going to get the meals, please try to do it as early as you can. Don't wait until June 1. As part of registration, I'm in charge of the meal lists and counts. Things are always hectic at the beginning of June. Adding meals for 40 people , relaying the new meal counts to the site people, and mailing out new conformation letters would kill me.

(No) Wait List

I had a few days break before the next batch of applications arrived. I'm up to rider 643 as far as processing applications and mailing out confirmation letters are concerned. I probably have 100 more people to register. We've been returning late applications with regrets that the ride has filled.

A word about wait lists. PALM does not maintain a wait list. Instead we accept about 40 more than the 700 cutoff and expect cancellations so that we get down to the cutoff. Sort of like the airlines but, unlike the airlines, if not enough riders cancel, we live with it. If you check the counts from the previous 3 years on the website, you'll see we are generally above 700. One of the reasons is that we don't count support people as part of the 700. I expect one more batch of applications, then all that are left are applications with problems. Generally 10% of the applications have errors but this year there have been more, probably because of the rush.

I spoke too soon about being caught up. I got another batch of applications just now that take me up to rider 719. When I get though this batch (it could take me a couple of days), then I am caught up except for problem applications and you know who you are. Everyone who sent in an application should get a confirmation or a returned application by this weekend. If not, email us. We'll try to track it down.

Alternatives to PALM

As many of you know, PALM filled very quickly this year, and we have turned away a large number of potential riders. I think that PALM is a fairly unique ride in that we keep most of our daily distances to a maximum of about 50 miles, and we try to have a ride that appeals to a wide variety of ages and abilities. However, there are other rides in Michigan and our surrounding states that you might decide to try as an alternative to PALM. I will list some of them in this blog entry, and you can get details by checking out the web sites. As far as I can determine, these rides are not filled as of today (March 9).

The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure. www.goba.com. June 14-21, a 7 day loop ride. From what I have been told, this ride attracts the same variety of participants as PALM does. This year's route starts in Lorain County, southwest of Cleveland and follows roads down to the Mansfield area. Each year GOBA follows a different route, and this year's will be fairly hilly. The 7 days include 5 riding days of 45-60 miles each, with 2 layover days that include optional loop rides or alternate activities. The ride limit is 3000, and the fee does not include meals. GOBA has an excellent web site, with lots of details about the ride and an excellent rider handbook.

Across Ohio Bicycle Adventure (XOBA). July 19-26. www.outdoor-pursuits.org/xoba/ This year's route follows the Underground Railroad route from Cincinatti to Sandusky. 50 - 71 miles per day.

TRIRI. Ride across rural Indiana. June 22-28. www.triri.org. This year's route is in south central Indiana and has a rider limit of 500. The ride includes 3 days of 65 miles, and 3 layover days with optional loops.

Rides sponsored by the League of Michigan Bicyclists. www.lmb.org. The League sponsors several rides, including a weekend ride on May 31-June 1, and the Sunrise Adventure June 20-22. Their other 3 rides all have longer days and challenging hills.

If you want even more options, you can go to www.nbtda.com, and search for rides all over the country.

We sincerely hope that all of you find a biking adventure that you can enjoy in 2008. If you will not be on PALM this year, we also hope that you will be able to join us on PALM in 2009.

Ellie, PALM Mail Granny

Bike things in winter

Last weekend was a pretty good weekend for people who like biking. Saturday was the Bike Feast in Dearborn. It's a potluck dinner that had about 100 people who would rather be biking but at least could talk about biking with people who would listen. There were several speakers. One was the guy who organizes the Ann Arbor - Saline Classical Bicycle Swap Meet. He brought in several biles from the 30's and 40's. They were pretty amazing. He said most of the bikes were found in people's garages. He encouraged us to look in the garage. We had Robert Krzewinski from the League of Michigan Bicyclists reminding us of the work that they do and asking us to join. (LMB hosts the PALM web site.) Dale Hughes talk about velodromes and bicycle track racing. There will be a 3 day event at the velodrome in Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills at the beginning of May that he encouraged us all to go to. A good night for a winter night.

The next day was the PALM meeting. The route has already been laid out (and the maps go to the printer on April 1. No fooling.) The planning on all the sites (New Buffalo, Dowagaic, Sturgis, Coldwater, Hudson, Tecumseh, and Sterling State Park in Monroe) is well under way. The ride reached its 700 rider cutoff on February 19, earlier than last year. So far confirmations for 589 riders have been sent out.

Kevin Degen said that at long last his new bike (a trike) is being built. They had to change the design from a two wheels in front one to a two wheels in back one. Here is an picture of the frame. There will be a Bike Presentation and Celebration on March 30, 2:00 PM at Father Bill Borowski Activity Center at St. Hubert Church in Harrison Township. You can get there by taking the Metro Parkway exit off I-94 (exit 236), turning east, and going 3 miles. It's on the right side.

Managing Winter in Michigan

Being a cyclist and making it through a Michigan winter can be a challenge. Some ride in their basement on an indoor trainer they got for Christmas, some ride at the gym, some even go out of state to get their ride fix. Some don't ride at all.

There are a few hearty souls that ride outdoors, in the snow and cold. You just need the properly equipped bike, and the right clothes. Yes, I am one of these seemingly crazy people. I find the hardest part not to be the actual riding, but getting up the motivation to gear-up and leave a warm house. Once outside (and after the cold first mile), the tranquility of being out in the woods, on the frozen lake, or a quiet country road takes over and is quite enjoyable.

However, I did try out riding indoors this year. No, not on a trainer, rollers, or an exercise bike. I'm talking about real riding. Mountain biking in fact. My son and I went to Ray's indoor mountain bike park outside of Cleveland and spent the weekend. Rays is a unique 90,000 square foot facility that puts your bike handling skills to the test. We road almost 40 miles, and while that doesn't sound like much, remember it was all indoors.

Now that PALM is full and spring is fast approaching, I being asked for training tips and how to prepared for PALM. Here is what I tell people:

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, is directly proportional to how well you prepare.

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 bike, take it to your local bike shop. While there, ask them to see 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 properly 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 rocket science involved here. It basically comes down to spending as much time in the saddle as possible. Start riding in the spring 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 on the saddle. Everyone, even Lance Armstrong, gets a sore posterior. Remember, PALM is not a race. Wear proper bike shorts. Take a “butt break” every 15 minutes or so while riding. Stand on the pedals and stretch. Get off the bike for a few minutes every 10 to 20 miles. Take in the sights along the way. Stop for lunch or do some shopping.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at sproketsandspokes@tir.com

Spring morning in winter

When I got up this morning it was almost 50 degrees and you could see the sun. This after a week where we've either had snow storms or lows around 11. Sunny, but cold. The forecast is for falling temperatures and snow by dinner. You've got to love Michigan. It forces you to live in the moment. Which brings us to PALM. PALM allows you to live in the moment. You have very little responsibilities on PALM. You get up. You eat breakfast. You pack up. You ride. You setup. You finally have the time to look around you and notice that it is summer and you are in Michigan.

Things are changing here, but slowly. I run in the morning. Because the days are getting longer (and because I work), I'm now running at dawn. The last couple of days have been sunny so that I've started to hear the dawn chorus of birds. I swear I heard robins although I can't imagine what robins do when it is 11 degrees and the ground is covered with snow. I've also taken my bike into the shop to get ready. Maybe the weather will get the idea.

So far I have entered applications for 579 people. (I mailed confirmations for 75 people this morning. I'll mail the confrimations for 80 more once I have checked the confirmations against the applications to make sure I haven't made mistakes.) I have 140-160 more people to process. I may only be 2 1/2 weeks behind, hey almost caught up.

It never ends

Just as I finished up the last batch of 75 applications on Monday, bringing us up to rider 368, I got another batch of applications to process (which will bring us up to rider 445). This is like standing in front of a fire hose. So far 90% of the applications are for people who have been on PALM before. These are easier to do because their names and addresses are already in the computer. All I have to do is enter the emergency contact (very important) and not mess up the t shirt sizes or meals. Later on most of the riders will be new so that I'll have to enter all the information and things slow down. Even after processing all these applications, I'm probably still 3 weeks behind. Hold on. I'm getting to you.

One of the last things I do is compare the confirmation letters I generate with the application to be sure I entered everything right. Then I stuff the self addressed stamped envelopes (you remember to include one, right?). My cat really likes this. He sits on the applications and swats at me as I manipulate the letters and confirmations. I have to wait until he goes to sleep to work. Fortunately cats sleep 16 hours a day.

Daylight savings time starts on March 9. That's the start of summer, right? I'm beginning to get antsy to ride. I try to ride at least once a month throughout the year. I've already missed October and February is in danger (even though I went to Florida last week). Winter has been so long that 40 degree days seem like biking weather especially if the sun is out. (These are two conditions that haven't occurred much this year though.) There is something I can do: I'm taking the bikes into the shop to get ready for the season.

Back from Florida

When we last tuned in, I was getting ready to go out of town even though I had just received applications for 200 people to process. I went to Florida for a little winter R&R. On my last day I got up early, so early that I could still see some stars and all the planets, and ran on the beach as the sun rose. I was on the Atlantic side so I got to see all the sunrise colors as the sun slowly slipped out of the sea. The next day (at home) I got up early and got to run at sunrise with overcast skies, past boarded up buildings in 15 degrees. Vacation over. (The only way you can tell that the sun has risen in Michigan in the winter is that the street lights turn off. There is no sun.) Do you know when I got back, the applications for 200 people were still waiting for me?

I've gotten through the applications, thru rider number 298. We got an email from a rider who sent in his application on January 29 and wanted to know if we got it. He wasn't in the batch I just processed. This means that I am still processing applications that were mailed before January 29. If you mailed in your application after that, I haven't gotten to you yet. Don't worry. By the way I received another packet of applications to process. The application for the January 29 rider was in that packet. I'm sure I am still processing January applications.

We are filled!

As of Tuesday, February 19, the PALM ride is filled. We have more than 700 participants (plus staff and sags) who have submitted their applications. Therefore if your application did not arrive by today's mail, you will unfortunately not be able to secure a place on this year's ride. If your application arrives after today, you will be automatically added to next year's mailing list. As I said in my last entry, we are pleased that so many people are interested in PALM but we also feel very badly that we have to turn away potential riders. If you are not able to ride on PALM 27, we hope to see you in 2009!

Ellie, PALM Mail Granny

Almost filled!

With today's mail pickup, it looks like we have about 650 participants for PALM, plus sags and staff. Assuming we continue our pattern of receiving 25 to 40 applications each day, it looks like we will likely be filled by Monday, February 18. I believe that will be a new record! We are pleased that so many of our riders sent their applications back so quickly, but we also feel sad that we will likely turn away others who would like to join the ride. Once we know we are filled, I will try to post the web addresses of some of the other rides that have daily distances similar to PALM such as GOBA, in Ohio. Think spring!

Ellie, PALM Mail Granny

Maybe you don't have that much time

Right after I did the post last night I got an email from the woman that picks up the PALM mail. We got applications for 84 people yesterday. Now we are up to 590 and our cutoff is 700. If you haven't already mailed your application, I don't like your odds.

I mentioned that I had 95 confirmations mailed but the person who does the first half of the registration process (in Florida) was 200 behind. I got a big box today in the mail. She is no longer 200 behind. I'm 200 behind. Actually I'm 500 behind if you count what's been received, but the other 300 are not sitting on the left side of my desk, waiting. Did I mention that I'm taking a winter break for a few days? I hope I can forget what I have to come back to.

You still can get on PALM

We have the applications from 500 people (not counting staff and SAGs). Last week we had applications from 350 people, so we added 150 people in the last 8 days. The rate has dropped from 35-40 a day to 25-30 a day. While this means we are filling up rapidly, you still can get on PALM.

As you may know, I work on the registration: I enter the applications into my computer and print out confirmation letters. Another staff member gets the applications first, checks them, fills out stuff for the accountant, and sends them to me. She's in Florida. When we were at 350, she had not seen an application yet. Now she's processed applications for 295 people of them. I finally got some applications to process on Friday (and Monday) and I've processed applications for 95 people. So I'm 200 behind my fellow registrant and 400 behind the real count. This is daunting. And I'm going to be out of town this weekend. It may be a while before you get your confirmation letter. Try to be patient. If you've mailed in application already, you are on the ride.

I had the usual glitches when I tried to process this year's applications. This year we have a jersey you can buy and last year we didn't. I was concentrating so much on getting the directions to the start and end sites to print out right on the confirmation letter that I didn't notice that the jersey field was missing. So if you ordered a jersey, you wouldn't know it from the confirmation letter. Fortunately the very first application (Kevin Degen, who else) was ordering a jersey and I noticed it. That saved some calls.

Latest PALM numbers

As of February 12, the registration count is somewhere about 500 participants. So please don't delay in getting in your registrations!!! Once we are filled, we really are filled -- even if your friends are on the ride, you have already purchased your airline ticket to Michigan, you have done the ride for the past 20 years, etc. If you don't have an application, please note that you can now print one out from the web page -- just follow the application link from the links listed on the left side of the homepage. We know it is is cold and snowy right now -- after all, this is winter in Michigan. But just think -- another two months or so and biking season will be upon us. See you in June!

Ellie, PALM Mail Granny

After the Super Bowl, Lent

The great thing about the Super Bowl is that you have a lot of time to kill. The pre-game is 3 or 4 hours. Lots of time to catch up on things. I finally uploaded the PALM photos taken by Holly Johnson who was our PALM photographer last year. It takes a while to upload 300 photos to Flickr. And I finally created a page for PALM 2007 on the website and added all the links to photos that people have sent me (thanks to Ellie Knesper, Bill Richardson, and Tim Mercer). I chatted about the ride on the web page, but it's been so long I've forgotten that there was a summer. If anyone has some memories of PALM 2007 or any links to photos or blogs, email them to me and I'll be glad to add them to the website.

As you've heard, we have 350 people who have signed up for PALM 2008 already. At this rate (35-40 a day) we will reach our cutoff of 700 riders by Feb 15. So once again, if you are planning to ride PALM this year, mail in your application now. (Don't have an application? Download one.) If you have sent in your application and plan to ride with someone, be sure to tell them to send in their application now.

It's great that we have 350 people already, but I work on registration. I'm 350 people behind and I haven't seen the first application to process yet. Since I work, I can only average processing about 35 people a night. I have a good 10 days of work ahead of me. I guess this is what Lent is all about. And you thought Lent was the time between the Super Bowl and spring training. Wrong.

For Lent I'm giving up coffee, actually caffeine. I drink way too much of it. When you do that and give it up, you get withdrawal symptoms. (Hmm. I guess that coffee is not that good for you). I don't get headaches. Instead my joints ache like when you have the flu. Another thing, if you give up coffee, you can't read anything before noon. It makes for interesting situations at work. I'm thinking of wearing a bike helmet when I'm sitting at my desk. However I sleep like the dead at night.

PALM is filling fast!

As of today, PALM already has received registrations from approximately 370 participants. So we are over half filled! If you are hoping to ride on PALM this summer, it would be a good idea to get your application in as soon as possible. Because of our contracts with the schools, we have a limit of approximately 700 participants. Please realize that it might be a few weeks before you receive your confirmation letter. All PALM staff are volunteers, and most have full time jobs, so it will take a while for the volunteers who take care of the registrations to get caught up with this flood of applications. Please be patient! If you have questions or concerns, please email us at palmbiketour@yahoo.com or call 734-669-0172. See you in June!

Ellie, PALM Mail Granny

Application Update

As I mentioned in the last post, the applications were mailed out Friday January 25 in the afternoon. I live 40 miles away and got my application on Saturday. One of our riders from Arkansas got his application on Monday. His brother who lives in Nebraska got his application on Tuesday. If you have not received your PALM application yet, you are probably not going to get one. If you email your address to us, we will mail you an application. If you wait a few days, I'll add a link to the website so that you download the application via the web. If you haven't mailed in your application yet and want to get a rider number lower than 100, you are going to be disappointed. We are behind already.

I've come up with a one word description of Michigan weather, especially this winter: bipolar. This week it went from being 12 one day (with plenty of wind) to the 40's the next (Kevin Degen was thinking about biking) to 13 the next. What can you do? Well, I live about mile from the Redford Theater. It's the last neighborhood movie theater in Detroit and is the home of the Motor City Theater Organ society. They show old movies (mostly for $4.00) proceeded by theater organ music. The theater has been restored(it has stars in the ceiling and a model train setup for Christmas) and mostly the movies are good. (Red River, On the Town, Maltese Falcon, ET, etc.) Last night it was "Tarzan and His Mate". Not so good. It was made in 1934 and while Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O'Hara looked great and the print was good, the sound was bad (from the 30's) and what a plot! Kevin, I know, is holding out for the Three Stooges in April. I'm setting my hopes on Buster Keaton in March.

PALM Applications Are on Their Way

After the coldest week of the year, I got an email from the printer on Friday that said he had mailed out the PALM applications. On Saturday I received my PALM application: the printer was right, he did mail them. At the nadir of winter, summer begins.

Let me refresh your memory on how this works. When you fill out and mail in your application, you are buying summer. At this point $110 (plus extra for meals) is cheap for summer. I'm sure you would pay $135 or more even, but PALM offers you a bargain. Your check clears in February or March so that by June you bike for free. What could be better: summer and a free bike tour, all for signing up now. (By the way this same reasoning works for buying baseball tickets too. Try it.)

We mail the applications by 1st class mail. The printer has software from the US Postal Service that allows him to pick up forwarding addresses. This means if you don't receive your application by the end of this week (in time for the Super Bowl!) you are probably not going to get one. Email us at palmbiketour@yahoo.com to get a PALM application and to be sure that we have your correct mailing address.

My biking has been pretty sparse lately: I didn't bike in November at all (why?), rode once in December and once in January. I'm going to have to start by finding my bicycle. One thing I can do is take it in to the mechanic to get it ready. If we have a warm sunny day in the next couple of weeks, you'll know that my bike is in the shop. Good thing I have more than one bike.

More PALM Doings

Last Saturday was a real winter day. I ran in Hines Park and didn't see a single biker: a first for this winter. I did see 2 deer and passed within 20 feet of them. They didn't seem concerned. My brother was in Atlanta on the weekend. The definition of winter weather is different in Altlanta. It got down to the 20's and they had some snow, maybe 1/2 inch. They closed the mall. On the crawl space on the Sunday news they were announcing the churches that would be closed because of the weather. Martin Luther King's church was closed on the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. On the way to the airport, my brother passed by intersections that were cordoned off by police tape: ice in the intersection. My brother was driven to the airport by a guy from Grand Rapids who almost couldn't drive because he was laughing so hard. I wonder how the bikers were doing there.

We had a PALM meeting on Sunday. The sites are coming along nicely. (For Midland one year we had to keep changing the school we were going to stay at. The one we finally got was reconstructing its kitchen and cafeteria when we stayed there. It made the meals interesting, but our site co-ordinator, Bev Totten, worked thru it all. Nothing like that so far this year.) We got a chance to see the tentative route. (The optional century ride of 102 miles will go thru Michigan and Ohio. We tried to get it to go thru Indiana too, but it didn't work out.) The applications are printed. Generally we label and stamp the applications for mailing during this meeting. This year we are having the printer do it. They will be tabbed and mailed at the end of this week. We looked at a mockup of the tshirt in this year's color. It's a dayglo light green and is really bright. When we all wear them for the parade, you should be able to pick us up on satellite. It will make it look like the tour went thru Chernobyl. All in all it was a quiet meeting but it was nice to see everybody.

Bike Things in January

Just what can you do involving bikes in January? More to the point, what can I possibly blog about in January when the PALM is going to be June 21 - 27? One thing saving me this week is Adventure Cycling. They send out an email every couple of weeks with little blurbs about biking (and links to the complete stories). Click here to sign up. This issue had stories about two friends who turned their couch into a bike and a Congressman who bikes in Washington DC. (Hey, in January I'm easy to please.)

Another thing I did was to sign up for the West Michigan MS 150. This year it's being held on May 31-June 1. This won't give me much time to get ready. I first did the PALM to get ready for the Mid Michigan MS 150 which is held in the middle of July. Now it looks like it will be the other way around. It's a pledge ride that has 89% of the pledge money collected going to their programs: a good percentage.

What else to do in January? How about a 4-H potluck? There is a 4-H club on McClellan in Detroit. (Check out Mapquest to see where that is: you would be surprised.) The Garden Resource Program sponsored a potluck there to announce their plans for the new year. They weren't able to mail out flyers and only made a few calls. They expected maybe 20-30 people. They got about 70-80. People are ready to garden now. This is a program to promote family and community gardens in Detroit as a source of fresh vegetables. Did you know that there are no grocery chain stores anywhere in Detroit and that for most of the city the nearest grocery outlet is a gas station? That's what the Garden Resource program is trying to address. Click here to see what I'm going to get for $10.

Sunny Day

Yesterday was one of the rare sunny days in SE Michigan in winter. One year it was so bad that the local TV station featured a sunset on the 11:00 news because there had been a record low amount of sun for the month. (I think that December only had 6 hours of direct sunlight.)

On sunny weekend days you have to go outside. How can you prove to yourself that everything is not just shades of gray? One way is to go to Eastern Market. It's open 6 days a week year round, but Saturday is the big Market day. There is a lot of construction there now, but two sheds are open. Bring a lot of ones. Everything on Saturday costs $1. There were a lot of cameras and a lot of languages being spoken.

I almost went on a bike ride. I would have had to wear everything that I had, but in the sunlight I could do it. Instead I worked on PALM and I want credit for it. I added the site pages (in their unfinished state) to the web site. I also made the changes to the registration program. (It's 2008 now, not 2007. We have a jersey this year and the registration and bus fees have changed.) I also changed the text on the confirmation letter. Once again I had to remember how Mail Merge works in Word. Fortunately I complained about this in a blog entry last year. I used the blog entry to help me to do the changes.

The next PALM meeting is Jan 20. If things go well, the applications will be printed. They are not scheduled to be mailed until Jan 25 because I thought that the meeting was on the 27th. Ah, well. I let you know when the applications are actually mailed (by 1st class) so that you can keep an eye out for them.

Something Besides Winter

I noticed that all I seem to talk about so far this year is winter. Granted we are not friends, I've got to have something else going on besides winter weather, especially since it's been 60 degrees the last couple of days. You will be glad to know that I proofed the PALM 2008 application and routed it and the spreadsheet containing the mailing list to the printer. They will print it next week and are scheduled to mail it out January 25. Scheduled, notice. Last year we had an ice storm and the printer didn't have electricity. Opps, I'm talking about winter again.

Now that I'm done with the application, I can work some on the web site. Andy Vast-Binder used MapMyRide to map out this year's route. Go to the web site and check it out. Click on one of the mileages for this year's ride (they are links) and a map of that day's ride will pop up. Very cool. Thanks, Andy.

We are finally mailing out the 2007 ride photos (on a DVD) to all the people who ordered them on the ride. When I get mine, I'll upload it to Flickr and add a link to it to the web site. I also have a CD of photos from Bill Richardson that I can add. That should keep me from looking outside.

Parking Fee at Sterling State Park

This year's PALM ends in Monroe. The last time PALM ended in Monroe the end site was Monroe Community College. It was nice, there was plenty of parking, but it was about 15 miles from Lake Erie with no easy way to get there. We had our usual parade but it circled around campus. We like to go from Lake Michigan in the west to water in the east. Most of the time the optional route on Saturday takes you to Lake Michigan so that you can dip in your tire at the start. Generally the end site is within easy biking distance from whatever water there is so that you can dip you tire at the end. (Last year the water was the St. Clair River. It was beautiful but you would have had to tie your bike to a long rope and lower it over the sea wall to be able to dip your tire.)

Monroe also has a State Park, Sterling State Park. It's this year's end site for PALM. It's been newly refurbished, is the only State Park that has access to Lake Erie, and is big enough to have a parade in it. However it is a State Park and Michigan is in a budget crunch. Cars have to pay an entry fee: $6 for residents (ie cars with Michigan plates), $8 for non residents. So whoever picks you up will have to pay to do it. If you are planning to take the bus to New Buffalo on June 21 so that your car will be there at the end of the ride, you will need to pay for weeklong parking. Specifically you will need a annual MVP: $24 for residents, $29 for non residents, and $6 for senior (65 and over) residents. This will allow you access to all of Michigan's State Parks for 2008. That will be good for me. I live in Michigan and plan to take the bus to the start. It's not so good for non resident riders. See here for the official State Park fee information.

One way to avoid this parking fee is park at the start site in New Buffalo and take the bus back there on June 27 at the end of the ride. There is no parking fee but the buses get back to New Buffalo at about 6:30 and you will still have to drive home. For me the prospect of having to drive back home in SE Michigan starting at 6:30 after a week of bicycling is too daunting.

More Winter, Request for Help, Application Update

Last Thursday was the first cold day this winter. I consider any day that has a temperature below 10 as a cold day and it was 6. But winter is only starting since I still have tomatoes from the summer that I've wrapped in newspaper until they ripen. (Or rot. It's about 50/50.) On these short, gray days I'm losing the summer. I need to add a page to the web site that describes the 2007 PALM, but I need help. I remember that we started off with three hot days and then had a day of rain. I remember that I missed a turn on the first day and ended up doing the Saturday optional (17 miles) and then having to do the full Sunday ride (48 miles plus a 6 mile detour because of construction). The optional was beautiful, but it was a real letdown to arrive back at Spring Lake in the afternoon and realize that we had the whole ride ahead of us in the heat of the day. I also remember Elsie and the giant Elsie the Cow in the town square. (A family from Wisconsin did point out to me that perhaps Elmer would have been a better name. Hey, I'm a city kid.) I don't remember enough. I need your help. Could you send me some memories you have of PALM 2007 so that I can include them?

I've gotten the proof of the PALM 2008 application back from the printer and I'm reviewing it. I'm hoping to be able to fax back corrections to the printer on Monday. I hope I'm catching all the typos and the changes that I should have made. Do you know how hard it is to proof a release? You actually have to read it and more than once. Solitary would be better.

Winter and Bikes

In my last post I said that in Michigan biking was a 7 or 8 month activity. I have to make a correction. For me biking in Michigan is a 7 or 8 month activity. Last Saturday I was running on Hines Drive (since for me at least, running is a 12 month activity) and I saw bikers, at least 20 of them. I saw more bikers than runners or walkers. It looks like biking is a 12 month activity after all.

In my last post I also touted the First Dozen ride in Dearborn. I'm going to be more careful in what I say. There was a winter storm on New Year's Eve in Michigan. I drove home from visiting with friends at 1:30 AM, taking M59 and Telegraph and it wasn't a pretty. But because I talked about it, I now had to do the First Dozen. The mayor of Dearborn (who lived 2 blocks away) was supposed to start us off, but he was a no show (not an election year for him). Since my wife didn't talk up the First Dozen, she could stay at home like a sensible person, but not me. There were about 100 people there and the roads were 95% clear. Still some slush but no black ice - better than I deserve. I didn't need sunscreen and, with the snow sticking to the trees, it was a winter wonderland. I hadn't ridden my mountain bike in months. (The air pressure in my tires was 20 when I went to pump up the tires.) When I tried to use the gears on the back wheel, they didn't work. I could only shift the front chain ring. Fortunately SE Michigan is flat and a couple of gears spaced far apart sufficed But boy did my toes get cold.