Yesterday we had 285 riders signed up for PALM. Yesterday's mail had 101 applications in it with 181 riders on them: a new one day record. Now we have 466 riders and, with a rider limit of 700, the ride is 2/3 full. It looks like PALM will fill before the middle of next week. If you sent in your application already, good. If there are people that you are hoping to see on PALM, call them and make sure they have sent in their application. If they haven't sent it in yet, tell them to do so immediately and then light a candle. (Click here for an application.) We've started to make our calls: the oldest rider from last year (90) has mailed his in. Gino has mailed his in. Others we reminded.
If you've mailed in your application already, you're on the ride but your check won't be cashed nor will you get a confirmation for weeks. Let me outline the PALM registration process. First Ellie picks up the mail. She dates and opens the envelopes to count the number of people. Then she sends batches of applications to Vickie in Florida. Vickie checks the applications and assigns rider numbers: all the signatures there? emergency contact? dollars add up? 20% of the applications have errors. Then she has to call people up, get them to correct the errors, and send new checks, applications. When the application is correct, she gathers the info that the accountant uses and then sends the applications to me in Michigan. I enter the corrected applications into my home PC and generate confirmation letters that I mail to you in the self addressed, stamped envelope that you have provided. (Later I'll generate bus lists, meal lists, and the mailing list for next year's applications from what I've entered.) So where are we in the process? The applications have come in so fast that Vickie has yet to get the 1st one. So Vickie and I are 466 applications behind. You won't get your confirmation letter for weeks.
FAQs:
Why can't I register for PALM online? It costs money to do that (I pay $5 to register for races) and we work for free. It will take us a few weeks, but the ride isn't until June and we save riders money. Plus we have a lot of riders who are not friends with the internet.
Why isn't my check cashed? Vickie doesn't cash the checks until she verifies that the applications are correct and 20% of the applications have errors.
If I made a mistake on my application, will I miss PALM? No. Vickie assigns you a rider number and a place on PALM while you correct your application and/or send her the proper amount.
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