It’s been over 80 degrees the last two days with more sunny, warm weather in the forecast and it’s only 4 more weeks to PALM.
No more excuses to not ride your bike.
By now you should have had your bike into the shop for a tune-up. Maybe you did it yourself. You should have a number of rides in and are taking advantage of this great weather by riding, at least a little, almost daily. Maybe you’ve completed a longish organized ride like the Metro Grand Spring Tour or the Zoo-de-Mac. If so, you are well on your way to being prepared for PALM.
If not, do yourself a favor and get started. The more you train now, the more you will enjoy yourself on PALM.
For more on preparing for PALM, check out this PALM web page ( if nessesary, copy and paste the link into your browser):
http://www.lmb.org/palm/training.html
As you ramp up your training, please review my web page on Cycling Safety:
http://www.lmb.org/palm/safety.html
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
PALM Change Deadline: May 15
If you have registered for PALM, May 15 is the deadline for any meal or bus changes. After May 15, whatever you got, you got. May 15 is also the deadline for cancellations. Before May 15 individuals on an application can cancel and get their money back except for a $15 cancellation fee. If everyone on an application cancels, the cancellation fee is $20 for the whole application. (The idea behind this is that if a family has to cancel, it should cost them $20, not $15 for every member of the family. It's part of making PALM a family friendly ride.) All cancellations have to done in writing and mailed to the PALM address (PALM; PO Box 7161; Ann Arbor, MI 48107) . No email cancellations will be accepted. What this means to me is that registration finally ends. All I have to do is create meal and bus lists, packet content sheets and labels and I'm done. After the last PALM meeting on May 31, all that's left is riding the PALM. I'll be processing odds and ends up until then, some of which I'll be getting today.
It's time for the big garden push. I have to extend the garden on one side because a tree is starting to shade it on the other. I have to put in the warm weather vegetables, some of which will be plants that I'll be getting this week. I have flowers to plant in the front yard to hide the vegetables that I have there. The irony is that with all this garden work, I've done nothing on my lawn. I haven't even cut it yet. Since I've stopped putting weed killer on it I have every weed in the world growing there and almost no grass. My neighbors must think I'm crazy especially when they see me going out for a bike ride instead of working on my lawn. On the plus side the turnips, lettuce and greens that I planted from seed on Tuesday have already sprouted. Maybe I can plant my entire front yard in turnips and zucchini.
It's time for the big garden push. I have to extend the garden on one side because a tree is starting to shade it on the other. I have to put in the warm weather vegetables, some of which will be plants that I'll be getting this week. I have flowers to plant in the front yard to hide the vegetables that I have there. The irony is that with all this garden work, I've done nothing on my lawn. I haven't even cut it yet. Since I've stopped putting weed killer on it I have every weed in the world growing there and almost no grass. My neighbors must think I'm crazy especially when they see me going out for a bike ride instead of working on my lawn. On the plus side the turnips, lettuce and greens that I planted from seed on Tuesday have already sprouted. Maybe I can plant my entire front yard in turnips and zucchini.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Metro Grand
Sunday was a good day for bicycling. There was sun and the temperatures reached into the 60's. It was a good day for the Metro Grand. I registered on the day of the ride and I wasn't alone. The one year I signed up early it was 43 degrees and raining. Some people rode anyway (not me). They looked like textbook examples of hypothermia. But not this Sunday. Because of construction the route had to go west inland instead of east to Lake Erie. We rode thru New Boston, Romulus (no, not by the airport), Belleville, and Ypsilanti Township. I now know where the Rawsonville Ford plant is. What I remember about past Metro Grands is how bad Huron River Drive is and the number of railroad tracks. Yesterday there were only two sets of railroad tracks which we crossed twice, once on the way out and once on the way back. And I found out that Huron River Drive is just as bad going west as it is going east.
The most I had ridden this year before Sunday was 30 miles. The most Judy had ridden was 24 miles. We rode 47 miles. Fortunately it was pretty flat and the winds weren't too bad (10 mph) but still we were tired by the end. Actually I was tired half way thru, Judy was OK. Thank God for SAG stops and cookies. You know, when you're tired you don't notice the route much and it's not as much fun. You just look at the road about 10 feet in front of your bike and try not to think about how far you still have to go. This is not the position you want to be in for the PALM. PALM is meant to be enjoyed. You are on vacation and touring Michigan by bike. My advice would be to be in better shape than I am now when you do PALM. I plan to be.
A little garden update: my radishes are up. I took heart and planted some beets and turnips after the bike ride. I should develop a garden plan. Mostly I look at the open ground, look at the seeds I have, pick out one I want, and plant a row. Zen gardening. I'm getting a little better: I try not to plant the same plants in the same place, especially tomatoes and greens, and I try to avoid the shadow of the tree that's beside my garden. This year's experiment will be putting a raised bed behind my garage where there used to be an alley. Putting together the raised bed involved a hand drill and took me a couple of hours. My sister the graphics artist probably could have done it in 15 minutes.
The most I had ridden this year before Sunday was 30 miles. The most Judy had ridden was 24 miles. We rode 47 miles. Fortunately it was pretty flat and the winds weren't too bad (10 mph) but still we were tired by the end. Actually I was tired half way thru, Judy was OK. Thank God for SAG stops and cookies. You know, when you're tired you don't notice the route much and it's not as much fun. You just look at the road about 10 feet in front of your bike and try not to think about how far you still have to go. This is not the position you want to be in for the PALM. PALM is meant to be enjoyed. You are on vacation and touring Michigan by bike. My advice would be to be in better shape than I am now when you do PALM. I plan to be.
A little garden update: my radishes are up. I took heart and planted some beets and turnips after the bike ride. I should develop a garden plan. Mostly I look at the open ground, look at the seeds I have, pick out one I want, and plant a row. Zen gardening. I'm getting a little better: I try not to plant the same plants in the same place, especially tomatoes and greens, and I try to avoid the shadow of the tree that's beside my garden. This year's experiment will be putting a raised bed behind my garage where there used to be an alley. Putting together the raised bed involved a hand drill and took me a couple of hours. My sister the graphics artist probably could have done it in 15 minutes.
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