Happy New Year

The First Dozen was on January 1. The high was supposed to be 25. I got a call from a diehard Wolverine Bike club member. She said it was too cold and she wasn't going to ride. I went outside to get the bicycle pump out of my car. The wind was blowing, it was cold, and I hadn't preregistered. I decided not to do it and decided to jog instead. (Biking is always colder than running.) The first 1/2 mile was against the wind and I was really cold. The street was a sheet of ice so I thought that I made the right decision. Later on in the run I warmed up and it wasn't bad. I looked at the main roads: perfectly clear. And to top it off the Wolverine Club member called me up. She did the ride and wanted to know where I was. There is a lesson in this. It's either always try to ride before you decide that you can't or don't live where they have winter, I'm not sure which.

I jog outside year round. Winter in SE Michigan is makes jogging doable: it snows, but snow accumulations of over 6 inches are rare. Granted it doesn't go away, but it does get trampled down. It gets cold, but a winter can go by where it doesn't get to zero. My hands and my face are what get cold. I found a new set of gloves to wear under my mittens now my hands are good. I have a Poletec bandana that I can use to cover my face so that's OK too. I jog in the morning. Not many people are out. Emanuel Stewart lives in my neighborhood and occasionally I see one of his boxers (who leaves me in the dust). It's a kick to be the first one to make tracks in fresh snow. It's different being the first bike to make tracks in the snow. I try to avoid that.

I sent the mailing list for the 2010 PALM applications to the printer today (January 3). There were 3417 addresses for applications. You can still email us your mailing address and we'll put you on the mailing list. We printed up and stamped some extra applications to mail out and we'll try to get you one of those. However the staffer who volunteered to do this (Ellie) slipped on the ice and broke the wrist of the hand she writes with. It seems to be one of the prerequisites for working on registration. She is the one who answers all the email. She's gamely pressing on but you'll notice that her answers are getting shorter. Meanwhile I'm getting the application program ready for this year's registration. (New application fields, changes to the database and the confirmation letter.) I made the changes but I need to test them before the first batch of applications come in.