We jumped from about 250 participants to 414 on the Tuesday after the MLK holiday. When we only got applications for 50 riders on Wednesday, I thought that we could make it thru the week before PALM filled. Wrong. We jumped to 637 on Thusday and then got applications for 200 more people on Friday. We are filled. If your application is postmarked on or before Jan 19 you are on PALM, otherwise you are not.
A word about this: we don't like turning away people from PALM. All of the staff are volunteers. We do this because we love PALM. To tell someone that they cannot be on the ride that you can't imagine living without is very painful. We try to do what we can. Everyone who didn't make it this year will be added to the mailing list. (And once again, the best chance you have of being on PALM is being on the mailing list.) Each year I create an email list of everyone who has missed the cutoff. When we start to fill, I email warnings. This year I did it on Saturday when I saw that we had 250 participants after only 2 days. People do miss PALM, but we do what we can.
I'm starting to enter applications on the computer and send out confirmation letters. Today I'll be sending out confirmations for all the applications that we received on Friday Jan 15 . I'm up to 175 so I have about 600 more people to enter. It will take Vickie and I weeks to check the applications for errors, enter them into the computer, and mail out confirmation letters. We'll be returning the checks of the applications that didn't make it to us in time, with regrets, starting today. Unless you mailed in your application the day you received it, you don't want to hear from us for a while. Ellie has been keeping track of the applications we have received. Wait two weeks. If you really got to know if you are on the ride, email us then and Ellie will tell you. But wait two weeks. If you haven't received your check back by then, the chances are very good that you are on the ride. Your application would have to be lost in the mail and, if we receive it even weeks later and it has a post mark of Jan 19 or earlier, you are on the ride. Remember Ellie is the one with the broken wrist. Give her a break (no pun intended).
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2 comments:
Whaaaah, I didn't get in.
If anyone is on the PALM trip and finds out you can't make it, PLEASE write to me !! robinderousse(at)juno(dot)com or call 734-769-6616 and leave a msg.
I can buy your spot(s) and you'll have your money now instead of waiting until July. :o) Robin
Hi,
The PALM is a great ride. The volunteers who run it do an exellent job year after year. It's no wonder it's popularity has grown.
It's a shame that so many people miss the chance to go. I bet there are enough people who want to ride the PALM this year, that two rides and maybe even three rides would fill up if they were offered.
It's a lot of work for the unpaid volunteers to organize the PALM, it isn't reasonable to expect them to organize an extra ride.
With so many people interested in going, I bet that if you put out a call for volunteers to plan a 2nd ride for next year, and offered to help train them with the system you have perfected over the years, you would get enough people to plan a second ride, and with two dates, you wouldn't have to send out so many rejection letters and more people could ride.
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