Last Sunday Jan23 was the PALM meeting, Everyone was amazed by how quickly PALM filled up this year. We are using the postmark on the application to determine whether the application made it on time or not. If the application is postmarked Jan 18 or earlier, the application was accepted. With this date we accepted 783 riders and 69 staff (including site people, SAGs, bike shops, truck drivers, etc.). Since the meeting a few more applications postmarked Jan 18 have trickled in. As it stands now, we'll have over 850 people on PALM. So much for the 700 rider cutoff. We trying to determine if the this year's sites can handle the extras. So far it looks like there is enough camping room, but one site's cafeteria can only hold 250 people. We may have to go with extended meal times.
There was a discussion on how we can guarantee that everyone gets the application at the same time. US mail, even 1st class US mail, isn't the answer. One staff member who lives 40 miles from Ann Arbor didn't receive his application until Jan 18 even though it was mailed Jan 13. We have riders who are in Florida, Arizona, and Alabama when the applications are mailed. It takes days for them to receive their applications. Mailing the application a day early wasn't enough. Then there's the MLK holiday. If you got your application before the holiday, it gave you some extra time to fill it out. If you didn't get your application before the holiday, you were dead. We are still trying to figure this all out.
I do the final step of registration which includes mailing out the confirmation letters. I got applications for 8 people at the meeting so that I could check out my programs for this year. It took me a couple of days to enter these applications. Now I'm just 850 behind. Ah well, a journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.
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3 comments:
It's a shame that so many people are excluded from enjoying your great bicycling adventure just because of a postal circumstance. Even though you may think that you cannot raise the rider limit past 700, you may be surprised. I have ridden GRABAAWR (Wisconsin) for several years and they usually have 1000 or so riders. Their organization and atmosphere seems very similar to that of PALM. I wonder if your executive board has ever considered collaborating with some of the larger events to see how they pull it off? It sure would be nice to see a few more shining faces on the Michigan bike trail!
The PALM planning committee has put a lot of time and effort into deciding on the best size for the ride. This isn't a quick decision. We consider lots of things, like road condition, number of volunteer sags and truck drivers we can recruit, size of schools, size of cafeterias. We have a couple of cafeterias this year that will seat 200 -- even with our current rider limit, we will be waiting in longer lines.
I assume you noticed all the ways we are different from GRABAAWR. We charge $110, they charge $300. Our bus is $45, theirs is $70. Our meals are $75 for the week, theirs are $175. We are fairly flexible about luggage, they have a strict 2 bag limit. We have many families with young children; they have an 8 year old mininum age requirement. Our daily distances are mostly under 50, theirs range from 55-85. Wisconsin country roads are in general smooth and uncrowded; Michigan's are the opposite. In other words, these are very different rides, with very different types of riders, and different requirements.
We aren't turning people away because of a "postal circumstance." We are turning people away because way more people applied than we feel can be safely accommodated on PALM. Raising the rider limit affects the quality of the ride for those on it. We are working on ways to take at least some of the problems with the postal dept. out of the "who is accepted" equation. However, that won't change the fact that we are turning away many people. Obviously we are doing something right. Maybe the rider limit is part of the attraction.
Thank you for your understand.
I agree with the committee's decision to cap the ride around 700-800. It's not fun to finish a ride on a hot day and face lines for showers and meals. Compound that anxiety when you have a young child on the road with you!
However, the lack of online registration still baffles me. My suggestion is to guarantee spots to those stubborn PALM veterans who insist on not getting online, and letting everyone else know that the online site will "go live" on a certain date.
Because right now you are creating a ton of work for yourselves (the volunteers) when almost all of that work can be automated.
Wishing everyone a great 30th PALM this year.
Ken
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