The New Year

It's hard to realize at winter solstice that we won't be on PALM until summer solstice. But at least the days are getting longer and we are in the same calendar year as the next PALM. And, given the weather that we've had the last 2 weeks, we have nothing more to fear about winter: we can get more, but we can't get worse. The two things that wear on me in winter is the lack of daylight and the lack of color. Winter is a black and white movie. That's why I value cardinals and put out bird seed for them every day (even though the squirrels get most of it). Their red color seems like an act of rebellion.

I rode the First Dozen in Dearborn today. I was supposed to be the Ride Captain for the Ann Arbor bike club. There were about 125 bundled riders (but none from the Ann Arbor bike club: go figure). It's hard to believe how cold 26 degrees can be. I put on two sets of gloves and two pairs of wool socks but my hands and feet were still cold. My wife stayed home and she had a point. But it was good to see people biking: I know the pedestrians we passed appreciated us. They'll have stories to tell.

I was putting together some information on this year's sites for the website and I noticed that every place we stay this year has less than 3,000 people in it as of the 2000 census. Grant had 880 people in it in 2000. This might be a good year to consider buying the meals on PALM. Can you imagine 700 people looking for breakfast and dinner in a town of 880? Talk about locusts. Remember: to get on PALM you just have to pay the registration ($110 for riders 18 and older, $65 for riders 11 thru 17, and $55 for riders 10 and under). You have up to May 15 to add/change meals and bus rides.

Happy Holidays

Hope everyone had a happy holiday. I got to catch up with lots of my family and friends. Hasn't the weather been bizarre the last week, even by Michigan standards? On the Friday before Christmas we get 10 inches of snow. Then Sunday it goes down to 3 degrees with a wicked wind. More snow on Tuesday, followed by lots of rain on Christmas Eve. The Saturday after Christmas it goes up t0 56 degrees, all the snow melts and we have flood warnings. And winter is just starting. How can January top this?

The good news is that the part that was backordered for my mountain bike came in and I have it back, in time for the 1st Dozen ride on January 1. I checked the weather: no snow, but 26 degrees. I tried to ride one cold 1st Dozen using long fingered bike gloves. Bad mistake. My hands froze. It was painful. Now I use the same thinsulate winter gloves that I usually wear outside. It's fun to see what everyone wears. Generally riders wear so many clothes that if they fall, they can roll to the finish. I have friends who used to live in the condos by the start. The first year that they were there, they watched several hundred people unload bikes New Year's Day and wanted to know what was happening. And then the mayor of Dearborn showed up and everyone started to bike to the "Ride of the Valkyries". It made quite an impression.

I'm keeping the PALM mailing list. There are over 3100 people on it so far and I'm still adding new names. It's not too late to get on it. Just email us your home address and we'll send you a PALM application by 1st class mail. It's the quickest way to get a PALM application since the application won't be on the PALM website until a week after the applications are mailed.