More Winter, Request for Help, Application Update

Last Thursday was the first cold day this winter. I consider any day that has a temperature below 10 as a cold day and it was 6. But winter is only starting since I still have tomatoes from the summer that I've wrapped in newspaper until they ripen. (Or rot. It's about 50/50.) On these short, gray days I'm losing the summer. I need to add a page to the web site that describes the 2007 PALM, but I need help. I remember that we started off with three hot days and then had a day of rain. I remember that I missed a turn on the first day and ended up doing the Saturday optional (17 miles) and then having to do the full Sunday ride (48 miles plus a 6 mile detour because of construction). The optional was beautiful, but it was a real letdown to arrive back at Spring Lake in the afternoon and realize that we had the whole ride ahead of us in the heat of the day. I also remember Elsie and the giant Elsie the Cow in the town square. (A family from Wisconsin did point out to me that perhaps Elmer would have been a better name. Hey, I'm a city kid.) I don't remember enough. I need your help. Could you send me some memories you have of PALM 2007 so that I can include them?

I've gotten the proof of the PALM 2008 application back from the printer and I'm reviewing it. I'm hoping to be able to fax back corrections to the printer on Monday. I hope I'm catching all the typos and the changes that I should have made. Do you know how hard it is to proof a release? You actually have to read it and more than once. Solitary would be better.

Winter and Bikes

In my last post I said that in Michigan biking was a 7 or 8 month activity. I have to make a correction. For me biking in Michigan is a 7 or 8 month activity. Last Saturday I was running on Hines Drive (since for me at least, running is a 12 month activity) and I saw bikers, at least 20 of them. I saw more bikers than runners or walkers. It looks like biking is a 12 month activity after all.

In my last post I also touted the First Dozen ride in Dearborn. I'm going to be more careful in what I say. There was a winter storm on New Year's Eve in Michigan. I drove home from visiting with friends at 1:30 AM, taking M59 and Telegraph and it wasn't a pretty. But because I talked about it, I now had to do the First Dozen. The mayor of Dearborn (who lived 2 blocks away) was supposed to start us off, but he was a no show (not an election year for him). Since my wife didn't talk up the First Dozen, she could stay at home like a sensible person, but not me. There were about 100 people there and the roads were 95% clear. Still some slush but no black ice - better than I deserve. I didn't need sunscreen and, with the snow sticking to the trees, it was a winter wonderland. I hadn't ridden my mountain bike in months. (The air pressure in my tires was 20 when I went to pump up the tires.) When I tried to use the gears on the back wheel, they didn't work. I could only shift the front chain ring. Fortunately SE Michigan is flat and a couple of gears spaced far apart sufficed But boy did my toes get cold.

Winter in Michigan

I once worked with a guy who told me that the Michigan state color was Overcast. That is the best one word description of what winter is like in Michigan. Compared to the rest of the Midwest it's not really that cold and, on the east side if the state where I live, it doesn't really get that much snow. But you don't get to see the sky or daylight very much. Winter makes biking a 7-8 month activity. This year I didn't bike at all in November and the only ride in December was one on the Pinellas Trail in Florida. I'm not sure I can count that one. Any ride where you pass both Christmas decorations and oranges on a trees seems bogus.

Well, what can you do bikewise in Michigan in the winter? One thing, if you live in SE Michigan, is to ride the 1st Dozen on January 1st in Dearborn, put on by the Cycling Saddlemen. About 150-200 people who look like the Michelin man do it most every year. One year they played "The Ride of the Valkaries" as we rode off. Another thing is to be sure that you are on the mailing list for the PALM. Then, at the end of January, when all hope is gone and all memory of anything but mittens and down jackets has faded away, there appears in your mailbox a PALM application and the promise of Summer. Even though all you see is tundra, the days are getting longer. (Click here to email us your mailing address.)

PALM 2008 Begins For Me

We've already had three meetings on PALM 2008, picked a route, contacted the schools, and laid out a tentative route but for me the work for PALM began last Thursday. Other staff members are working on sites and doing the route. My wife and I do the registration and that starts with the application. Last Thursday I met with the printer and went over the changes that were needed for this year's application. If you've looked at the web site (http://www.lmb.org/palm) , you know that the registration rates have gone up: it's now $110 for adults (18 and over), $65 for young people ( 11 thru 17), $55 for children (10 and under), and $75 for non-riders. The bus fees have gone up to $45. It ends up that even though we sold out the last 2 years, we lost money both years, last year more than the year before. Our costs have gone up and, with no reasonable prospect of their going down, we had no choice.

Again, if you've checked the web site you'll notice that this year's PALM is a southern route. New Buffalo to Dowagaic, Sturgis, Coldwater, Hudson, Tecumseh and ending at Sterling State Park in Monroe. This year's ride will be shorter than last year's. (We checked and found that last year's PALM was the longest six day PALM that we've ever had. No wonder I was so tired after the ride.) For those of you that do the optional century ride, we are trying to route one that will include Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.




And we will have a ride jersey this year. (We didn't have one last year and we heard about it.) It will be $40 and must be ordered by April 1st. It will be part of the application.

This year's application will have a new release form. While it will require a smaller font (oh, those clever lawyers), it should be clearer which signatures are required for participants under the age of 18, with or without accompanying guardian/parents, and where to make the signatures. Given the questions and mistakes that we had last year, the wording that we had was not clear enough.

We will be mailing our applications 1st class (as always) so that everyone receives their application at the same time (within a day or two). We won't be putting the application onto the website until 2 weeks after we do the mailing. If you check the rider statistics on our web site, you will see that we have a lot of riders over 50 some of whom have ridden with us for years. Some of us are not friends with the internet and we want to give them a fair chance. (Last year the ride sold out in six weeks which caught a lot of people off guard.) If you want to get on the mailing list and get this 2 week head start, email us at palmbiketour@yahoo.com

PALM 2007 Pictures

I have posted my PALM pictures at www.kodakgallery.com/eknesper/palm. If you would like me to send you any of the pictures as email attachments, just send an email to palmbiketour@yahoo.com. Be sure to describe the picture(s) so that I will send the right ones.

Ellie

Patch Contest Rules

Each year PALM accepts original patch designs for the following year. One winning entry is chosen, and the designer receives a free registration fee for the next PALM ride. The patch design contest rules are:

1. Entries should be postmarked by the end of
September. You can send a hard copy (PALM, P.O. Box
7161, Ann Arbor, MI 48107) or as an attachment to an
email (palmbiketour@yahoo.com)-- just send to the PALM
address or web site.
2. Use oval, diamond, sqaure, circle, etc. We
prefer those that do not create undue problems with
the shape. An irregular shape is more expensive.
3. We prefer a size about 3.5 inches by 4.5
inches.
4. Colors should be pretty basic, so that it is
not too difficult to reproduce.
5. Patch should include the year and ride number
(this will be 2008 and PALM 27). The numbers do not need to be in
Roman numerals.
6. Patch designs can be drawn by hand or be computer generated.
6. It is helpful if your name is on the entry in
such a way that it is easy to hide from the committee
when we vote. All patches are viewed with the identy
of the artist unknown.
7. We try to make the decision by the end of
November. All entrants will be notified and all
non-winning entries returned.

Good luck, and we look forward to receiving your entry.

PALM Fall Planning Meeting

The PALM bicycle trip each June is planned by an all volunteer committee, with members from all parts of Michigan. Any PALM participant is welcome to become part of this planning group. We meet on Sunday afternoons about every six weeks in Lansing, beginning with a potluck in September. This year's initial planning meeting will be held on Sunday, September 9 at 2:00 P.M. In addition to catching up with friends, we will elect ( or re-elect) the officers (and Board): Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and member-at-large. We fill as many other staff positions as we can, usually by finding any willing candidate. Probably the most crucial part of the meeting is selecting the route. By tradition it should be a "southern route", i.e. mostly below I-94. Committee members present route suggestions at the meeting, and the committee then votes to select the route for PALM 2008.
If you are interested in being part of the planning for PALM 2008, please send an email to www.palmbiketour@yahoo.com. We will then send you directions to the picnic/meeting. We are always looking for new ideas and we encourage you to join in the planning process.

Ellie, PALM Mail Granny