Download PALM Application Now

You can download the 2012 PALM application by clicking this link. If this link is busy then click this link.

Winter Day

   I did make it to the First Dozen in Dearborn on Jan 1. It was very windy: I was almost blown over by a gust while waiting at a red light. Fortunately the wind was against us on the way out and with us on the way back. There is nothing worse than riding, thinking you are in good shape, only to find when you turn around that you had a strong wind at your back and now have a long way back. It happens to me every year. The temperature was in the 40s so there was no chance of the predicted snow. There was a brief shower at the start but none during the ride. That would have been brutal.

   I checked the Weather website. The average high in January is 33 and the average low is 18. Up until now we may think it's cold but it's not. We've been 10-15 degrees above normal. Until now that is.  Tuesday was a real winter day: it started out at 17 degrees and didn't make it out of the low 20's with a 10-15 mph wind from the northwest. I run in the morning. Running the first time that it is below 20 is hard for me. At the end of the winter when I've done it for 2 months I don't even think about it. But that first time...

   We still haven't had a real snow. I can still see the grass so I know that winter hasn't actually started yet. And yet next week you will be able to download the 2012 PALM application starting at noon on Jan 12. It doesn't seem possible. Generally we are in the depths of winter when the PALM applications go out. So don't forget and tell all your friends: Jan 12 starting at noon download the 2012 PALM application, winter or no winter.

Registering Groups on PALM

   I suggested in a previous post that if you intend to ride with a group, you should have everybody in the group on the same application (ie in the same envelope when mailed). That way you won't have some of your group not making it on PALM because they mailed their application in too late. If everyone is on the same application (envelope) either everyone in the group is on PALM or none of the group is on PALM. (And if the group decides to cancel, it will only cost $20 for the whole group, not $15 apiece.) But what if members of your group are in different states? (We have one family with members in Nebraska and members in Arkansas.) How is everyone going to sign the waiver?

   To get around this, I put the waiver on the website at http://www.lmb.org/palm/files/PALMLiabilityWaiver.pdf. Pick the person who will mail in the application. Have everyone who is remote download the waiver now,  fill it out, and mail it to this person before Jan 12. Then this person can download the application at noon on Jan 12, fill out the application for everyone, sign the waiver him/herself, and include the waivers for everyone else who is remote. Don't forget the business sized stamped self addressed envelope.

   One thing you will notice is that the waiver is 1.3Mg in size and takes a while to download. You may worry about how long it's going to take to download the whole application. Don't worry: the application is about 1/10 the size. I don't know why the waiver alone is so large.

   I mentioned I like to bike at least once every month even during the winter. I hadn't ridden yet this December and it wasn't looking like I would be able to do it. But while I was running yesterday I noticed that there wasn't any wind, that it was partly cloudy, and seemed mild. It was supposed to rain, but it looked like it would hold off for a while. So when I got back, I put on all my cold weather gear, pumped up the tires on my mountain bike (that took a while), and got out. It was about 38 degrees but it didn't seem that bad. My toes got cold at the end,  it started to sprinkle the last few blocks, and my throat got a little sore but I was able to get a 12 mile bike ride in. I was happy. And tomorrow I plan to do the First Dozen bike ride in Dearborn so I will be able to check January off the list. Now if I can get down to Florida sometime in February...

PALM Postcard

   By now everyone should have received a postcard from PALM announcing that PALM will not be mailing out applications this year. Instead you will be able to download the application from http://www.lmb.org/palm starting at noon January 12. Once again, we are doing this so that everyone will be able to get the PALM application at the same time and have an equal chance to get on PALM. We know that not everybody has internet access. We mailed out the postcard early so that riders that don't have internet access have time to make arrangements with friends or locate a public library with internet access. January 12 is a Thursday so libraries and post offices should be open. If you have friends on PALM, check to see if they received this postcard and realize that they will have to download the application from the PALM website.

   Remember  you only have to pay the registration fee right away (same as last year: $110 for participants 18 and above, $65 for participants 11 to 17, $55 for participants 10 and below.) You can add meals and bus rides any time before May 15. Please enclose the completed application page, the signed release page, and a business sized stamped self addressed envelope with your check or money order when you mail in your application. If you are riding with a group, try to get the whole group on the same application (ie in the same envelope). That way either everyone will be on the ride or everyone will not be on the ride. We would like everybody to be on PALM, but the size of the schools that we stay at forces a limit of 700 riders. Best of luck to all.

   No white Christmas but winter is here for sure. I don't think I'm going to be able to get in a December bike ride. My vegetable garden has been put to bed. (I pulled the last carrots, beets, and parsnips at the beginning of December). I leave the flowers in the front of the house alone so that the birds can eat the thistles from the cone flowers and blacked eyed Susans. I got to see some finches in September/October but last week I got to see a pair of downy woodpeckers: all black and white and red. Pretty exciting for Detroit.

PALM 2012 Update

As I said in a prior post, we will not be mailing out the 2012 PALM application as we have done in the past. The only way to get the application will be to download it from the PALM website: http://www.lmb.org/palm. The 2012 PALM application will be available for download starting at Jan 12 noon (EST). This will give you 48 hours to download and mail your application before the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Remember to send both the filled application and the signed release page with your check or money order and a business sized stamped self addressed envelope to PALM; PO Box 7161; Ann Arbor, MI 48107. If you mail your application from a post office, you can have them postmark it right then. This may help you get on the ride (if we get don't 1000 applications all postmarked Jan 12).

There's been a change to the route. We couldn't get Oxford as a site. Instead the Thursday site will be Ortonville. This will mean that the last day's ride will be 45 miles. Usually we keep the mileage for the last day down to 30 - 35 miles to be sure everybody is there in time for the PALM parade, PALM provided lunch, and the return buses. We may have to rethink the parade and have the buses leave later. We'll see.

Yesterday it was in the 50's. I try to ride every month and yesterday seemed my one chance for December. Too bad about the rain. Although the weather kept getting cooler thru November and there was some frost, my fall vegetables didn't seem to be in danger. I didn't pull my carrots and parsnips until the last week in November. (I got a pretty good crop of carrots: good size and no forks. But did I get the ugly parsnips! More like misshapen heads than roots.)  And I didn't pull my beets until the beginning of December. Now with my garden put to bed I have nothing left but winter. At least the grass is still green.

Something Different For 2012

PALM has 700 rider limit. When I first joined staff in 1998, Drew was doing the registration. He would always make a motion to extend the May 1 cutoff date for signing up for PALM. Then 6 years ago we hit 700 riders in April and had to close the ride early. We didn't know what to do. We ended up well over 700 because we were caught off guard. Since then, we've been filling earlier and earlier. Now it's to the point that the ride fills before some of  our out of state riders have gotten their applications. I tried to rectify that by mailing out of state applications and out state applications earlier. But even though we mail out applications 1st class, the mail is not delivered predictably. Our ride chair, who lives 45 miles from where the applications were mailed, received his 4 days after it was mailed and last year the ride closed in 4 days.

We want everyone to have an equal chance of getting on PALM.It is obvious that mailing out applications is not going to do it. So we are going to try something different. We are going to announce a date and post the application on our (new) website for download on that date. Everyone will have a chance of getting the application at the same time as everyone else. This only works if everyone knows we are going to do this and the date on which we are going to do it. To this end we are going to mail out postcards to everyone on our mailing list announcing the date that they will be able to download the application.

As you can see we have our work cut out for us. We will be getting the word out in all kind of ways, this blog being one of them. Please, if you know anyone who is interested on PALM, let them know of this change. The only way to get the PALM 2012 application will be to download it from our website. We will announce the date when it will be available on Facebook, this  blog, our our website. Everyone on the PALM mailing list will receive a postcard with the details. Keep your eye out for an oversized postcard with the PALM logo.

Last Chance Before PALM

Ok, it's only a week before PALM check-in. Are you ready? You still have time to get a few rides in before PALM. As I've often said, it's more about saddle time that fitness when it comes to multi-day rides.

Is your bike ready? You still can get your bike into the shop or service it yourself prior to leaving for PALM. Don't wait for PALM and have to wait in line at the PALM bike shops for service. Make sure you have a proper tube, tire levers, pump, and multi tool in your seat pack so you can take care of minor issues on the road.

See you next Saturday at the PALM check-in.