First time?

I am the person who, the the past two years, is answering the PALM phone and responding to PALM emails. In the past few days, we have had lots of anxious emails and calls from folks who will be doing PALM for the first time. As the PALMWebGuy said in his recent post, part of the job of the person answering the phone is to reassure all the worried people. Many of you are wondering just what you have gotten yourself in for. Have confidence in yourself! If you have been doing some riding and are ready for an adventure, you will most likely have a great time. My first time on PALM was on PALM III. Two friends and I signed up for the ride to celebrate one of the birthday milestones. I hadn't ridden much since I was a kid, and I had a rather heavy, somewhat old Schwinn 10 speed. Because I was working full time and had two young children, I had only ridden about 250 miles total that spring, with my longest ride being 30 miles. Like this year, the first day on PALM was just under 50 miles, and I remember celebrating when we got to forty miles -- my longest ride in one day ever! That year's ride was a true adventure, taking us through Kensington Metro Park and past the Pontiac Silverdome. I thought I finished the ride with energy to spare -- and then fell sound asleep on top of my luggage, waiting for the bus to take us home. I also remember feeling very amazed the next time my family drove across Michigan, as I remembered bicycling the same distance, all under my own power. As the years went by, each of my daughters rode PALM with me several times, and one even wrote her college essays about how great she felt when she dunked her wheels into Lake Erie at the end of her first PALM.
This year looks like it will be one of our warmer PALM's, so we will drink lots of water and take our rests under big trees along country roads. We will make friends as we wait in the usual food lines, discover how big the ice cream cones are that we buy in the small towns, and will experience life at a slower pace for a few days. And at the end, many of us will find it hard to return to the real world. But then, there is always PALM 27 to think about! See you all on Saturday!

Ellie, PALM "Mail Granny"

First PALM ride

My wife and I did our first PALM in 1995. We were going to do the MS150 in July and wanted to get some miles in (We had never ridden 75 miles before and were going to do it two days in a row). We had never done a week long tour. The only camping we had ever done was on a canoe trip with a ski club. I'm not sure that counts as camping. We were not sure we were doing the right thing so we called the PALM number in January. For those of you who have been on PALM, you know who answered the phone: Doris West. You also know that we were on the phone for more than 20 minutes. We were reassured, persuaded, and convinced that we were doing the right thing. There was no other choice. We borrowed a tent from a friend, purchased self inflating air mattresses (a must!), and signed up.

In 1995 PALM went from Bridgeman (which has a nuclear power plant) to Monroe State Park (which also has a nuclear power plant). It rained almost every day. But the tent didn't leak and we always found shelter when it rained more than a sprinkle so we didn't notice it that much. (Later we thought that we should redesign the ride t-shirt to have cooling towers at the start and finish and lightening bolts on all the sites in between.) We stayed at a lot of smaller, older high schools. There were a lot of cold showers. It was our first bike tour and we didn't know what to expect so we thought that this was just the way it was. At the first nightly meeting, someone asked where was Kevin. Who's Kevin? We didn't know. Afterwards I overheard a staff members talking, saying what a bad impression first timers must have of PALM. We had a good time and didn't know what they were talking about.

We've ridden PALM every year since. It's the only week long tour that we've ever done. (Part of that is that I switched jobs and only had 2 weeks vacation for 5 years.) We found out that sometimes it doesn't rain at all on PALM, that cold showers are an exception, and who Kevin is. If this is your first time on PALM these are all things that you will find out for yourself (and you'll see Doris West.) On our first PALM, we rode with a friend and basically hung out with him. Don't do this. Talk to people on PALM. One of the points of PALM is you can talk to complete strangers and meet some neat people. After a while you'll know how to put your tent up and tear it down. You'll find out what you should never have taken (and that if you need it, you can buy it. You are still in America.) You'll be able to recognise a sunset. And on this year's PALM, you'll know what's in the town square of Elsie, MI and why.

What Shape is Your Bike In?

I just read in another forum that someone who is doing PALM was checking over their bike and found their frame had a crack in one of the chain stays. With only two weeks to go, they were worried they may not have a bike for the ride. Luckily, things worked out well for him. Not only did the manufacturer give him full warranty credit and send him a new frame, but he actually got an upgrade. He is all set for PALM.

So, the question comes up: What shape is your bike in? If you have not already had your bike into the shop for a check-up and tune-up now is the time. You don’t want to wait to pick your bike up the day before PALM and not get a ride in to be sure everything is alright. Nor should you make any major equipment changes without a significant checkout ride before PALM.

Every year, I personally work on, or refer to the PALM bike shops, bikes that the owners tell me they just had in for a tune-up. Some tune-ups, and bike shops, are better than others.

Two weeks from now, you will have completed your first 50 miles (or more) of PALM, had a shower, dinner, attended the all riders meeting and, hopefully, attended my nightly Effective Cycling class.

Get out there and ride.

First 50 Miler

While I've been biking since the first of the year and have about a total of 400 miles in on all my bikes, today I did my first 50 mile ride. It was a wonderful weather day with only a little wind. I rode the "Blue Water Circle Tour" route which entails riding to Algonac, taking the ferry to Canada, riding up the Canadian shore of the St Clair River and taking a second ferry back to the US at Marine City. It's part of the Blue Water ramble route. US customs were especially suspicious today (maybe because of the power boat races in Algonac). They even made me unzip my rack pack and show them the contents. Good thing I wasn't smuggling an illegal alien in there today.

If you haven't been riding in preparation for PALM, now's the time to get going. Only three more weeks of preparation time left. In addition to your base miles, be sure to have a few 50 milers in before PALM. It's the only way to prepare for long days in the saddle.

Summer Riding

Tuesday was the first day that it felt like summer riding. The sun was out, it had a little humidity, and the wind wasn't bad. I rode in bike shorts and a t shirt. I didn't even think about a jacket or tights. On our route we ride around Belle Isle. It's a great place to ride: there's water all around and the cars there are not in a hurry to get some place. The first warm day when school is still in session can be busy on Belle Isle. But on Tuesday, it wasn't bad at all.

Tuesday was also the first day that I rode with two water bottles. Summer is the time when you have to watch your hydration. Every year on PALM I'm amazed to find riders that don't have water bottles or camel backs. Some of the bikes don't even have water bottle cages. Biking is an exercise that you can do in hot weather. The heat feels worse when you stop. But you have to drink enough water. You feel cool on a bike but only because your sweat is evaporating to make you cool. If you feel bad on a bike ride, the most likely culprit is that you haven't been drinking enough water. On a long distance ride the goal is to eat and drink continuously.

First warm day: that also means that it is time to start seriously on my garden. Back to work! My plants, seeds, and bulbs are calling.

Metro Grand

Today was the day Judy and I were going to try to do 50 miles for the first time this year at the Metro Grand. How did we do? Well, first of all, it ended up to be 47 miles for us since this year we didn't lose the car. By the time we started, the temperature was in the mid 50's and we had bright sun. For once I was humble enough to take what I thought would be too many clothes. I wore everything: tights, long sleeve shirt, jersey, and jacket. It's hard to believe that 60 degrees is so chilly so soon after winter.

The news of the day was the wind. SW Michigan is flat and it gets flatter the closer you get to Ohio. We biked within sight of the Fermi plant cooling towers, so we were pretty far south. When it's flat and you are in farm land, there is nothing to block the wind. The forecast called for 10 mph winds. It was 18-20 mph and from the east. This meant that the first 13 miles we rode against the wind. We were crawling: 10, 11 mph. We were praying for hills, anything to block the wind. We did have the wind at our backs later for 9 miles which was nice, but we were dog tired. We have a lot of work to do to be ready for the PALM.

One thing we were able to practice was crossing railroad tracks. We crossed about 10 sets: good, bad, and very bad. One set had bolts sticking over an inch above the tie. They looked like they could tear the tires off of trucks. You are supposed to cross railroad tracks at a 90 degree angle. That keeps your wheel from getting caught in the gap next to the rail. Frequently used rails are slippery especially if wet or greasy. You can easily fall. One of our good friends broke her hip carefully crossing railroad tracks. If that isn't enough there are the trains themselves. One innocent set of tracks in the middle of the park today had an oncoming train. We took no chances and walked a lot of the tracks.

Training for PALM: April

While the weather for the first half of April was horrible for biking, gardening, and baseball, there can be few complaints about the last half. For one thing, all the rain happened during the work week and all the sun was on the weekends. I was able to ramp up by biking. I'm riding with the frequency I want (typically 3 times a week) but not the distance. At least I can sit on a bike seat for significant periods of time. And Judy had the first flat of the season (at the end of a ride, a mile from home) so we've gotten that out of the way. Last weekend we went with Kevin to see "Gone With The Wind" on Friday and then rode 37 miles with him on Saturday. Both took about four hours with intermissions and both left us pretty tired. This weekend is the Metro Grand ride in SW Michigan. We will be trying to go 50 miles for the first time this year. It will be in the 60's and there will be pancakes.

I want to remind those of you registered for PALM that you can add/drop meals and bus rides until June 1 and there is no penalty. Carson City, Millington, and Almont are small towns and it may be difficult to get food there. Consider getting the meals for at least these cities. In reality the meals on PALM are community events. They are the times when you can see everyone who is on the ride and talk to them. Consider getting some meals just for that.

Currently we have 4 buses going from St. Clair to Spring Lake on June 23 at the beginning of the ride. The buses hold 56 people and we have 224 people signed up. There will be some cancellations, but there currently is very limited seating (that is, no seating: 4 times 56 = 224) on the June 23 buses from St. Clair to Spring Lake.