May 15 Deadline for Meals and Buses

If you are like me you are wondering when spring will come. Baseball season has been going on for over 2 weeks now and we are still getting sleet and snow (2-3 inches on Monday). I've been able to ride my bike exactly once, the one Sunday it was warm. 10 miles into the wind, 10 miles back and I was done for the rest of the day. I have a lot of work to do before I'm ready for PALM.

Speaking of PALM, May 15 is the deadline for making changes to your application. (Except fo jerseys. If you wanted a jersey, you had to get your order in by April 1 so that Voler could manufacture them.) So if you sent in your application quickly so that you could reserve your spot on PALM and meant to add meals/busses later, now is the time. The way to do this is to download an application from the website, fill in your name and address, the meals, buses, extra t shirts you want and mail it in to the PALM address with your check and a stamped self addressed envelope. (The stamped self addressed envelope is so that I can send you a new confirmation letter.) The meal totals we have now are about 20 below the meals totals from last year when we had 100 fewer people on the ride so I know that there are people out there who haven't ordered their meals yet. Do it now.

May 15 is also the last day that you can cancel from PALM and get a refund (minus a cancellation fee of $15 for an individual, $20 for a whole application). Cancellations must be done in writing, no emails are accepted. And please include a stamped self addressed envelope so that we can mail the check back to you. There will be no refunds after May 15 for any reason.

Meet Your Bike

Here is a nice video that does a good job of showing all the various parts of a bike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l-ZAbZ1Rzs&feature=related

This may help clarify what us bike geeks are talking about around the dinner table each evening on PALM.

How to fit your bike Video

This month's video's are all about fit. Every year I see a lot of riders whose bikes do not fit properly or wear their helmets improperly.

This first explains how to adjust your bike to fit your body:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fsr7yYShD8&feature=player_embedded

This next is how to fit you helmet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yzSwxWIJTk&feature=player_embedded

Remember that helmets are required on PALM whenever you are riding your bike, even in the school parking lot.

Again, let me know if you have any questions or if there are any topics you would like covered.

Back From Florida

When we got back from Florida, the temperature went up to the 50's for 2 days and all of the snow that accumulated for two months melted. It was amazing. It was like we brought Florida back with us, except the green grass was replaced by brown and it was covered with two months of debris. The day we left for Florida, I got a bunch of PALM apps that I wasn't able to process. When I got back, I got another bunch of PALM apps to process. Welcome back.

I processed the first batch and when I checked  I caught a lot of mistakes that I then had to correct. The second batch I processed had 10 applications without a stamped self addressed envelope for the confirmation letters which I then had to supply. It took from Wednesday when I got back to Saturday to process all the applications and mail out the confirmations. Then Sunday we were hit by 10 inches of snow, more what than the "storm of the century" gave us. Later in the week we got another 4 inches or so. All the snow that had melted was back.

Because I was in Florida I missed the February potluck that kicks off the Garden Resource Program. There is nothing better than getting together with a bunch of enthusiatic gardeners in February when there is no hope of spring. The best  I could do was help out in the seed packing. There are 1700 people who get seeds from the Garden Resource Program. The seeds are brought in bulk and then split into individual  seed packets by volunteers. There are seed packing parties all over the city. Our group packed Kentucky Wonder pole beans into 1400 envelopes. It took over 2 hours and we were all sick of beans by the end. Then it was off to Calendula seeds. One of our group was a middle aged woman who had done the Michigander several times. I got to talk up PALM. We weren't any closer to spring but we were surrounded by seeds and bike riding anyway.

Florida Weekend

Every year in February I try to spend a long weeknd in Florida. By February it's been winter for 2 months and you can't remember going out  without mittens, a down jacket, and a  goofy hat that covers your ears. This winter has been especially brutal for me. It got cold and snowed in the first week of December and the snow never went away, only accumulated. I run in the morning and there were a lot of mornings in the low teens. You have to wear so many clothes. The day that we left for Florida it was 6 degrees when I ran.

The first challenge to going to Florida in February  is packing. Every year I have to persuade myself to take a short sleeve shirt and suntan lotion. They seem so exotic in February. Another problem is that what you wear to the airport you are stuck with the whole time in Florida. You don't want to take a down jacket especially if you are paying for luggage. I dress in layers. Of course all those layers have to come off for airport security. (If you are only going for a weekend, you can't drive.) But it's all worth it  if you stand outside without wearing a coat and see  sunshine and green somewhere.

This year I went Feb 11-15 to Jacksonville, Florida for the Breast Cancer Marathon. I ran it with my brother and my sister who is a survivor. We finished it the same day we started: a victory. Note we are casting shadows. (Remember the sun? Another casualty of winter in Michigan.) And in the background. Is that green? And my brother is wearing shorts and a t shirt. (Remember it was 6 degrees when I left.)

The next day we went on a short bike tour of San Marco in short sleeve shirts. It was in the 70's. So I got a February ride in. (I have to mention bikes somewhere. This is a blog about PALM after all.)

One of the best things about staying in Jacksonville Beach was that I got to run on the beach at dawn. The sun comes right out of the sea. You see all of the colors of the sunrise reflected in the water. And since it is winter you don't have to get up all that early to do it. I know, I know, I should be processing those PALM applications. I'll get back to them soon, I promise. Winter will win out.

Safe Cycling for Adults from the NHTSA

Our first cycling video comes to us from the LAB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It provides us a general overview of safe cycling on the road:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdrrxIpQpt4&playnext=1&list=PL20CCC0D547D6115C&index=10

And, from a real Road 1 (now Taffic 101) class, is a little more detail on the ABC Quickcheck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VziOIkNXsE

As always, let me know if you have any questions.

Bike Videos

Now that the PALM registration rush has finished, it is time to start thinking about preparing for the ride itself.

To start, here again is the link to the Traffic 101 on-line course that contains most of the material that I will be covering during the PALM evening classes: http://www.bikeed.org

This free course is endorsed by the LAB and will give you the basics of safe cycling.

I plan on posting links to various bike safety and maintenance videos over the next few months. If you have any requests for a particular aspect of cycling, please let me know.