KZBrian

Ride across the state with 700 others.

I have done this ride eight times so far, and will go again this year.

It is one of the most affordable week long rides.

Pitch your tent on a school field each night, pack it on a truck in the morning and take off on your bike.

Daily mileage averages 45 miles, or 65 miles if you choose the optional route. There is a century option on Wednesday.

Breakfast and supper are available at each site, if you purchase the optional meal plan.

Ride Dates:

Saturday, June 22

through

Friday, June 28


Registration for 2019 is open now.


www.palmbiketour.org


Details on this year's tour, with daily maps linked:

https://www.palmbiketour.org/palm-2019/

bobwysiwyg

Looks like a great ride opportunity. Sadly, I doubt I could manage the daily average.. for a week.
Hope it's a great success.

KZBrian

Thanks Bob!
The mileage is not as daunting as it first seems. You have all day to get to the next site, so you are free to stop and explore ,or take a break any time.
Instead of wearing down, I find I get stronger throughout the week.

bobwysiwyg

I have been diddling with the numbers since my post. I can do 40 easily, sort of in 3.5 hours, my annual ride around a lake and my wife and I rode 14 the next day, no issues at all. So.. if I eased up and spread it over a day... ?
We vacation in the South Haven area every year.

smontanaro 

My wife and I own a building in South Haven. Will have to give it some thought...

Dfreeman617 

I just signed up and am looking forward to it.

chas58

I keep thinking I want to do that ride in one day (MI C2C - Coast to Coast in June), then I think that would just be painful. A week sounds like more fun.

I did the shoreline west - that was a nice ride (with a day off in the middle if you wish). My wife and I would just take our time, enjoy the day, and chuckle at the lycra guys who sprinted to the end every morning (yeah, normally I might do that). The most important part of getting in shape for that is to make sure your derriere is comfortable with that much time in the saddle.

We enjoyed doing the ride on fatter tires. (40mm for her, 55mm for me). I was surprised that almost everyone seemed to be on 20 something road tires. Given the low rolling resistance of larger tires, I think something between 35 and 40mm would be the sweet spot for a tour like that.

Jim from Boston

I agree:

BlazingPedals

Yeah, with any tour, toughening up the sitz bones is the main challenge. Unless you have a recumbent, of course. 45 miles a day is nothing, especially given that the route is fairly flat. If you start at 8:00 and ride at a moderate 12 mph, you're done by lunch time.

"Fred"

I have always wanted to try this ride. sounds fun!

mattbur

Fred, If you're kicking around about signing up for the ride...do it soon. I registered for it this past weekend and my bib number was over 600. There's only 700 spots available.

Tony

BlazingPedals

I've just registered for DALMAC, which runs from Lansing to Mackinaw. I'm doing the relatively-easy 5-day West route, 338 miles in 5 days, about 70 miles per day with a slightly easier last day.

mattbur

Looks like a nice ride. I'll have to keep that one in mind for next year. Is it relatively flat like PALM.

Tony

Phamilton

I've never done a ride like this. It sounds great. West to east, should be a tailwind most of the way. Maybe I can take a week off of work to do it, I've been wanting to do something like this for a while. I think I might be able to manage the miles, it doesn't sound like that much. My commute is 25 miles daily.

BlazingPedals

It starts flat but gets hillier as you move north. As 'state rides' go, it's flatter than most, but there are some climbs. Time in the saddle each day is still the most challenging aspect.

mattbur

Got back from PALM last night. Great ride for sure. I never seemed to catch many of those "west to east" winds though. The first two or so days were seemingly steady southeast winds. Still had a great time and will be signing up for next years ride for sure. I was hoping for a few challenging hills but the ride was pretty much flattish with some nice rolling sections. Staying at high schools each night afforded us decent shower accommodations and a decent place to eat the prepared meals. All and all an A+.

KZBrian

This year had fewer hills than normal, and fewer tail winds. I was short on training miles going in, and really felt the southeast wind on our south-east-south-east Sunday route. The rest of the week I felt much better, and by Wednesday was feeling strong.

The site volunteers did a great job running the sites, and many of the towns we went through were very welcoming.


Having all the maps on RidewithGPS was a big help. This was the first year I used them. That gives an audible direction for each turn and notifies of railroad crossings and fruit stops well in advance.