Recruiting new team members starts in the fall of each year. The youth participants are recruited through the Des Moines school system, through programs such as SUCCESS and Gear-Up, counselors, after school programs,
church groups, and through the court advocate system. Participants range in age from 13 to 18, and the number of youth participating each year is dependent on the number of adult mentors and funds available. Training starts in mid-February with 6 weeks of indoor training 2 nights a week. Indoor training stops and the team rides outside 2 nights a week plus a ride on Saturday. Once a month in May, June and July, the team participates in overnight camp outs to help prepare for tent camping on RAGBRAI®. All of the equipment needed to get started in cycling and participate in the training and RAGBRAI® is provided at no cost to the participants or their family. In addition, all meals and fees for RAGBRAI® are covered by the program. At the end of RAGBRAI®, those who have successfully completed the ride take home all of the equipment they used during training along with the memories of the experience. These young people now have the ability and the equipment to maintain a healthy lifestyle as well as the ability to set and obtain long range goals.
