Dream Team 2009 Start

This entry will let you know what has been going on since the finish of RAGBRAI 2008 and what is ahead for the 2009 version of the Dream Team.

A week after RAGBRAI, we held the year end recognition dinner. Riders and mentors were recognized for the accomplishment of our ultimate goal, finishing RAGBRAI with a great sense of accomplishment.

Food and awards are two of the riders favorites.

Later in the fall, the mentors have a social gathering to reflect on the work and joy that went into another great experience. Because we are an all volunteer organization, we are grateful for the immense amount of time and effort that makes this thing work.

Next came planning and preparation for a new year. We go through the normal planning process. We have to determine our appropriate size based on space, number of planned mentors and hopeful revenue. Since we are an organization that starts the planning year depending on the generosity of caring individuals, bike clubs, organizations and businesses, we always face the question mark of how much it will cost and how much we can raise.

We have contacted riders from last year to determine how many plan to ride with us again. Some have graduated, some have taken jobs or other activities.

When we know the number of returning riders we can set a goal of how many new riders to recruit. Our planning uses fifty riders and the total we aim for. As always, it is tough to say no to someone who will benefit from this rich experience.

This year we will be presented with a new limiting factor. Our bike storage room has changed and we will be moving into smaller quarters. There will be a physical limit to how many bikes we can store and therefore how many riders we can accommodate.

We then formed plans to contact appropriate people in the school system and organizations that work with youth to recruit new members who have interest and support of the family to commit to six months of training.

We will meet with all of the parents/guardians and the youth to cover the outline of the experience and the expectations of what must be accomplished.

The meetings with parents will occur in early February, before indoor training. We have some calm months between RAGBRAI and the start of a new year but there is a lot behind the scenes work that goes on. As we approach the start if the year, we are in full swing with planning and recruiting new mentors. By January we are in full swing with regular Mentor Leadership group meetings and larger all mentor meetings.

We are really running a small business with no salaries or payroll. We do offer a great payoff.