Grindin' the Gears - Recruiting

I'm the captain of team "Grindin' the Gears" from the Grand Bend to London tour. Our team is going into its fifth year, though some of the members of our team rode sans-team for years before we linked up. Four of us have ridden with the team every year, and we each try to bring someone new each year, so I think our team this year will have around twelve riders (plus three who won't be able to make it this year).

I think we retain and grow our ridership because of our attitudes throughout the tour. This recruiting method isn't instant, but it has worked pretty consistently for us over the last five years. We are an adult team from all over the province, not really connected except for the tour weekend, but when we are on the road we look and sound like we are a lot younger and more familiar. We have a LOT of fun on the road. If you are in our tour, you'll remember us as the ones who dress up in costume every year... usually in Hawaiian gear, but we're changing it up this year! You'll have to wait until the ride to see though!

We also bring dorky decorations for our bikes and helmets, and we spend time before the ride reacquainting ourselves and helping our rookies feel comfortable. Most of us have bells and honkers on our bikes, and we like to use them whenever we can. We are VERY positive on the road, taking every opportunity to encourage and joke with each other. We stick together or ride in packs on the first day, making sure that everyone feels like part of the team. I love the riders in our tour, and I definitely challenge other teams to focus on creating a "community on the road" like we have, because I truly believe that this has helped us grow our team steadily and increase our goals - last year was 10 riders raising 10,000 - we did it!

To prepare for this sense of community on the team, I send out emails to the team as frequently as I can, using my MS Tour account. I send ideas on fundraisers, invitations to join fundraisers our team members are running, training motivation, and just general pep talks for the team. We often get jokes and ideas circulating among the team members as we get closer to the ride, which helps our ride-day relationship.

When I get a chance to post again, I'll focus on some fundraisers that we've had success with.

Go Grinders! See you all in Grand Bend!! :-)