The research rides are free and open to the public and earn you $5 off the $10 admission to any tour. More importantly, they are a fun social cycling activity, you can help shape how the neighborhood tours come together, and you get to see a lot of stuff that doesn't make it to the "greatest hits" format of the final tour.  You may be asked to help with notes, photographs, bike holding, ducking and the like. 

All research rides are planned in advance with their own list of items to find and maps for the ride.  The Pre-rides are usually primarily to check the route to ensure there are no surprises, bad roads that have popped up, detours we need to consider, etc.  They are vital to a succesful tour.