New England Randonneurs

The Vermont 119km ride happened on April 19th and it was one of the wettest rides I (Jake) have completed. 14 brave riders started in the rain which only got worse as the temperature dropped and the miles added up. One electronic sign showed 40 degrees outbound and dropped to 39 on the return. But by the last control the rain stopped and the sun even started coming out. It was a fantastic route designed by Anthony Mennona and led by Steve Madden. While the weather was not ideal, the northern Vermont roads were gorgeous as usual. If you are not from Northern Vermont, the rides are worth whatever effort it takes to make it to the start. The results from this and all previous rides have been posted to the event results page.

Next on the calendar is the classic Boston 200k which heads North though southern NH on a hilly, rural route. This is a terrific start to the full Brevets. A week later Vermont hosts another scenic green mountain spin with the Burlington 200k.

On the weekend of the 17th we have the Providence Fleche. While it’s too late to register for the Fleche, the Sunday Brunch (Location TBD) is open to all. We have teams starting from as far as Vermont and New Jersey this year so there will plenty of good stories to go around.

And at the end of the Month on May 31st we have the Boston 300k which once again heads out to the Connecticut River via a northern MA route. Is 300k too long for you? This year we’ll have a 200k option which cuts out the river sections but adds the chance to stop at one of Massachusetts finests cheese makers. (Randonneurs have got to have cheese…)

Hope to see you at the start!

Registration for all Boston area events is now open. You can find links to the BikeReg pages by looking at the Event Calendar or by going to any of the event detail pages.

Check out our new Sunday Series of 100-199km events! Each month we’ll host a RUSA populaire at a metro Boston cafe or bike shop. These rides are a great way to keep riding and earn a P-12 award.

Please consider becoming a member of NER if you’d like to show additional support for our events. Membership is $15 will pay for itself in three events.

If you plan to ride many events, we have a $90 season pass for sale. (NER Member cost is $80.) With the season pass you can ride all of the Boston and Vermont events without any additional fees provided you still pre-register before each event.

Finally, we want to say THANK YOU to all our 2013 volunteers by giving them a free 2014 Membership & Season Pass. If you volunteered you should have received a coupon via email which waives the cost of registration for both the membership and season pass. If you volunteered and did not receive your code, contact Volunteer coordinator Emily O’Brien. (Please don’t register until you receive your code as we can’t refund the fee.)

This year the destination will be Providence, RI. More information and registration documents on the Fleche and Dart info pages.

The Dart is new this year. It is similar to a Fleche but the distance is only 200k and the time limit 13.5 hours so it can be completed entirely in daylight. Riders may select any start location but they must be on the road by 6:30am on Saturday, May 17th and finish in Providence at 8pm.

Registration for both events is due no later then April 19th so now is the time to start planning. If you are looking for a team to join or team members to join you, post a message to the NER Google Group and you’ll likely find someone.