New England Randonneurs

The Vermont Northeast Kingdom 300k from this past weekend lived up to expectations of being a great ride. It was the hardest 300k I (Jake) have ridden but also one of the most enjoyable. Congratulations to everyone who came out for the ride. Also a very special thanks to Anthony and his whole family for providing great support on the ride.

The results from that ride plus the Boston 300k and the June Sunday Series events have all been posted.

Next on the calendar is the Boston 200k / 400k. Highlights from this ride is the feast at the Hillsboro control and lots of hilly New Hampshire roads. Ride Leader (and NER President) Dan Greene has recently modified the return leg of the 400k to add a control so that riders will have another opportunity for water and snacks on their way back to Boston. For those riding the 200k there are many places to stop and refuel on this stretch.

Dan is still looking for volunteers for this event so please contact him and offer to help if possible. You can pre-ride the route for credit anytime in the next two weeks, you’ll get a free membership next year, and most importantly you’ll be helping your fellow riders.

Last but not least the July Sunday Series 100k event will be a brand new North Shore route designed and run by Dan Shinnick. The ride starts in Beverley, MA and details will be posted soon.

NER members will soon be receiving a mailing asking to approve revised bylaws to the organization.  The revised bylaws were approved by the board at the March 27^th board meeting and now must be ratified by the membership.  For the bylaws to take effect, they must be approved by the NER members by at least a two thirds majority of voting members with at least 15% of the membership voting.

The purpose in the changes to the bylaws were two fold.

• The format of the bylaws was modified to follow an existing template which included sections dealing with conflict of interest and compensation procedures that are required for NER to complete the process of certifying it’s non-profit status with the IRS.
• The manner for selection of the board of directors and the officers of NER was modified.  Currently, the President, Clerk, Treasurer, and RBA are elected by the membership annually and the remaining board members are the coordinators appointed by the board.

If ratified, the new bylaws call for the annual election of 6 – 10 board members who will then select a President, Clerk, and Treasurer from the members of the board.  Additional officers may be appointed by the board as needed and may or may not be members of the board.  The office of RBA is no longer listed as an elected or appointed position on the board since this position is controlled by RUSA and not by NER.

This was done to simplify elections while allowing those willing to serve on the board to do so without running for a specific office and to allow members who wish to serve in a given positions (e.g. equipment manager, permanents coordinator, route coordinator, etc.) do so without requiring them to serve as a members of the board.

The revised bylaws can be found here.

I would ask that all members please take the time to fill out and return the ballot in the provided envelope.

Thank you for your support.

Dan Greene
President NER